#UnravelTheSweater: Rick Santorum Robocalls Dems to Vote Against Mitt

By Nate Gunderson | February 28, 2012 - 12:42 AM | 2012 Announcement, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Unravel the Sweater 1 views

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I thought the ad below was quite an intriguing plot of the DNC, til I heard at the end that it was actually paid for by Rick Santorum for President. It was an official ad?!?! I’m just baffled.

History lesson on “auto bailouts” as they are called: Two things happened – One, the companies received bailout funds from the federal government. That didn’t work so the companies went through – two, a structured bankruptcy. That did work. From the very beginning Romney knew that for the companies to be successful they would have to go through a structured bankruptcy, and that throwing bailout money was a huge waste of cash and would only deter the inevitable. Here is his op-ed from 2008.

As for Santorum – I think they should play this ad on national TV and see how how much love it gets him from the TeaParty and other conservative bonafides. I understand needing to win Democrat votes to win the general election, but teaming up with them to attack Romney from the left in a primary should be a automatic disqualifier in mind of any true conservative.

(H/T) Ross for story, Talking Points Memo for audio.

Comment by Jayde: The grand irony is that Mr.-blue-collar-hope-democrats-save-me-Santorum was also against the auto bailout. He may as well have HYPOCRITE tattooed on his forehead.

UPDATE by Jayde – From Freedom’s Lighthouse:

… [H]e [Santorum] really cannot argue that this robocall is a “very positive ad.” It is a totally negative appeal, seeking Democrat votes – not because they embrace Santorum’s agenda, but because they don’t like Romney not supporting the auto bailouts – which Santorum also opposed!

Please Check Out These Other “Threads” in the #UnravelTheSweater Series:

#UnravelTheSweater: Santorum’s Poor Record of Charitable Giving

By Paul Johnson | February 27, 2012 - 10:50 AM | 2012 Election, Character, Rick Santorum, Unravel the Sweater 1 views

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Part 1 – Santorum’s Poor Record of Charitable Giving:

You’d think a conservative candidate for president would be fairly generous with their charitable giving. The conservative approach to helping the poor, after all, is to rely on private charities so we can keep the size of government small and not create welfare dependency. So why is it that Rick Santorum gave so little of his income to charity over the last couple years?

The statistics are startling: in 2008 Santorum donated just under $22,000 to charity, but purchased an Audi A6 for $42,950. Looking back further, CNN reported:

Santorum gave $81,500 to charity over the past four years, or 2.2% of the more than $3.6 million in total income he earned since leaving the Senate, the documents showed.

…

From 2007 to 2009, Santorum’s rate of charitable giving fluctuated between 2.03% and 2.67% of his earnings.

In 2010, the rate dropped to 1.76% of his $923,411 in income. That same year, President Obama gave 14.2% of his income to charity, while Mitt Romney donated 13.8% and Newt Gingrich gave 2.6%.

Let’s be clear: while it’s true Senator Santorum has more children than the average person, he’s also made nearly a million dollars a year for four years, and gave just over 2% to charity during this period (well short of the 1/10th associated with a traditional tithe). CNN notes as well that people of Senator Santorum’s wealth usually give approximately 3.4% of their income to charity, putting Santorum at approximately 50% below the average.

“His donation level is on the low side,” said Ken Berger, the president and CEO of Charity Navigator, who also noted that research suggests religious individuals donate more than the non-religious.

“When you put it in the context of people of faith, then it really is on the low side,” Berger said.

What’s worse is that Santorum’s actions differ substantially from what he advocates publicly:

The relatively low contribution level is also a bit puzzling for a senator who championed non-profits and charitable organizations while in office.

“We should be proactive in finding ways to more fully engage the American public in charitable giving,” Santorum said in a 2005 statement on the CARE Act, a bill he sponsored that sought to promote the interests of charities and provide incentives for Americans to donate.

