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The Spectacle Blog
Mea culpa. Did I underestimate Rick Santorum, screwing up my Iowa predictions. In addition to his win — and this is a win even if Mitt Romney somehow scrounges up a five-vote margin over Santorum — the former senator gave a great speech that shows he has given some serious thought as to how to compete with Romney for the nomination while maintaining real crossover appeal for the general.
I still have my doubts as to whether Santorum has the tools necessary to be a successful anti-Romney candidate. But he worked hard for his Iowa win, he deserved it, and he should enjoy it. On the issues where we agree, we agree strongly. I’ll leave the issues where we disagree just as strongly for another day. I’ll try not to misunderestimate him again.
View all comments (43) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/01/04/misunderestimating-rick-santor
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Clint| 1.4.12 @ 1:33AM
We're The Pennsylvania Gun & Bible Clutchin' Conservatives, Who Helped Throw Little Ricky's Ass Out Of The Senate, After He Stepped In The Last Weeks And Propped Up The RINO-CINO Poster Boy,Arlen Specter Against Our Republican Primary Guy, Pat Toomey.
Now, Little Ricky And Specter Have Been Chased Away And Our Tea Party Senator, Pat Toomey Is In.
If Little Ricky Comes Back To Pennsylvania,We'll Throw His Big Government Israel Firster Ass Out Again,
Make Our Day Little Ricky.
Con Chef (NB) | 1.4.12 @ 1:39AM
Idiot. PA now ain't the PA of '06. Go drown your sorrows for your bronze medal candidate in a bottle of cheap Scotch.
Guess the "Tea Party Rebellion" never really WAS in Iowa, huh, Clint? Where's it gonna be next? Your basement?
Ron Paul Does Dos Equis:
His words carry so little weight, if you were to listen to them, your head would float away.
He's so knowledgeable about the Constitution, he told Madison & Jefferson what to put in it.
He KNOWS that the reason the Barbary Pirates REALLY attacked us was because we allowed Jews to settle here & that Thomas Jefferson was nothing more than an "early neo-con" stooge.
He is... THE MOST INSPID MAN IN THE WORLD
"I don't always try to make Neville Chamberlain look good, but when I do, I prefer to run for POTUS as a "conservative." Keep goose stepping, my Stormfront friends!"
Clint| 1.4.12 @ 1:48AM
We Dr.Ron Paul Tea Party Supporters Play All Four Quarters, Don't Leave It In The Locker Room And Pace Our Campaign.
We Helped Get Dr.Ron Paul 21 Percent Of The Vote, We Got Lots Of Campaign Money, Lots Of Organization And We Head To The East Coast To Take On Two Israel Firster BIG GOVERNMENT GOP Frontmen,During A Smaller Government Rebellion.
The Tea Party Rebellion Moves Now, To The East Coast.
Israel Firster Smear Bund Boys Wouldn't Know Real Conservative Foreign Policy If It Punched Them In The Face.
They Oughta Try Reading George Washington's Farewell Address, Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address & The Old Right And Learn Something.
" George Will, "Today, we have a very different kind of foreign policy. It’s called Wilsonian. And the premise of the Bush Doctrine is that America must spread democracy, because our national security depends upon it. And America can spread democracy. It knows how. It can engage in national building. This is conservative or not?"
William F. Buckley, " It’s not at all conservative. It’s anything but conservative. It’s not conservative at all, inasmuch as conservatism doesn’t invite unnecessary challenges. It insists on coming to terms with the world as it is …”
The Tea Party Rebellion Is Heading for The East Coast.
Watch This Short Video.
http://digitaljournal.com/article/316304
Con Chef (NB) | 1.4.12 @ 1:57AM
Ah, another Robo Post. Your boy is an abject failure. How fitting that he's your candidate.
"The Tea Party Rebellion Was Never In Iowa"
Clint chokes on Ru Paul's bronze medal finish, yet will still try to polish the turd that is his candidate's piss poor showing.
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 2:02AM
"How fitting that he's your candidate."
Better fitting that Paul Pot's suits.
Clint| 1.4.12 @ 4:47AM
Big Government Ricky Santorum's Record On Voting For Earmarks, Even The Bridge To Nowhere, His Support For The Lobbyist "K-Street Project" , His Tariff Votes, Medicare Prescription Drugs, No Child Left Behind,Etc. Is Gonna Sink Him With Tea Party Patriots.
Social Conservatives Won't Be Able To Carry Santorum ,The Big Government Statist.
The Tea Party Rebellion Heads To The East Coast.
