I'm not a supporter of Rick Santorum, though I do agree with him on a number of issues.
I'm not a registered Republican, so I can't vote for him in the NY primary. If he gets the Republican nomination, given the fact that it's a done deal President Obama will win New York's electoral votes in November no matter how I vote, I don't know if I'll vote for Santorum even then. If I have to "waste" my vote on a loser, I might do so with a third party candidate.
But I have to chuckle over the latest attacks on Santorum.
After trying to get him on votes or statements taken out of context, and even distorting his remarks, some MSM commentators are now going after him because on television he sometimes comes across as "angry" or "unsmiling."
Never mind that what they are reacting to is just what the MSM chooses to show of his events - likely ignoring those moments when he smiles, cracks jokes, kisses babies, pets dogs.
But because in selected images he looks angry that becomes grounds to discredit him???
As someone who has been subject to attacks in the past because I seem too serious, I sympathize with him.
And I remember a friend's political campaign many years ago. She had just upset the party's endorsed candidate in a primary, and during a celebration a photographer from the local paper (which backed her opponent, by the way) snapped a shot of her that made her look funny. They ran that picture with a "witty" caption that made her seem somehow goofy or petty, even though she had said nothing petty about her foe. Guess what picture they ran in the paper for the rest of the campaign? The media helped to undermine her credibility. She lost.
So Santorum, my advice is to smile a lot. Put out some happy ads. Pet some puppies. Pose with grinning women supporters. Crack a few jokes. Do anything to make sure the voters see you as friendly and approachable.
Because the media is out to get you.
Pax et bonum
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