Part 2 – Rick Santorum’s Poorly Managed Charity:

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#UnravelTheSweater: Rick Santorum – #1 Recipient of Lobby Money

By Victor Lundquist | February 27, 2012 - 10:43 AM | 2012 Election, Character, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Unravel the Sweater 1 views

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BEHOLDEN TO MANY – TO WHOM?

Santorum has been imitating Gingrich imitating Michael Jackson lately in his interviews and debates when confronted with his ties to lobbyists when he was in the Senate. Facts are tough!

In 2006, Mr. Santorum was the highest recipient of lobbyist funds — BY FAR! No other senator was even close. The second place senator was 28% lower. Open Secrets Fact: CLICK

Check this 45-second clip:

Rick Santorum is beholden to many people and interests. Which favors would a President Santorum have to repay? And to whom?

ABC is reporting that Donald Trump recently recorded a robo-call for Governor Romney that will be heard by tens of thousands of voters in Michigan next Tuesday. Excerpts from the ABC piece:

“This is Donald Trump and I have to tell you that I’m tired of Rick Santorum pretending that he’s some kind of DC outsider,” Trump says on the call.

Trump dismisses the former Pennsylvania senator as a “career politician” who has “never had a job in the private sector.” He accuses Santorum of working as a lobbyist before and after serving in Washington.

“Rick Santorum is completely entrenched in the Washington culture and he has been for decades,” Trump says.

(Santorum worked for a law firm that lobbied on behalf of the World Wrestling Federation in the 1980′s and worked as a consultant to several companies after he lost his re-election bid to the U.S. Senate in 2006.)
[...]
“I don’t think they believe it’s going to happen,” Trump said of the possibility that the Republican Party might nominate Santorum, “but boy, would they like it to happen because that would be an easy election.”

On the robo-call, which will begin on Tuesday, Trump calls Romney an “outsider in the race” who “knows how to handle” China and OPEC — two of Trump’s most-frequently cited international bogeymen.

Santorum’s many ties to lobbyists and lobbying — CLICK

Santorum’s many “causes” — CLICK

Santorum influenced by lobbying: CLICK

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#UnravelTheSweater: Santorum’s Courage Betrayed by Willingness to Sacrifice Core Principles

By Victor Lundquist | February 27, 2012 - 10:39 AM | 2012 Election, Character, Conservatives, GOP, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Unravel the Sweater 1 views

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The CNN debate last week had a moment that was unbelievable and yet fully revealing!

In Deep Thought, Dressed in his Battle Armor

When Santorum said, “It [my vote] was against the principles I believed in…” — I paused the TV stream and said to Cindy my wife, “I can’t believe he just said that! Unbelievable!” On national TV, Santorum freely admitted that he has no problem whatsoever compromising his principles! The one thing all Americans despise in most politicians is their lack of conviction to principles. That propensity to sacrifice core principles for expediency is precisely why Americans want “to kick the bums out of Washington.”

And when Santorum was asked to give one word to describe himself, he ironically chose “Courage” as that most descriptive word! Could it be that he was using the word to describe his courage to admit to the world that his principles aren’t really foundational? What about his core? It is my opinion that this one debate moment was the most revealing of any debate moment of the 20 we have seen this cycle!

As you watch this short video clip, watch is face. He freely admits his ability to sacrifice his principles:

His admitting the betrayal of core principles only exacerbates the most obvious weakness he has: Zero executive leadership experience. (more…)

Santorum: Separation of Church and State “Makes Me Want to Throw Up”

By Paul Johnson | February 26, 2012 - 7:06 PM | 2012 Election, Arizona, Conservatives, Family Values, Michigan, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Statements, Unravel the Sweater 1 views

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Santorum on Saturday, from the AP

In just the latest statement proving Santorum is not electable, today Santurom said JFK’s speech about separation of church and state “makes me want to throw up.”

The story was reported at Politico:

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says the notion of religion not playing role in politics “makes me want to throw up.”

