Do you remember the scene in the original Rocky, when one of Apollo Creed’s handlers points out that this luckless no-name Philly palooka is a southpaw? Left-handed boxers are unusual enough that Creed’s man was a little worried, and then he watched that TV news spot of Rocky Balboa practicing his body work by pounding on beef carcasses in a freezer.
And breaking ribs . . .
That scene came to mind today when I picked up the Saturday Washington Post and read a story at the bottom of the front page:
Obama’s Chicago-based reelection team has begun digging into Santorum’s background, diverting opposition researchers who thus far had been focused on Romney. They also blasted an e-mail to supporters in Pennsylvania, asking them to submit their most damning recollections of Santorum, a former senator from the state.
Though campaign officials still view Romney as the likely nominee, they have begun to consider the implications of a Santorum victory. They view him as a weaker general election opponent, but one who has shown an ability to connect with the population that is most disillusioned with Obama: white, blue-collar voters. . . .
Read the rest. We would be getting way ahead of the game to speculate too much of how this Italian kid might fare against The Champ. But there are a few folks in The Champ’s corner who seem worried that The Champ has some vulnerabilities that this luckless palooka could be uniquely positioned to exploit. Bitter gun-and-Bible clingers, anyone?
Look at what Santorum did to Romney in Ohio: Stole away one of his key endorsements in a crucial Super Tuesday state. A week ago, Santorum was in fourth-place in the Michigan polls, but now he’s beating Romney in Romney’s home state. And suddenly Mitt just lost the co-chair of his Arizona campaign (because nobody cares about “moral issues,” you see).
They used to say Romney was “inevitable,” but now Mitt’s starting to look more and more like . . . well, dead meat.
Hey, Champ: Watch your ribs.
