jackovesk
29th February 2012, 03:48
Wednesday 29 February 2012
US election 2012: Rick Santorum says JFK makes him sick
Rick Santorum, the ultraconservative presidential hopeful, has intensified his Christian rhetoric as he rejected John F Kennedy's promise to maintain an absolute separation between church and state as an idea that "makes me throw up."
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02152/sant_2152603b.jpg
Rick Santorum's remarks came on the eve of Tuesday's crucial primary in Michigan
The appeal to the party's Christian base – dismissing the famous 1960 campaign speech by President Kennedy to keep his Catholic faith out of politics – represents a further lurch to the right in the acrimonious battle to find a Republican candidate to face Barack Obama in November.
"I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute," said Mr Santorum, an evangelical Catholic who would become the second Catholic to win the White House after President Kennedy.
"The first substantive line in the [Kennedy] speech says, 'I believe in America where the separation of church and state is absolute," the former Pennsylvania senator told ABC News, "You bet that makes you throw up."
His remarks came on the eve of Tuesday's crucial primary in Michigan where Mr Santorum is hoping to upset the Mitt Romney, the long-time front-runner, who finds himself is scrambling to win his 'home state'.
An aggregate of polls by Real Clear Politics has put Mr Romney two points clear in the Rust Belt state, which several senior Republican figures have said the former management consultant must win if his claim to be the man only who can beat Mr Obama is to retain credibility.
Mr Santorum has surged to the front of the Republican nomination contest in recent weeks with a message of social conservatism, attacking Obama health care reforms that obligated religious-affiliated hospitals and schools to provide contraception to employees.
However in a year where the economy is uppermost in most American's minds, it remains far from clear that the appeal to conservative social issues will prove a winning formula for Mr Santorum.
"One place Santorum may have hurt himself in the last week is an overemphasis on social issues," said Public Policy Polling (PPP), observing that 69 per cent of Michigan voters were concerned with economic issues this year compared to only 17 per cent who picked social issues.
"Momentum in Michigan is completely on Mitt Romney's side," said Dean Debnam, President of PPP, "He's amassed a large lead with absentee voters and it will take a huge turnout on election day from Santorum voters to overcome that."
However Mr Romney continued to go off-message by drawing attention to his vast wealth while millions of Americans struggled to recover from the country's economic collapse.
Asked at the Daytona 500 race in Florida if he followed Nascar stock-car racing, Mr Romney said: "Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans, but I have some great friends who are Nascar team owners."
The remark came days after the former Massachusetts governor told a crowd in Detroit, one of the country's poorest cities, that among other family cars, his wife Ann drove "a couple of Cadillacs".
The Democrats pounced on Mr Romney's latest comment, suggesting that it demonstrated that the former corporate buy-out executive, who is worth up to $250 million (£160 million) was out of touch.
Brad Woodhouse, a Democratic spokesman, suggested a range of alternative Romneyisms, such as: "I don't know pilots, but I know people who own airlines."
Mr Romney was unapologetic when asked about his gaffes at the weekend, reiterating that he had been "extraordinarily successful" and would use "that success and that know-how to help the American people."
Campaigning in Michigan on Monday, Mr Romney appeared to taunt Mr Santorum over the apparent damage to his rival's poll numbers by his focus on social issues, pointing out that Mr Santorum had written a column in the Wall Street Journal about the economy.
"I'm glad he recognises this has got to be a campaign about the economy," Mr Romney said. "It's time for him to really focus on the economy, and for you to all say, 'OK, if the economy's going to be the issue we focus on, who has the experience to actually get this economy going again?'"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-election/9109340/US-election-2012-Rick-Santorum-says-JFK-makes-him-sick.html
PS - No its (YOU) Rick Santorum that wants to make me 'Throw-Up'..!
:bad:...:bad:...:bad:...
US election 2012: Rick Santorum says JFK makes him sick
Rick Santorum, the ultraconservative presidential hopeful, has intensified his Christian rhetoric as he rejected John F Kennedy's promise to maintain an absolute separation between church and state as an idea that "makes me throw up."
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02152/sant_2152603b.jpg
Rick Santorum's remarks came on the eve of Tuesday's crucial primary in Michigan
The appeal to the party's Christian base – dismissing the famous 1960 campaign speech by President Kennedy to keep his Catholic faith out of politics – represents a further lurch to the right in the acrimonious battle to find a Republican candidate to face Barack Obama in November.
"I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute," said Mr Santorum, an evangelical Catholic who would become the second Catholic to win the White House after President Kennedy.
"The first substantive line in the [Kennedy] speech says, 'I believe in America where the separation of church and state is absolute," the former Pennsylvania senator told ABC News, "You bet that makes you throw up."
His remarks came on the eve of Tuesday's crucial primary in Michigan where Mr Santorum is hoping to upset the Mitt Romney, the long-time front-runner, who finds himself is scrambling to win his 'home state'.
An aggregate of polls by Real Clear Politics has put Mr Romney two points clear in the Rust Belt state, which several senior Republican figures have said the former management consultant must win if his claim to be the man only who can beat Mr Obama is to retain credibility.
Mr Santorum has surged to the front of the Republican nomination contest in recent weeks with a message of social conservatism, attacking Obama health care reforms that obligated religious-affiliated hospitals and schools to provide contraception to employees.
However in a year where the economy is uppermost in most American's minds, it remains far from clear that the appeal to conservative social issues will prove a winning formula for Mr Santorum.
"One place Santorum may have hurt himself in the last week is an overemphasis on social issues," said Public Policy Polling (PPP), observing that 69 per cent of Michigan voters were concerned with economic issues this year compared to only 17 per cent who picked social issues.
"Momentum in Michigan is completely on Mitt Romney's side," said Dean Debnam, President of PPP, "He's amassed a large lead with absentee voters and it will take a huge turnout on election day from Santorum voters to overcome that."
However Mr Romney continued to go off-message by drawing attention to his vast wealth while millions of Americans struggled to recover from the country's economic collapse.
Asked at the Daytona 500 race in Florida if he followed Nascar stock-car racing, Mr Romney said: "Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans, but I have some great friends who are Nascar team owners."
The remark came days after the former Massachusetts governor told a crowd in Detroit, one of the country's poorest cities, that among other family cars, his wife Ann drove "a couple of Cadillacs".
The Democrats pounced on Mr Romney's latest comment, suggesting that it demonstrated that the former corporate buy-out executive, who is worth up to $250 million (£160 million) was out of touch.
Brad Woodhouse, a Democratic spokesman, suggested a range of alternative Romneyisms, such as: "I don't know pilots, but I know people who own airlines."
Mr Romney was unapologetic when asked about his gaffes at the weekend, reiterating that he had been "extraordinarily successful" and would use "that success and that know-how to help the American people."
Campaigning in Michigan on Monday, Mr Romney appeared to taunt Mr Santorum over the apparent damage to his rival's poll numbers by his focus on social issues, pointing out that Mr Santorum had written a column in the Wall Street Journal about the economy.
"I'm glad he recognises this has got to be a campaign about the economy," Mr Romney said. "It's time for him to really focus on the economy, and for you to all say, 'OK, if the economy's going to be the issue we focus on, who has the experience to actually get this economy going again?'"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-election/9109340/US-election-2012-Rick-Santorum-says-JFK-makes-him-sick.html
PS - No its (YOU) Rick Santorum that wants to make me 'Throw-Up'..!
:bad:...:bad:...:bad:...