“To say that people of faith have no role in the public square? You bet that makes me want to throw up. What kind of country do we live in where only people of non-faith can come in the public square and make their case? That makes me throw up. And that should make every American [throw up],” Santorum said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Part of the problem is, of course, that JFK was trying to address a broader question at the time. When JFK made his speech, he was trying to reassure non-Catholics that he would not blindly follow the commands of the Vatican if elected president. What JFK said that Santorum found nauseating was the following (quote below is from JFK):

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute–where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote–where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference–and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish–where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source–where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials–and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.

Rick, on the other hand, says:
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#UnravelTheSweater: Romney’s New Ad re Santorum – Courage? Super PAC Ad Truthful

By Jayde Wyatt | February 25, 2012 - 11:15 AM | Arizona, Conservatives, Fox News, GOP, Michigan, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Unravel the Sweater 1 views

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A new get-to-the-meat ad from Team Romney focuses on the one word Rick Santorum used to describe himself at this weeks GOP CNN debate…

Courage?

Don’t you agree that Team Romney really hit the nail on the head with this one?

It’s worth noting that another revealing ad about Santorum, created by Restore Our Future (a pro-Romney Super PAC), was reviewed for its veracity by reporter by Ben Swann from WXIX… Rated TRUE on all points:

Rick Santorum – Radical Big Spender in Conservative’s Clothing

Take a moment to go to Swann’s Facebook page, ‘like’ it, go to his wall to find his related post to the above report, and let him know you appreciate his work.

► Jayde Wyatt

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#UnravelTheSweater: Rick Santorum vs. Protestant Christians

By Ben Collins | February 22, 2012 - 3:55 PM | Mitt Romney, Religion, Rick Santorum, Unravel the Sweater 1 views

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Right at the moment when Evangelicals begin turning to Rick Santorum to be their leader and standard-bearer, a speech emerges that Santorum gave three years ago to a Catholic university called Ave Maria. In the speech to the Catholic audience, Santorum (who is also a devout Catholic) states that mainline protestantism is in “shambles” and “is gone from the world of Christianity as I see it.”

I was so surprised by the statements that I checked Santorum’s original speech to make sure that his statements were not being taken out of context. And sure enough, Santorum really said those statements in context. You can listen to the whole speech here.

Here is the 2008 statement by Rick Santorum:

We all know that this country was founded on a Judeo-Christian ethic but the Judeo-Christian ethic was a Protestant Judeo-Christian ethic, sure the Catholics had some influence, but this was a Protestant country and the Protestant ethic, mainstream, mainline Protestantism, and of course we look at the shape of mainline Protestantism in this country and it is in shambles, it is gone from the world of Christianity as I see it.

Rush Limbaugh discussed these controversial comments made by Santorum on his radio show saying “Santorum is going to have to answer for that.”

These statements made by Santorum aren’t just a “gaffe” of the typical variety. These statements are so bad that they fit into a totally new category: truly disqualifying. After all, a huge swath of Christians in America fall into the category of Protestants such as Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, 7th Day Adventists, Anglicans and many more. How can Rick Santorum be the standard-bearer of Evangelicals when he is on record saying such things?
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#UnravelTheSweater: Rick Santorum’s Effusive Promotion of Mitt in 2008

By Victor Lundquist | February 22, 2012 - 12:00 PM | 2012 Election, Audio, Conservatives, GOP, Mitt Romney, National Security, Rick Santorum, Unravel the Sweater, Videos 1 views

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BIG REQUEST: Please forward this post to everyone you know in Michigan and Arizona. Thank you!

PHRASES USED BY SANTORUM IN 2008 to describe Governor Romney:

He is speaking with clarity and conviction…with the heart and mind together!
There is only one place to go right now and that’s Mitt Romney!
He knows what it means to be commander in chief!
He has a depth of knowledge about [national security]
He was not only curious, but he had some very interesting insights!

…….. And many more ebullient utterances!

Seriously. Mr. Santorum has not been this passionate, even one time in the 2012 race! When you listen to the following interview — given by Santorum on the Laura Ingraham radio show in February 2008 — you will hear that he was so excited about Romney as President of the United States, Laura Ingraham literally had to interrupt him! And why? So she could publicly announce her own endorsement of Governor Romney, right then and there! This is classic. Every Santorum supporter needs to hear how effusive he was in this amazing testimonial of Governor Romney. This entire audio piece is a crescendo, from beginning to the very end! You get the sense that Santorum would have kept raving about Romney for another 20 minutes if allowed.

