Senator Ricky Santorum is not an ethical politician:
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) held a press conference and announced "we have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq." Santorum and Hoekstra are hyping a document that describes degraded, pre-1991 munitions that were already acknowledged by the White House's Iraq Survey Group and dismissed.
Fox News' Jim Angle contacted the Defense Department who quickly disavowed Santorum and Hoekstra's claims. A Defense Department official told Angle flatly that the munitions hyped by Santorum and Hoekstra are "not the WMD's for which this country went to war."
Why do this idiotic thing? To fetch water for the approval-parched Bush administration? To try to do something about the fact that he's not doing well in the polls about the next elections in Pennsylvania?
And this one is truly hilarious: Santorum is now trying to appeal to women voters who are naturally a little skittish about voting for a man who would really like to see them in burqas:
In a room filled with about 50 women at Central Pennsylvania College in this Cumberland County community, Santorum unveiled an advertising strategy designed to appeal to women.
''I know I get a lot of flak for not being great … on women's issues,'' Santorum told the crowd.
Stating his own case, Santorum talked about his support for education-related issues and for aid to small businesses, including those led by women. He also noted that women comprise most of his senior staff.
His ad campaign includes a Web site, http://www.WomenforRick.com , and promotes the use of tracking issues through text messages sent to cell phones.
In the latest Keystone Poll, Santorum trailed Democratic challenger Bob Casey Jr. among women by 10 percentage points, 47-37. Santorum and Casey were neck-and-neck among male voters in the May survey, with 47 percent supporting Casey and 45 percent favoring Santorum.
Just to remind you why Santorum is NOT for women, read this earlier post of mine on his book. But Mary Matalin came to Ricky's aid:
Flanked by posters reading, ''Find out how Rick Santorum is leading for women,'' Mary Matalin, who headlined Monday's event, came to the senator's defense, describing him as the ''go-to guy in the Senate.''
''He's so connected, so in touch … to my problems as a woman,'' said Matalin, a political analyst and commentator who has worked for both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Hee hee! He's so connected to my problems as a woman, says Mary Matalin! Now that is funny, because it's also kinda true. If Santorum had his way American women would have nothing but problems.
Both candidates in this run are pro-lifers, by the way. I get a little bit angry about all these last-minute campaigns to get women voters engaged. Like the old "W is for women" for George Bush, and now this one. They don't show any real understanding of the female voter base, and they don't even care to cover up that ignorance. Women really don't matter to these guys. Just send them chocolate and flowers and apologize for wanting them in burqas. That'll do it.
Then there are all those other Santorums cropping up all over the country. This is a funny take on it, via Atrios. Sort of like all those Elvis-imitators, we can now have large swarms of Santorum imitators, holding press conferences of the sinfulness of uppity women and the holiness of wars.