The Other McCain

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South Carolina Pre-Debate Thread UPDATE: New Rick Santorum TV Ad in S.C. Hits Romney as ‘Just Like Obama’

Posted on | January 16, 2012 | 12 Comments

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.
We’re currently an hour and a half before the start of the South Carolina Republican presidential debate (9 p.m. ET, Fox News) and I’m set up here in the cavernous Media Filing Center at the Sheraton Convention Center. Thought I’d use this post to dump in a bunch of photos, videos, etc., beginning with this special video featuring my loyal assistant, 13-year-old son Jefferson:

Do what he says: It’s for the children!

UPDATE: The Rick Santorum campaign has just released this new TV ad in South Carolina:

The ad script:

Obama supported the Wall Street bailouts… So did Romney.
Obama gave us radical Obamacare… that was based on Romneycare. Obama’s a liberal on social issues.
Romney once bragged he’s even more liberal than Ted Kennedy on social issues.
Why would we ever vote for someone who is just like Obama? When we can unite around Rick Santorum. And beat Obama.

Mark Halperin of Time magazine: “Amazing to think about what would have happened if this ad had been run in Iowa for all of December with real money behind it.”

Yeah, but imagine the impact it will have during five days in South Carolina. Surge, baby!

UPDATE II: Just interviewed Santorum communication director Hogan Gidley about the new ad. “Rick said today, it’s time to draw a line in the sand,” Gidley said, acknowledging that Santorum didn’t attack Romney until after the pro-Romney “super PAC” started airing ads here which Santorum said included “lies” about his record in Congress. “Mitt tried to do this to Huckabee in 2008,” said Gidley, who was executive director of the South Carolina state GOP at the time. “We’re not going to put up with it.”

UPDATE III: A couple of photos from today:

Ron Paul is not a Truther. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink.

Rick Perry has exactly three supporters in South Carolina.

UPDATE IV: Via Allahpundit, now it’s Newt Gingrich making the “nobody but me” argument that was for many months the special property of Rick Perry’s supporters:

“If you vote for Sen. Santorum, in effect, you’re functionally voting for Gov. Romney to be the nominee.”

Yeah: Vote for the twice-divorced Freddie Mac lobbyist supported “green energy” with Nancy Pelosi and who is, by the way, the most divisive public figure in the history of divisive public figures. Because only he can beat Romney. That makes sense, right?

LIVEBLOGGING HERE!

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Category: Debates, Election 2012, South Carolina

Comments

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

    It might have been effective if Romney hadn’t been flooding the phone lines with Santorum and Gingrich recordings of fulsome praise for Romney.

    If Santorum is surging, the polling hasn’t caught it yet.  His top results in the state were immediately after Iowa; that faded a bit and he’s been level since. 

    He is also repeating the Gingrich mistake of letting the Romney-PAC ad attacks rattle him.  When he says they are “lies,” but fails to show any, it smacks of desperation.  I agree it is not entirely fair to blame Santorum for voting to raise the debt ceiling or all the spending increases, but it is true he did vote for these things.

    I’m time-shifting the debate to watch later, but the field is starting to sound like they are grasping at straws now.

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  • http://twitter.com/richard_mcenroe richard mcenroe

    Stacy, I dunno what kind of camcorder you’re using, but it obviously has a built-in mic.  If you put a small bandaid over the mike it will cut out a lot of the background noise and wind hiss while letting you still record interview subjects. I use this on my low-end cameras.

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  • Finrod Felagund

    At least Gingrich has waited for the right time to pull out the ‘I’m the only one that can beat Romney’ line.

    Look at who’s left: the Perry campaign is on life support in a hospice somewhere in South Carolina, and the funeral arrangements are already being made.  Romney is the candidate of the moderates, Paul is the candidate of the not-Republicans, leaving Gingrich and Santorum fighting for the votes of conservative Republicans.

    So what Gingrich is saying reduces to: ‘I can beat Romney and Santorum can’t’.

    It’s a bit easier and more believable to say “I can win and this other guy can’t” compared to “I can win and none of this other group here can’t”.  It’s still not a great argument, though.

  • Tennwriter

    Either Gingrich or Santorum can beat Romney.  They even might be able to both beat him at the same time.

  • Anonymous

    I find Gingrich’s argument that he can beat Romney laughable … OK, so when has he actually beat Romney?  

    Normally, not a fan of Bill Kristol, but he makes some very good points based on facts.

    http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/newt-claims-be-more-electable-rick_616858.html

  • Anonymous

    It really is amazing me how many whack jobs Ron Paul attracts.  

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