Bill Kristol responds to Mitt Romney's new line of attack against Rick Santorum.
But does his super PAC—following public (and therefore legal) guidance from his own campaign—have to go after Santorum in so juvenile a way? Santorum voted to raise the debt limit! (Along with every virtually other Republican when the GOP controlled the Senate—and does Romney think they shouldn't have raised the debt limit?).
Santorum voted to raise his own pay! (As part of an appropriations bill—and does Romney think senators are overpaid?)
The Romney campaign often gives the impression that it thinks Republican primary voters are really stupid—and it doesn't do a very good job of hiding its contempt.
Btw, the debt limit and pay raise made it into the pro-Romney Super PAC's latest hit on Santorum.
Byron York agrees that the hits on the debt ceiling are a glass-house moment for Mitt's surrogates.
How many members of Romney's team of House and Senate endorsers have never voted to raise the debt ceiling, never voted for wasteful spending, and never voted to raise congressional pay? The fact is, many, many Republicans who have been members of Congress, especially in the George W. Bush years, have done those things and more. How effective will they be in Romney's effort to condemn Santorum as a big spender? Romney himself can still make the spending argument against Santorum, although as governor of Massachusetts Romney sought federal earmarks just like other governors.
But in this campaign Romney has often relied on surrogates to attack his opponents. From now on, when it comes to charges of big spending, Team Romney will have to be careful about who's doing the talking.
And earlier this week, the National Review's editors called Romney's attacks on Santorum "lame, because they are patently insincere."
So far, it doesn't look like conservative intellectuals are going to be terribly receptive to Mitt's pitch on Santorum. Which means it's going to be entirely up to Restore Our Future to restore Mitt's lead.
