Santorum Compares Campaign to Final Four Basketball Game
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Thomas Northcut/Digital Vision(GREEN BAY, Wis.) — As members of the Republican establishment call for the party to rally behind Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum compared his campaign to the Saturday night Kansas-Ohio State semifinal basketball game.
“Well, on a North Dakota radio station the other day, [former New Hampshire] Gov. Sununu, one of Romney’s chief spokesman, trying to spin this well, this race is over, this race is over. Then why is he spending $4 million in Wisconsin if the race is over?” Santorum said. “If it’s over and you know, there’s no chance, then why is he bothering even campaigning anymore if it’s over?
“It’s like telling Kansas last night, ‘You’re down by 18 points, but before halftime — give up its over,’” he said. “We aren’t even at halftime folks, not even half the delegates have been selected in this race. Anybody want to call the Kansas coach and say, ‘You know what? For the betterment of the NCAA give up. It’s really better for everybody. We don’t want to put — look what you’re going to put Ohio State through. They’re going to have to run a tough race. They’re going to be tired on Monday night. For the betterment of the cause, give up.’
“This is silly. It’s not America,” Santorum told the crowd at a rally in Mishicot.
Santorum’s comparison was a shout out to the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team, who came back from behind Saturday night to beat the Ohio State Buckeyes and earn the opportunity to play in the NCAA championship game Monday night against top seed Kentucky.
As he spoke at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay later on Sunday evening, Santorum warned voters of “cutting this short and getting the wrong candidate” instead of focusing on a candidate who vows to maintain the values and principles of the voters. He rebuked establishment Republicans for already determining the outcome of the race without letting the people of states like Pennsylvania, Texas, and California voice their opinion.
“Let’s have the people of this country, half of which haven’t had a chance to speak — let them have a chance to speak,” Santorum said.
Throughout his speeches over the weekend, Santorum has decreased his attacks on Romney from their height earlier in the week. At his final event of the day, he hit Romney for the first time on healthcare, calling him “uniquely disqualified” to debate President Obama on the issue.
Santorum is scheduled to campaign in Wisconsin Monday before heading to Pennsylvania Tuesday as he looks ahead to the April 24 primary in that state, but he told voters that they can transform the race not only in Wisconsin, but across the country, if they turn out for him in the state on Tuesday’s primary.
“You can change this narrative in two days,” Santorum said.
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