Yesterday, when reporters asked Rick Santorum about the reaction of conservative Republicans to Andrea Sauls comments about Mitt Romney's Massachusetts health care accomplishments, he burst out laughing, according to Sam Stein, at Huffington Post.
WASHINGTON -- Former Sen. Rick Santorum couldn't suppress his laughter Wednesday morning when reminded that he had once declared Mitt Romney to be the single worst Republican candidate to run against President Barack Obama on the issue of health care. ... Reporters wanted to know if Santorum felt a sense of vindication.
"I didn't see the show so I'm not going to comment on that," he said of Saul's remark that a woman, highlighted in a recent ad from a pro-Obama super PAC, would have had health insurance to help pay for her cancer had she lived in Massachusetts.
But even as Santorum ducked the issue, it seemed clear that his heart wasn't entirely in it. He let out a noticeable laugh as he offered a defense against the notion that Saul had given Obama a gift by speaking positively about the universal insurance model that Romney pioneered and the president adopted.
Below the fold, I found Rick Santorum's original quote about Romney, and ask if you have any spontaneous emotional reactions to Mitt Romney that may be amusing, or helpful to our campaign to reelect President Obama.
Zerlina Maxwell, writes in the New York Daily News, Santorum in the RNC spotlight: a tricky proposition of how to balance giving "base red meat," but being careful "not to alienate moderates." But, another problem is what Rick Santorum said about Romney in the primaries:
“Pick any other Republican in the country…he is the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama." ... So said Rick Santorum, repeatedly, on the stump about Mitt Romney during the drawn-out Republican primary. Yet, when Santorum dropped out of the race, he still (unenthusiastically at first) endorsed Romney. Now, with the announcement that Santorum will be a featured speaker at this month's Republican National Convention, it’s become increasingly clear that Mitt Romney is desperate to court evangelical voters.
This election was supposed to be about the economy. But Romney's probably realizing that you just can't win without firing up the GOP base on social issues. So brace yourselves.
Santorum fought hard against Romney throughout the primary, and while this isn’t anything new on either side of the political spectrum, there are countless hours of tape of the tried-and-true conservative bashing Romney and mocking his social positions and economic credentials.
Rick Santorum's spontaneous emotional reaction ridiculing Romney has me wondering what we might do to make this the dominant norm for potential voters? I noticed just after reading this that when Romney's picture came up on CNN, I felt an immediate wave of revulsion come over me, similar to Santorum's wave of ridicule.
Towards the end of the GOP primary, when David Letterman would set up a joke, by asking the audience, "anyone here planning to vote for Newt Gingrich?" and the audience would groan, and laugh in derision. Some scholar noted a few years ago, that when the tone of late-night comics turns predominately to derision, as opposed to just silliness, it usually forecasts plunging poll numbers within the following month.
Similar to what happened to John McCain just a couple of months before the 2008 election. Mccain stood up Letterman to appear on a competitors show, and it really cheesed off Letterman, leading him to open up a savage monthlong barrage of anit-McCain jokes, which the audience so came to expect that they immediate would burst out laughing at the mere mention of McCain's name. McCain's numbers fell off by almost 10% during that month, which admittedly may have also had something to do with his choice of Sarah Palin as VP. But, emotions often all run together, which is sort of my point.
I don't mean this in a partisan way, but just for the good of our country, wouldn't this be a helpful goal to work for with Mitt Romney? He's getting pretty close just on his own, with almost a continuous series of gaffes, blunders, and just highly puzzling political moves. But, maybe we could help?
"Nowcast" of President Obama's electoral votes if the election were held now is now up to 302.3 to Romney's 235.7, which is up 3.5 since Aug 1.
And, Silver's probability of an Obama victory is now up to 72.5% to Romney's 27.5%, although this could change dramatically. This is up 1.7% since Aug 1, and up almost 7.5% in the last three weeks.
On Intrade President Obama number is just under 58%.
Perhaps, Mitt Romney's summer crescendo of gaffes is finally catching up with him?
But, my questions for you are "can we think of any ways to help accelerate this trend?"
Do, you have any immediate emotional reactions to Mitt Romney, the GOP, or their cruel and unwise policies, that you could share for the benefit of the community? Our country? How can we distill these down to their essence to help the many voters who are reported to not even be paying attention until after labor day?
For example, RomneyHood, or "Robin Hood in reverse" immediately conveys the essence of what might otherwise be an excessively complex and abstract description of policy and economic plans which Romney has been careful not to get specific on.
Please feel free to share whatever ideas you think might help crystalize this emerging sense that Mitt Romney may not really be a "ready for prime time" candidate, or adequately qualified to be President of the United States of America.