I read about Rick Santorum’s web-radio comments about Sarah Palin and CPAC before I listened to them. There is a big difference between the two. Have a listen:
He was asked a question. He answered. And his comments about her being a mom with financial concerns doesn’t seem hostile so much as trying to give an honest answer — yes, from someone who also has both a big family and financial concerns.
His comments vis-à-vis Palin are not inconsistent with comments he has made about her previously. He told Rick Klein in early December:
“She’s done a lot to draw attention to herself that’s positive,” Santorum during an interview on ABC’s “Top Line,” adding that the former Republican vice presidential nominee has “done some things that, you know, certainly are going to cause her to have to do some explaining if she runs for president.”
“But right now I think she’s on a roll, she’s having a good time, she’s having an impact,” he continued. “If you’re sitting here out of office, the thing you want to do is have an impact on the direction of the country right now, if you’re not governing things. And she’s having an impact.”
The comments actually might reveal more about Santorum’s self-evaluation than anything else: how to have an impact that is in the best interest of family and country when out of office.
And if they also serve as a nudge for everyone to put their cards on the table, no doubt the impatient chattering politico (pun probably intended) watching potential candidates would not be disappointed to see these remarks have an impact. But to see those Santorum comments as an attack or a right-wing sideshow is a stretch. And you don’t have to take my word for it. Just listen.