RUSH: Here is Santorum. And as I say, a lot of people I talk to, my friends, e-mails, people I don’t know, people I don’t like, people that don’t know I don’t like ’em, have sent me e-mails, and said Santorum was the winner in their minds. Best performance yet; really nailed it to Romney; really nailed it to Gingrich; really spoke up for himself. Best debate performance yet. If anybody had any guts, anybody could be honest, it was a smoke, it was Santorum all the way and nobody was even close. I can’t tell you how many people shared that thought with me, that review of the debate last night.
So let’s listen. This is Santorum talking about Newt’s unpredictability and his grandiosity. The question from John King, “Senator Santorum, Speaker Gingrich said he thought it would be preferable for the conservative movement if one candidate, in his view, had a direct campaign against Governor Romney. He said it was up to you — but he suggested perhaps Governor Perry and Senator Santorum should get out of the race. In suggesting that, he said this: You don’t have, quote, ‘any of the knowledge for how to do something on this scale.’ What do you say to that?”
SANTORUM: Grandiosity has never been a problem with Newt Gingrich. He handles it very, very well. And that’s really one of the issues here, folks. I mean, a month ago he was saying it’s inevitable, I’m gonna win the election, and I’m destined to do it. I don’t want a nominee that I have to worry about going out and looking at the paper the next day and figuring — worrying about what he’s gonna say next, and that’s what I think we’re seeing here.
RUSH: And there was significant applause to that, and that has been something that a lot of people who support Newt have offered as a reservation. That’s why I said the other day that maybe half his brain needs to be tied behind his back just to limit that kind of thing happening. But grandiosity, I mean, I could counter with some grandiose ideas, such as the Declaration of Independence. That was a pretty grandiose idea. I will bet you there were people in the colonies who thought the writers and the signers of the Declaration were insane and wished they would shut up for all the hell that was gonna descend on ’em because they were doing it. You want to bet I’m right? I know I’m totally right.
The Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson, grandiose idea. The Lewis and Clark expedition, send two guys and a team to map the Louisiana Purchase, find the Northwest Passage. Think of that. Grandiose idea. Connect the coasts with the Transcontinental Railroad. The Emancipation Proclamation. Can you imagine what the popular sentiment must have been in certain parts of the country when that came along, how nutty some people thought that was? Landing men on the moon and returning them safely, while actually filming the whole thing in a studio in Arizona? Just kidding.
I mean, we’re filled with grandiose ideas. The idea of this country is a grandiose idea. I remember an Apple commercial. It was a testament to Steve Jobs. “Here’s to the Crazy Ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world – are the ones who DO!” That was Steve Jobs, they turned that into an Apple commercial. You might even say grandiosity in the defense of liberty is a virtue. So you could play it both ways.
Anyway, that’s Santorum ripping Newt. This is Newt replying.
GINGRICH: You’re right. I think grandiose thoughts. This is a grandiose country of big people doing big things and we need leadership prepared to take on big projects. (applause.)
RUSH: Right on, right on, right on. And one more bite. This is Santorum taking on Romney and Newt, basically taking them out in one answer. The question from John King: “Senator Santorum, you heard Governor Romney and you heard Speaker Gingrich. Do you trust them, if one of them is the Republican Party nominee, potentially the next president of the United States, to repeal Obamacare? Do you trust them to do that?”
SANTORUM: Governor Romney tells a very nice story about what his plan is now. When he was governor of Massachusetts, he put forth Romneycare, which was not a bottom-up, free-market system. It was a government-run health care system that was the basis of Obamacare, and it has been an abject failure. Speaker Gingrich, who has been for an individual mandate, just a few years ago he stood up and said we should have an individual mandate or post $150,000 bond. How many $150,000 bondholders do we have here who can post a bond for their health insurance? These are two folks who don’t present the clear contrast that I do, who is the author of health savings accounts, which is the primary basis of every single conservative reform of health care.
RUSH: It was a great point. He’s pointing out, “These guys say they’re gonna repeal it. Obamacare is Romneycare, verse vice-a. Newt, he was all for the individual mandate. I’m the guy who has never crossed the line. I’m the guy who’s never been for national socialized health care of any kind. I’ve never been on one side of it, had to change my mind and come up with an excuse. I am the purist,” is what Santorum is saying.