The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Rick Santorum in Concord, N.H.

Posted on | January 5, 2012 | 31 Comments

CONCORD, N.H.
When we walked into the Grappone Conference Center here where Rick Santorum is speaking at the College Convention 2012, I bumped into Phil Klein of the Washington Examniner who was talking to Jake Tapper of ABC News. Shortly thereafter, Joe Klein of Time magazine walked up and joined the conversation. Just now, Dave Weigel of Slate sat down beside me.

There are four network satellite trucks parked outside.

In August, when Santorum spoke at a church in Manchester, the entire press corps in attendance consisted of . . .

Pete Da Tech Guy.

Just sayin’ …

UPDATE: A couple of quick photos:


Santorum took a question and said the difference between him and Obama is based on their “foundational understanding of America.”

UPDATE II: Santorum is conducting a seminar about gay marriage. Whenever you can get online video of this, it’s gonna be an instant YouTube classic.

UPDATE III: Santorum’s remarks about Obama’s proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs and Pentagon are also very strong. He seems extremely confident today, and is arguing like a man who knows he’s winning.

Speaking of “winning,” Dave Weigel Tweeted this picture.

UPDATE IV: There was a discussion among reporters at my table as to whether arguing about gay marriage with college students was a smart thing for Santorum to be doing at a time when, according to conventional wisdom, he should be acting more “mainstream.” In that conversation, I was the devil’s advocate in defense of Santorum, arguing that what he did was to signal to conservatives his willing to fight for their cause, even in hostile environments. But then again, I don’t think Santorum was thinking of strategy at all: What you see is what you get, and he’s not going to change his style.

Bandwidth on the WiFi connection here is sub-normal, and I’m going to suggest to Pete that we re-locate to a McDonald’s to upload our videos, etc. There will be another event tonight in Windham.

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Category: Fear and Loathing in New Hampshire, New Hampshire, Rick Santorum

Comments

  • http://www.lisagraas.com Lisa Graas

    Insert hoopin’ and hollerin’ here.

  • http://twitter.com/CharlieZangelQQ DaMz

    Bless the mans heart , he stayed in through all that? I had no idea. Poor thing. I’m happy he’s getting his message out now. GO Santorum !

  • http://evilbloggerlady.blogspot.com/ EBL

    Good post.  On the ground campaigning is the best. Even Karl Rove says so. 

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    Robert Stacy McCain-

    Now’s the time to strike while the iron’s hot and ask for a paid position. Wait too long and you’ll find yourself pushed to the side and out of the loop due to the crush of all the more well known “journalists”. If you play your cards right, you might be the Amanda Marcotte to Rick Santorum’s John Edwards. Just think how snazzy you’d look with bangs hanging out from your fedora.

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  • http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/ keyboard jockey

    Imus Guest this morning, Jake Tapper ABC News “The Democrats Want Mitt Romney To Be The Republican Nominee”
    Mr Vanilla apparently the Democrat’s favorite flavor.
    28,000 Independents participated out of 122,255 republican caucus goers, that puts republican participation in their own caucus under 100,000.00 Ron Paul came in 3rd with 21% his 3rd place win was made up of 44% Independents. The GOP really has a big problem with their base.They can’t see the big picture they need an excited base to vote in the General and Ron Paul’s voters are committed they will write Paul’s name in -in the general.Mitt Romney’s strategy of last man standing – surviving the primary by dividing the conservative base is hurting the GOP’s voter enthusiasm quotient. Barack Obama isn’t going to have a problem ginning up his base against the evil 1% that Mitt Romney will be representing. Talk about made to order political punching bag. Yes I can see why the Democrats want Romney to be the nominee.
    http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2012/01/jake-tapper-democrats-want-romney-to-be.html

  • Anonymous

    What did RSM ever do to you to deserve that analogy?  Did he run over your dog with the KIA?   

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

    Ron Paul’s supporters should be committed, but modern liberalism has turned all those institutions’ patients out into the street to live the libertarian lifestyle.

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  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

    The gay marriage speech will play well in South Carolina, too.  His problems here will be related to his opposition to repeal of Davis-Bacon Act and the national right to work bill.  I know Pennsylvania Republicans have to lay down with unions to get elected.  South Carolina isn’t exactly feeling warm and fuzzy about unions these days after the union thugs on NLRB tried to shut down the new Boeing plant before it opens.