The last 100 seconds of the audio are the best:
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS EXCELLENT AUDIO CLIP

#UnravelTheSweater: Rick Santorum’s Serious Electability Issues

By Paul Johnson | February 22, 2012 - 10:44 AM | 2012 Election, Abortion, Barack Obama, Family Values, Health Care, Mitt Romney, Obamacare, Rick Santorum, Unravel the Sweater 1 views

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UPDATE: More on Santorum’s electability problem at this link. They suggest, as I do below, part of the problem isn’t just the statements, it’s a self-inflicted inability to pick the issues you really want to focus on.

UPDATE 2: The hits just keep coming: Santorum is unelectable, says this article at CNN about why very few in the Congress are endorsing him.

One veteran GOP leadership aide called him a culture warrior likely to turn off moderate voters.

“The fear of Santorum is that it would just be a slow decay. There is no faith that he would bring independent or moderate voters. If he does well on Super Tuesday you’ll have serious people talking about convention strategies,” said the Senate GOP leadership aide.

Rick Santorum is unelectable. Here are just a few reasons why:

1. Rick Santorum’s Position on Social Issues are Significantly to the Right of Most Americans. Rick Santorum is tacking hard to the right to win votes in the primary. There’s good evidence he’s taken some of his positions out of political expediency. For example, it’s now been made public he was pro-choice until he ran for Senate. But regardless of his shift, the statements he is making now at best show he’s very, very bad at picking battles (a skill a president must have) and at worst paint him as too conservative and even outrageous to mainstream America. And he’s generated this sentiment after being in the spotlight only about a week. If we want to defeat Barack Obama, the GOP nominee will have to focus on the issues that appeal to middle voters, not scare them off. So in my mind this is not really about whether Rick’s right or wrong, but his skill at building consensus as president, and how he’s perceived. In the words of Jennifer Rubin, a conservative writer at the Washington Post:

Santorum likes to say that he is principled, but in fact he’s vividly demonstrating day after day that his strongly held social views, when uttered aloud in dogmatic tones, sound outrageous to voters who aren’t hard-core social conservatives.

Bill Press of the Chicago Tribune writes of his disgust when he recently read Santorum was outpacing Mitt in Michigan (emphasis added):
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#UnravelTheSweater: Rick Santorum – Unprepared and Unqualified

By Victor Lundquist | February 21, 2012 - 5:11 PM | 2012 Election, Barack Obama, Character, Economy, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Unravel the Sweater 1 views

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EXCLUSIVE: See testimonial of Master Mariner, Arthur Grant at the end of this article as he describes the many qualifications required to captain the largest ships of the sea. Santorum’s hope to take over the Ship of State is a stretch by any measure or imagination. In fact, in the opinion of this writer, Santorum’s dream would be humorous if it were not so scary. Please carefully read Arthur’s testimonial before you consider supporting Senator Santorum for any higher office.

Barack Obama's Ship of State

The piloting of a ship as an excellent metaphor to executive leadership experience. Obama’s pre-POTUS leadership perfectly fits the metaphor of rowing a small boat in a lake; Santorum’s to a small motor boat (more years in Congress than Obama); Governor Romney’s, by comparison, is equal to that of the Master Mariner (captain) of the large freighter, oil tanker, or aircraft carrier. The stark differences exposed by this simple metaphor are not minor — they are vast and they are critical!

Of the many weaknesses and other disqualifying attributes possessed by Santorum, none compares with his lack of executive leadership experience. Anybody can run for President. Rarely has any man ever been elected President without extensive executive leadership experience. Santorum hopes to be the exception — as was Obama — how has that experiment worked out? It is my opinion, supported by the team at this site, that Santorum’s complete lack of leadership experience alone should disqualify him outright. (more…)