It most certainly is not "abundantly clear" that he is not saying black. I think your interpretation is a reasonable one, but to say that it is "abundantly clear" is just not being honest about the lack of clarity in that clip.

After watching the clip a couple dozen times over the last few days, my best guess is that he did intend to say "black people" but thought better of it at the last second and tried to hold back on the "black," which came out "bli-" or "bla-". It seems likely to me that it was a verbal stumble, as you say, but a telling one. I'm curious what you, Shannen, or other readers think he started to say when he stumbled... I've heard "blighted," which is reasonable, I guess, but a little far-fetched. The most likely thing, I think, is that he started to say "black" and balked...

"bli-" OR "bla-"? That is really a stretch. What is clear is that it was a long-i. To make that "telling" you have to wish for a short-a and have an active imagination.

He's not going to get away with claiming he didn't say "black." It sounds very clear. You'd have to not believe your own ears to believe Santorum.

Santorum would be better of defending his words or apologizing for them rather than pretending he didn't say them. This is an obvious lie.

Just wait until they run the contraceptives footage. I can't believe we're even wasting time on this candidate this far into the game. We got two weeks out of Perry's vaccination position. At least he doesn't think birth control pills are a bad idea.

I think that he said, or at least started to say, black. I also don't think that is a racist comment, despite the commentary that the particular state he was in has a majority of white welfare recipients.

I think we're fooling ourselves if we think that issues of welfare entitlement reduction, joblessness, low high school graduation rates, college completion levels and general preparedness for an adult life that includes stable employment and the ability to provide for a family is the same across all racial and ethnic groups. The government's own statistics about poverty, education and employment show that this is not the case.

What is different about Santorum (and several of the other Republican candidates) is that they don't think that race should mean you are uneducatable and unemployable - that a lifetime on the dole is the best you can hope for if you are black or hispanic.

It's not a dour, up-by-your-bootstraps, sink-or-swim attitude. It's one that says, there are hundreds and thousands of opportunities for Americans. Let's make sure that your young adults and kids are being adequately prepared for these opportunities.

Equipping someone for work is like teaching them to fish. Even if that job is eliminated, they have experience and a work record to use when looking for a new job. Work begets work. Unemployment equips you to remain unemployed. It's not in the individual's interest to remain unemployed if they have intentions of ever working in the future.

I'll add to my comment to say that in the particular context in which Santorum was talking it's even more understandable that he might have said black. He was talking about liberals wanting to get more people using government services so that they become more enthralled with the party of bigger government. If you believe this theory, it's particularly applicable to the African American community. It's not outlandish to believe that Santorum had black people in mind when he was making this point. I don't blame him for having that thought in his head and letting it slip out in this context.

I think Santorum and his apologists are going about this the wrong way entirely. The hysterical protests ("NPR is lying!!" Please, NPR was working off a written transcript) and the "he's clearly stumbling and correcting himself" sound like a five year old scrambling to cover something. I've listened to the video a few times--the one thing it doesn't sound like he's doing is stumbling, it sounds like he's speaking quite fluidly. And it sounds like he said "black". I don't think that's the end of the world if he did, there was a graceful way for him to probably say "black, white, whoever, we need to get you off welfare" and the story would go away. As it is, if people listen now and think he IS saying "black"--which a lot of people will, he looks like a lying fool.

Anyone who says he said "black" is being dishonest or in serious need of a hearing aid. There was nothing remotely like an "-ack" sound in his utterance but a long "I" instead, and in the next breath he's talking about giving people the chance to earn their own money by getting the manufacturing sector "rolling again" to applause, which would indicate his Iowan audience thought he was referring to the public generally and that they stood to benefit in the form of jobs (why else would they applaud a promise to bring back manufacturing for the supposedly particular benefit of black people?).

Even if one ignores the auditory evidence, the context makes clear that Santorum did not say what Obama's race-baiting acolytes wish he did.

Shannen, you are absolutely right, except that you leave out the part about the short-a. He not only didn't say "ck," he didn't say "ack." He said "bligh."

There is time enough to get desperate, people. But blow your credibility on this -- it will be lovely to behold. I'm enjoying already.