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 8:36AM
Once again, you assume facts not in evidence, face-stomped-to-smithereens-boy.
Clint| 1.4.12 @ 2:49AM
Top Tier.
We're Fine With 21 Percent Israel Firster Smear Bund Ass Clown, Con Job.
We Got Lots Of Campaign Money, Lots Of Organization And Romney Again And Again Hits The Same Voters Ceiling, While We Pennsylvanians Start To Expose Little Runty's BIG Government Track Record, During A Smaller Government Tea Party Rebellion.
Watch The January 7th & 8th New Hampshire Debates And See What Happens Israel Firster Smear Bund Neo-Chickenhawk, Con Job.
The Tea Party Rebellion Heads To The East Coast.
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 8:37AM
"The Tea Party Rebellion Heads To The East Coast."
theN yoU wokE uP, yA 3rD placE loseR.
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 1:53AM
"If Little Ricky Comes Back To Pennsylvania,We'll Throw His Big Government Israel Firster Ass Out Again"
Yeah, 'cuz like your prediction for what was gonna happen in Iowa was so dead on accurate.
Clint means Loser in Paulbot.
Clint| 1.4.12 @ 2:37AM
We're Fine With 21 Percent Israel Firster Smear Bund Broad,"Me Zits-Me Munch",
We Got Lots Of Campaign Money,Lots Of Organization And Romney Again And Again Hits The Same Voters Ceiling, While We Pennsylvanians Start To Expose Little Runty's BIG Government Track Record, During A Smaller Government Tea Party Rebellion.
Watch The January 7th & 8th New Hampshire Debates
Say Hi To The Crippleed Russkie.
The Tea Party Rebellion Heads To The East Coast.
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 8:38AM
"The Tea Party Rebellion Heads To The East Coast."
theN yoU wokE uP, yA 3rD placE loseR.
Jack in Wi.| 1.4.12 @ 7:39AM
Keep giving them Hell Clint. Santorum is just another bum of the month pushed by Talk radio, lox snooze, and the brain dead evangelicals who listen to them. To quote John Paul Jones. " We have just begun be gone to fight. " The party is split so much now that Obama is a sure thing for re-election. Good! Better that the country sinks under him, then another Bush Republican like Romney or Santorum. There is no difference between the Parties. They both want big government, big wars, and big control of our lives.
Con Chef (NB) | 1.4.12 @ 8:55AM
"Lox snooze."
Yep, no anti Semitism here. How's 3rd place feel, Jackoff?
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 10:01AM
http://spectator.org/archives/.....ent_710576
Nick| 1.4.12 @ 10:26AM
Jack-boot in Wi.,
"They both want big government, big wars, and big control of our lives."
That should please a neo-nazi, Hitler-lover like yourself, der schweinehund fuhrer.
Benjamin P. Glaser| 1.4.12 @ 1:34AM
Stephen Hayes made a great case for why Santorum can appeal to Reagan Democrats.
Dai Alanye | 1.4.12 @ 1:38AM
TOMORROW'S HEADLINES:
Romney unable to equal his percentage of votes four years ago.
Paul wins votes of independents and Dems.
Santorum leads among Republicans, gives great speech.
Huntsman exceeds expectations with almost 1% of vote, topping Herman Cain.
Karl Rove attempts to spin results as a victory for Romney
Con Chef (NB) | 1.4.12 @ 1:41AM
Clint does a seppuku as the "Tea Party Rebellion" fizzles in Iowa.
Not to worry, though. Clint's Mom is making the LARGE can of Chef Boyardee for his NEXT "Tea Party Rebellion" meeting in his basement bedroom.
Clint| 1.4.12 @ 4:48AM
Big Government Ricky Santorum's Record On Voting For Earmarks, Even The Bridge To Nowhere, His Support For The Lobbyist "K-Street Project" , His Tariff Votes, Medicare Prescription Drugs, No Child Left Behind,Etc. Is Gonna Sink Him With Tea Party Patriots.
Social Conservatives Won't Be Able To Carry Santorum ,The Big Government Statist.
The Tea Party Rebellion Heads To The East Coast.
Con Chef (NB) | 1.4.12 @ 8:56AM
" The Tea Party Rebellion Heads To The East Coast."
To get its ass kicked again.
You look good in bronze, Cwint.
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 1:57AM
Ron Paul: Truther. Period.
http://predicthistunpredictpas.....eriod.html
You'll see how his positions "evolved" as 2008 neared. In a 2008 debate, he said:
"I'VE ABANDONED THOSE VIEWPOINTS, I don't believe that, and that's all.. that's the only thing that is important, and so I don't endorse anything they say...."