    Oh, and if you get the chance, do ask Rick who paid for his house in Virginia, and how much?  And is he claiming homestead residence in two states at the same time?  http://tinyurl.com/7lk4yy2

  • http://qwertyaltofuori.blogspot.com Red

    No that was a deer he hit ;-)

  • http://thatmrgguy.wordpress.com/ Mike G.

     Good questions. Santorum’s  going to have problems down here with his pro union stance.  By the by, where are you in SC? I’m up in the Golden Corner.

  • http://thedysfunctionjunction.com/ Kent@TheDysfunctionJunction

    I’m not going to lie, Santorum’s rise in Iowa initially had me very worried.  However, his speech after his big “win” in Iowa gave me a new found appreciation of his potential appeal to blue collar America, of which Willard has zero.  And even though I may not share his beliefs, I admire the fact that  he’s sincere in his beliefs and doesn’t care who has a problem with it.  Having said that, he’s going to have a VERY hard time playing off his more controversial words, in particular his bestiality comments, if he gets the nomination.

  • JewishOdysseus

    Stacey, BELATED PROPS TO YOU for all the fine work you’ve done for Rick Santorum…I still prefer Newt, but I’ll be happy to vote for whichever one is leading vs. Romney in FL’s primary. 

  • Tennwriter

    I suspect his sincerity is going to help as he’s not going to back off when he gets deliberately misinterpreted on comments (which you know is going to happen).  This will force the fair-minded to evaluate the logic of his comments, and I think most will find them non-objectionable and even accurate except for the lgbt activists, the partisan shills, and the close-minded.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

    “The Front Porch of the Lowcountry” – whatever the heck that means.  Perry was supposed to be here this afternoon, no one at the venue at the scheduled time, a waitress said “They told us he might be here around 5:30″ – but I wasn’t hanging around for an hour for a guy who might not show up.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

    If he came out against bestiality, he’s dead in the Mountain West.

  • http://thatmrgguy.wordpress.com/ Mike G.

    Just passed through there the other day doin’ about 80 on 95 on my way home from So Fla. Dontcha just love cruise control?

  • http://thatmrgguy.wordpress.com/ Mike G.

    Yeah, especially Wyoming where the men are men and the sheep are scared.

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    Why the fuck is it every time I start getting used to or at least resigned to a candidate and ready to get behind him, somebody comes out with something that makes him look bad?

    Of course, Reagan was ostensibly a “Pro-Union” guy too, and look what he did to the Air Traffic Controllers.

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    Charleston? I’ve always wanted to go there ever since I read this novel called The Lords Of Discipline. That book brought the city to life.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

    It’s not that tough on most visitors, really.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

    The difference being Reagan first proposed repealing or suspending the Davis-Bacon Act, which Santorum could not countenance if he wanted the Steelworkers, UAW, and Teamsters rank and file members.  I understand that.  Yet, he did it, and hasn’t recanted any of it.

    He’s also for ethanol subsidies, although it was very quiet in the campaign.  But he was the top-rated candidate by the ethanol group @ 100%, so you can bet where he stands.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

    Those sheep have more nervous ticks than a Lyme Disease Research Lab.

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    All the bad stuff in the book happened at the military school based on The Citadel. Charleston itself was portrayed in a far more positive light. Reading the book in parts almost  make you feel like you’ve been there before.

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    Nobody’s perfect, and he might be just what we need to tear into Obama’s union support. Not the union bosses and thugs, of course, but the rank-and-file workers, a great many of whom don’t care a great deal, to put it lightly, for Democrat policies in general.

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  • http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/ keyboard jockey

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLQnoVpkyqc&feature=youtu.be South Carolina has around 10% unemployment they are very pro U.S. Military. I don’t remember Santorum’s military service? Santorum is a RC from Up North, he’s a big government Yankee.  Santorum has no executive experience.  Santorum didn’t win the Iowa caucus.  He’s not even on all the state ballots, he needs to get on to compete in the primary. He does terrible with the women vote. He lost his last campaign by 20 points in his home state.  I would have thought by now that everyone would know about Rick Santorum, he’s been around long enough for people to know about all his negatives. Santorum is the flavor of the week. Why he’s being treated like anything other than the last Not Romney candidate to rise in the polls is anyone’s guess? 

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