The Romney media office, aka the Drudgereport, blares the headline “SANTORUM: OBAMA PREFERABLE TO ROMNEY”
Except, that’s is not what he said and I am fairly sure not what he meant. Here is the quote.
Speaking at an event in Texas, Santorum again made the case that Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom’s comments Wednesday on CNN about a “reset” of the campaign if Romney clinched the nomination showed the former Massachusetts governor’s efforts to appeal to conservatives were insincere.
“You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there,” Santorum told a crowd in San Antonio, according to NBC News. “If you’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the Etch-A-Sketch candidate of the future.”
The key context of the quote is in the lede in. He is speaking about giving voters “the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different.” So what follows in his statement is how Santorum (and I for that matter) imagines how the voter will look at it. You need a real contrast. If your walls are already painted beige, why would you bother to paint them beiger. You wouldn’t. You would stick with what you have.
What Santorum is saying is that we need contrast in this election. McCain lost the election when the financial crisis hit and his only response was “I agree with Senator Obama.” Well, why wouldn’t we pick him? We did.
What Santorum is warning about is if you offer the voter a choice between Obama and Obamaesque, voters will probably choose Obama. Why paint the walls?