"I'VE ABANDONED THOSE VIEWPOINTS" = "I was a Truther....before I started running for POTUS."
Clint hearts Troofers!
Clint| 1.4.12 @ 2:15AM
Uh Oh American Spectator's Resident Crank Lady Is In The Building.
You're An Argument Against Yourself Israel Firster Smear Bund Broad," Me Zits-Me Munch".
Dr. Ron Paul,
"I think indirectly out of ineptness rather than participating in it, planning it or allowing it to happen. I see it's ineptness - that's why I think the investigations are always coverup of the inefficiency of government.....that's why I don't trust the investigations. But you know, the neocons were very explicit even before 9/11 that it would be an advantage if they had a Pearl Harbor type of an event where they could move their foreign policy along and use that as an excuse. That doesn't mean there's evidence that they planned it. You know, I don't think you can go from one step to the other. But if certain events occur, they can make good use of it."
The Tea Party Rebellion Steps On The Israel Firster Smear Bund Broad,"Me Zits-Me Munch,"
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 2:29AM
Ron Paul & Barney Frank's Excellent George Soros Adventure!
http://predicthistunpredictpas.....eorge.html
Hmmmm....what is Paul doing with Soros and why didn't Clinty's tinfoil hat and double-secret decoder ring signal an alarm about Spooky Dude's presence?
KKKlinty hearts Soros.
Clint| 1.4.12 @ 3:25AM
Ronald Reagan On Defense Waste:
" During my 1980 campaign, I called federal waste and fraud a national scandal. We knew we could never rebuild America's strength without first controlling the exploding cost of defense programs, and we're doing it. When we took office in 1981, costs had been escalating at an annual rate of 14 percent. Then we began our reforms. And in the last two years, cost increases have fallen to less than 1 percent. We've made huge savings. Each F-18 fighter costs nearly $4 million less today than in 1981. One of our air-to-air missiles costs barely half as much.
Getting control of the defense bureaucracy is no small task. Each year the Defense Department signs hundreds of thousands of contracts. So yes, a horror story will sometimes turn up despite our best efforts. That's why we appointed the first Inspector General in the history of the Defense Department. And virtually every case of fraud or abuse has been uncovered by our Defense Department, our Inspector General. Secretary Weinberger should be praised, not pilloried, for cleaning the skeletons out of the closet. As for those few who have cheated taxpayers or have swindled our Armed Forces with faulty equipment, they are thieves stealing from the arsenal of democracy, and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Indy| 1.4.12 @ 7:38AM
So you team up with Barney Frank and George Soros to cut defense, is that really who you want cutting defense, hard core leftists?
"In July 2010, Barney Frank and Ron Paul co-authored a Huffington Post article rolling out their Sustainable Defense Task Force. The Task Force “consisting of experts on military expenditures that span the ideological spectrum” would recommend a trillion dollars in defense cuts. The experts, however, didn’t quite “span the ideological spectrum” — more like float under it.
The panel of experts who would decide how to best gut national defense featured such independent thinkers as William D. Hartung of the New America Foundation. Hartung’s main expertise was appearing in “Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of American Empire.”
Then there was Lawrence J. Kolb of the Center for American Progress and Miriam Pemberton of the Institute for Policy Studies. If you want to know what the Center, the Foundation and the Institute all have in common, it’s Hungarian..."
http://patdollard.com/2012/01/.....onnection/
Do you feel comfortable with Soros influencing defense cuts?
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 10:02AM
How many communists/socialists/globalists did Reagan appoint to his commission?
Z-E-R-O.
How many communists/socialists/globalists/open border supporters did Ron Paul appoint to his commission?
9 of 14.
Clint| 1.4.12 @ 1:58AM
You Seem So Upset Tonight Israel Firster smear Bund Girl, Con Job.
Maybe It's Because Many Of Us Real Pennsylvanians Know Little ricky's Big Government Track Record And How We Tossed His Ass Out Of The Senate For Stepping In The Last Weeks To Prop Up The RINO-CINO Poster Boy, Arlen Specter Against Our Conservative Pat Toomey.
The Powerfull Big Talkler Radio 1210 Was Already Talkin' About Little Ricky's Big Government Track Record.
The Tea Party Steps On The Israel Firster Smear Bund Cupcake, Con Job.
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 2:01AM
Upset? LMFAO! 3rd place loser.
