Just saw this tweet from Rick Santorum: “Real World Versus Romney World: Romney Destroyed Massachusetts Manufacturing.” It linked to a press release with the same title, composed of two news items about a reported 12% loss of manufacturing jobs in the Bay State during Mitt’s governorship.
Now I know we all get inured to this sort of thing, and I’m not singling out Santorum; I’m sure Mitt has said similarly violent things about Rick, and I know his Super-PAC has. But still, it’s weird: as sure as the sun comes up in the morning, Rick Santorum will endorse Romney for president if and when he wins the nomination, and will probably campaign with him in the fall. If he’s asked to, he’ll make speeches describing Mitt as a combination of Churchill, Reagan and Cato the Younger. And I’m sure he’d happily consider any old high-level appointment Romney chooses to offer him if he wins in November.
When any of those things happen, I hope someone in a position to do so asks him why he’s willing to support, praise and work for someone who would be so dastardly or incompetent as to destroy Massachusetts manufacturing. I mean, I doubt he’s suggesting Mitt did so by accident, or because he got behind in his paperwork or something. Was Romney perhaps trying to teach Massachusetts manufacturing a lesson for its own good? Does he feel kinda bad about it now?
Look, I know politics ain’t beanbag, and we have every reason to suspect that Rick Santorum thinks beating Romney is pretty damned important; after all, Rick’s not just battling his Republican rivals or Obama, but Satan. But still, this sort of thing can get out of hand, and Rick should tell whatever twenty-something composes this stuff to get a grip.
Oops, I forgot! Santorum is on record saying that presidential candidates should be required to compose their own words! So I guess he’d better sit down with himself for a stern conversation about hyperbole before he winds up looking foolish when he has to make goo-goo eyes at Mitt the Destroyer.
