Don't Play the 'Might as Well' Game
Rick Santorum (Getty)
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March 23, 2012
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March 23, 2012
Oh, Rick. Rick, Rick, Rick. As they say on ESPN, "Come on, man!"
Our Katrina Trinko spotlights a comment by Rick Santorum to NBC News reporters:
Our Katrina Trinko spotlights a comment by Rick Santorum to NBC News reporters:
Rick
Santorum today suggested it would be better to stick with President
Obama over a candidate that might be "the Etch A Sketch candidate of the
future" -- a shot at chief rival Mitt Romney.
"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," said Santorum. "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."
In response, Mitt Romney issued a statement criticizing Santorum.
"I am in this race to defeat Barack Obama and restore America's promise," Romney said. "I was disappointed to hear that Rick Santorum would rather have Barack Obama as president than a Republican. This election is more important than any one person. It is about the future of America.
"Any of the Republicans running would be better than President Obama and his record of failure," he added.
"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," said Santorum. "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."
In response, Mitt Romney issued a statement criticizing Santorum.
"I am in this race to defeat Barack Obama and restore America's promise," Romney said. "I was disappointed to hear that Rick Santorum would rather have Barack Obama as president than a Republican. This election is more important than any one person. It is about the future of America.
"Any of the Republicans running would be better than President Obama and his record of failure," he added.
Whom
does this statement help? For starters, does Santorum really believe
it? Are we really to believe that if, as it appears likely at this
point, Mitt Romney is the GOP nominee, Rick Santorum would not vote,
leave the ballot blank, or vote for some third-party candidate? (We know
he won't be voting Libertarian.) Really? You want to lead the
Republican party, but you won't commit to supporting the party's nominee
in November if it's not you?
"Take a risk with the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future"? Just how risky does he think a second term of Obama would be?
There's something that's been bugging me about the Etch A Sketch metaphor that allegedly wounds Romney so badly. The central feature of the Etch A Sketch is its impermanence: It displays an image of something, and the image disappears once shaken. But the criticism of impermanence is different from the criticism implied by, say, "a wolf in sheep's clothing." There, the charge is that a candidate appears to be one thing, but is another thing entirely. The candidate cannot be the sheep because his true nature is that of the wolf. But an Etch A Sketch displays whatever you want it to display. Sure, if it displays something you like, you shouldn't grow attached to it, because after a few shakes it will be gone. But that also applies to the images you don't like. Calling Romney an Etch A Sketch is comparing him to the weather in Chicago: If you don't like it, just wait, because it will change quickly. In this metaphor, a President Romney would please conservatives, then displease them, then please them, then displease them, etc. That's not something terribly appealing, but it's also not what we're getting right now from our current president. Right now we're getting a seemingly endless cavalcade of outrages, insults, excuses, sneers, and rounds of golf.
None of this is to say it's really good for a candidate to be compared to an Etch A Sketch. But it feels as if some political observers are reacting as if it's the most devastating comparison ever when it really isn't. I mean, you could say every Etch A Sketch image comes with an expiration date or something. The idea of political figures doing what's expedient is . . . not exactly unprecedented.
(Oh, one other wrinkle in this comparison? Almost everybody loves the Etch A Sketch. Almost everybody remembers it, almost everybody had one, and almost everybody laughs at how hard it was to draw anything with just horizontal and vertical lines. Why do you think the stock jumped? Nostalgia.)
How far out was this statement? Well, exhibit A:
Newt Gingrich: "Rick Santorum is dead wrong. Any GOP nominee will be better than Obama."
Albert Martinez: "Recap: Jeb Bush & DeMint are excited about Romney being the nominee. Rick Santorum is okay [with] Obama being President."
"Take a risk with the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future"? Just how risky does he think a second term of Obama would be?
There's something that's been bugging me about the Etch A Sketch metaphor that allegedly wounds Romney so badly. The central feature of the Etch A Sketch is its impermanence: It displays an image of something, and the image disappears once shaken. But the criticism of impermanence is different from the criticism implied by, say, "a wolf in sheep's clothing." There, the charge is that a candidate appears to be one thing, but is another thing entirely. The candidate cannot be the sheep because his true nature is that of the wolf. But an Etch A Sketch displays whatever you want it to display. Sure, if it displays something you like, you shouldn't grow attached to it, because after a few shakes it will be gone. But that also applies to the images you don't like. Calling Romney an Etch A Sketch is comparing him to the weather in Chicago: If you don't like it, just wait, because it will change quickly. In this metaphor, a President Romney would please conservatives, then displease them, then please them, then displease them, etc. That's not something terribly appealing, but it's also not what we're getting right now from our current president. Right now we're getting a seemingly endless cavalcade of outrages, insults, excuses, sneers, and rounds of golf.
None of this is to say it's really good for a candidate to be compared to an Etch A Sketch. But it feels as if some political observers are reacting as if it's the most devastating comparison ever when it really isn't. I mean, you could say every Etch A Sketch image comes with an expiration date or something. The idea of political figures doing what's expedient is . . . not exactly unprecedented.
(Oh, one other wrinkle in this comparison? Almost everybody loves the Etch A Sketch. Almost everybody remembers it, almost everybody had one, and almost everybody laughs at how hard it was to draw anything with just horizontal and vertical lines. Why do you think the stock jumped? Nostalgia.)
How far out was this statement? Well, exhibit A:
Newt Gingrich: "Rick Santorum is dead wrong. Any GOP nominee will be better than Obama."
Albert Martinez: "Recap: Jeb Bush & DeMint are excited about Romney being the nominee. Rick Santorum is okay [with] Obama being President."
WHAAAAAAAAAAAH!! If I cant get the GOP nomination then no one will!! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
ReplyDeleteHeck, Bozo the clown would be better than Obama..
ReplyDelete