Clint| 1.4.12 @ 2:23AM
21 Percent, Lots Of Money, Lots Of Organization And Headin' To The East Coast To Take On Your Israel Firster BIG GOVERNMENT BOBBSEY TWINS Mittens And Runty, During A Smaller Government Rebellion.
The Tea Party Rebellion Heads For The East Coast.
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 2:30AM
3rd place.
Clint| 1.4.12 @ 2:45AM
Top Tier, American Spectator's Resident Crank Lady.
We Got The Campaign Money, The Organization, And We Got Two BIG GOVERNMENT Republicans To Run Against , During A Smaller Government Tea Party Rebellion.
Watch The New Hampshire Debates And Find Out.
The Tea Party Rebellion Steps On American Spectator's Crank Lady.
Con Chef (NB) | 1.4.12 @ 8:56AM
3rd place also ran supporting loser.
somnolence| 1.4.12 @ 7:09AM
Santorum and Romney did better with the Evangelicals than Newt and Perry. Telling. Very telling and a victory of sorts in that respect for both camps, clearly.
Mike Rogers | 1.4.12 @ 8:22AM
Clint, move to WI, Marty Jack, and grant the rest of us what Libertarians desir most- to be left alone!
Mike Rogers | 1.4.12 @ 8:24AM
Darned iPad spell checkers!
Clint, move to WI, marry Jack, and grant the rest of us what Libertarians desire most- to be left alone!
Mike Rogers | 1.4.12 @ 8:26AM
Way to go Santorum!
Way to go Spectator for retaining a great columnist like RSM. Time to give him a raise, or better travel expenses. You can't buy good insight on the cheap!
Marco2| 1.4.12 @ 8:46AM
Romney has won Iowa's caucuses while disposing of Gingrich and Perry. Santorum is no threat to him, but I suppose we'll now have to listen to his sanctimonius schtick ad nauseum. The important next step is to drive Dr. Nutjob and his pack animals out of the limelight, if not the party, and I hope that's what Bachmann will do in these upcoming debates. Nobody else has the gonads to call these characters out.
Michael Tomlinson| 1.4.12 @ 9:26AM
Interesting cultist Clint quotes the imminent Obamacon George Will (who has already predicted his candidate Obama will be reelected) about foreign policy. I guess closet liberals and outright leftists will coalesce around Obama or his political soul mate Ron “Give Me Tongue Bruno” Paul.
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 10:03AM
"We Got Our Predicted Numbers In Iowa."
buT, yoU diD noT geT youR predicteD wiN, yA facE-stompeD-tO-smithereenS-boY!
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 10:37AM
"Many well-meaning libertarians signed on to the 'Ron Paul revolution.' At first, this only required accepting his pro-life and anti-immigrant stances as libertarian, contrary to the leanings of many libertarians.… But to dismiss all doubts about his judgment and his character would be to succumb to a cult."
- Libertarian economist Arnold Kling
"The problem with the [Ron] Paul movement is that it has become a cult. Far too many of the cultists not only are willingly blind to their leader's faults but have also begun to internalize his beliefs as they justify his writings and actions."
- Ron Chusid
Clinty, Cult Much?
Resist We Much! | 1.4.12 @ 1:59PM
'If she thinks we live in a dangerous world, she ought to think back when I was drafted in the 1962 with nuclear missiles in Cuba. And Kennedy calls Khrushchev and talks to them, and talks them out of this so we don’t have a nuclear exchange.
- Ron Paul, Sioux City Republican Presidential Debate
" Dr. Ron Paul served in the United States Air Force as a flight surgeon for several years (1963-1965). While in the air force, Paul reached the rank of Captain. Directly after his service in the air force, Paul worked again as a flight surgeon for the United States Air National Guard (1965-1968).
Hmmmm....the Cuban Missile Crisis was in 1962 and Paul Pot said during the debate in Iowa that he had been drafted in 1962, but his campaign website says that he served in the USAF between 1963 and 1965 then the Texas Air National Guard between 1965 and 1968.
I guess he was a draftee sitting on an imaginary ship in 1962 when Kennedy made that imaginary phone call to Khrushchev to talk him back from the precipice.
Allah, I hate when that happens!
KKKlinty, it appears that I've caught your Dear Leader in a lie.
WM| 1.4.12 @ 5:16PM
Santorum is a Bush clone, and he will therefore be rejected by the electorate. No amount of anti-Romney and anti-Obama sentiment will change that fact. The sooner conservatives accept it, the sooner alternatives can be considered.