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    Drudge Turns on Santorum

    By Elspeth Reeve | The Atlantic Wire – Tue, Feb 21, 2012
    Drudge Turns on Santorum

    Rick Santorum was sitting at the center of the Drudge Report's homepage Tuesday afternoon looking like a religious nut. "SANTORUM'S SATAN WARNING," the headline screamed, under a black-and-white photo of the candidate standing behind a lectern with a cross on it. The conservative blogger drives mad crazy traffic, and he's using it to attack the biggest threat to his reported ally, Mitt Romney. This isn't the first time Drudge has gone nuclear on a Republican who threatened Romney's candidacy.

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    Drudge is making Santorum look like the scary mom from Carrie, pulling up several Santorum quotes from 2008. Those include "Satan is attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity, and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has so deeply rooted in the American tradition," as well as "We look at the shape of mainline Protestantism in this country and it is in shambles, it is gone from the world of Christianity as I see it."

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    Drudge has used the same tools—screamer headlines, old photos—to take down another candidate who looked like he might beat Romney. Just as today's post goes after one of Santorum's strengths, his faith, a month ago Drudge published a ton of research attacking Newt Gingrich's strength, his experience. In late January, Gingrich was peaking in the polls, and Drudge's assault caused blogger Matt Barber to rant about "The Drudge Distort." 

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    Drudge on January 25:

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    Note the same use of black and white to make an uninteresting photo look sinister. Gingrich peaked the day before this headline ran, according to Talking Points Memo's poll average:

    Of course, Drudge didn't cause Gingrich to fall in the polls all by himself. And maybe the site reflects what the most conservative parts of the conservative establishment are already thinking. Santorum has been ahead of Romney in at least the last six national polls. Maybe some -- or at least the Romney campaign -- are nervous Santorum could actually win. That may explain why while Drudge is attacking Santorum for being too Christian, a Romney adviser is attacking the candidate for not being Christian enough. Mark DeMoss is an outside evangelical adviser to the Romney campaign, Politico reports, and says that Santorum's lack of big charitable donations "shows a lack of personal commitment to a principle that religious conservatives and political conservatives believe in." Sure, these accusations are contradictory, but one of them has to stick, right?

     

    11 comments

    • TRADE REDD NOW
      TRADE REDD NOW  •  Amsterdam, The Netherlands  •  3 mths ago
      The GOP needs to change the nomination process if they're just going to focus on Guns and God. I suggest whoever wants the GOP nod stands up on a stage with the rest of them. The Party Head comes out, pulls out a revolver, loads a single bullet into it, spins the chamber and proceeds down the line, pulling the trigger and spinning the chamber until it fires. Repeat the process until one guy is left. That way you'll know with certitude who is the Annointed One for your party.
    • MockTurtle
      MockTurtle  •  3 mths ago
      Sanitorium the Bigot on PrOTEStantS: "We look at the shape of mainline Protestantism in this country and it is in shambles, it is gone from the world of Christianity as I see it."
    • Shannon M
      Shannon M  •  Raleigh, North Carolina  •  3 mths ago
      I can't stand anyone who can not speak one sentence wo the mention of Jesus, God, Satan or any other imaginary children's character. Like being bugged by Jehovah's witnesses.
      • Sylvia
        Sylvia 3 mths ago
        Shannon,Jesus or God are strong beings,stronger than satan ever thought of being.in the end times sinners will cry and beg for the rocks to fall on them to hide them from Gods' anger,so dont think you are a big man by saying all the things you said in your post,you will see different when its to late for you to make a change,I would laugh here but your statement is so sad.
    • Watserety
      Watserety  •  3 mths ago
      Caged Death Match would solve this problem.
    • Jack Acid Society Member
      Jack Acid Society Member  •  3 mths ago
      Loon chasing true relious nutbag. Love it. Keep watching & reading Reps,'cause Drudge just makes Obama second term a definite.
    • MockTurtle
      MockTurtle  •  3 mths ago
      Rick Out of TOuch with REALity: "This is a spiritual war. And the Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country - the United States of America. If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age?"
    • JDS
      JDS  •  3 mths ago
      Matt Drudge is a two-bit hack who calls himself a journalist and Rick Santorum is just a creepy guy who somehow thinks the US is a "Christian" nation. I say it's about time that everyone call the Republicans what they really are - the party of no ideas, no clue and no common sense.
    • FlBiker
      FlBiker  •  3 mths ago
      I understand the depth of partisan politics in the U.S, but Obama has proven to be a weak and ineffective leader. If it's that important for you to be loyal to a particular party, then find a better democratic candidate.
    • The Baron
      The Baron  •  Redondo Beach, California  •  3 mths ago
      Since the start of campaign for the presidential nomination Republicans have been shooting themselves in the foot with their claims that one candidate or another is "unelectable." The same thing was said about Ronald Reagan, who had to buck the Republican establishment to become POTUS.

      More to the point, who would have thought that a junior senator with eighteen months on the job, an undistinguished voting record and a murky past could get the Democratic nomination and go on to win the presidency?

      Whom would you prefer to be president - someone who believes in Satan and who wants to combat the forces of evil, or someone who believes in Marx and wants to "fundamentally change" the USA into the SSA (Socialist States of America)?
    • donf
      donf  •  San Francisco, California  •  3 mths ago
      either one of them (romney or santorum) could sink like a stone if he makes a serious enough gaffe. santorum seems more prone to shooting from the hip. he's on a roll right now, he's getting over-confident.
    • chrisdj614
      chrisdj614  •  3 mths ago
      I really don't think Mittens is going to win this. Despite the money, the allies, I just think he doesn't have a cohesive message like Santorum and Gingrich.
      • Captain Coconut
        Captain Coconut 3 mths ago
        However the GOP Keystone Cops can't find a shoulder to cfy on.
      • Shannon M
        Shannon M 3 mths ago
        If a cohesive message is bat sh/it crazy or angry, then yeah, those two are good candidates.
     Post a comment
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