Politics: Why Rick Santorum and David Axelrod Agree About Mitt Romney

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Politics Why Rick Santorum and David Axelrod Agree About Mitt Romney Fending off Romney's attacks in Illinois, Santorum is reaching for a new weapon: the Obama campaign's playbook. By John Dickerson Posted Monday, Mar 19, 2012, at 06:55 PM ET On the eve of the Illinois primary, Rick Santorum looked deep into the heart of Mitt Romney and came up empty. "He doesn't have a core," Santorum said on CBS's This Morning. "He's been on both sides of almost every single issue in the past 10 years." Does that sound familiar? If you wonder where you've heard that before, it came from President Obama's top strategist David Axelrod, who first said Romney lacked a "core" last October. It was then repeated by David Plouffe, a senior adviser to Obama who ran his 2008 campaign. The fact that Santorum is now cribbing from the Democratic playbook is precisely why some Republicans fear a long slog of a primary will damage their chances to beat Barack Obama. Not only is Santorum potentially weakening the likely nominee, but by parroting the administration's critique he lends weight to their claims. If Romney is their opponent, the Obama team will be ready to hit "replay" on the Santorum clip this fall. And that isn't the only Democratic talking point the Santorum campaign is lifting. His chief strategist, John Brabender, is now making an issue out of Romney's private-sector career. "While Mitt Romney was at Bain Capital, almost one out of every four companies they were involved in either went bankrupt or out of business," Brabender said on MSNBC this morning. A couple of months ago, during the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, it was Newt Gingrich ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Spitzer: The JOBS Act Would Undo the Most Important Reforms Placed on Wall Street in a Generation Southern Voters Answer the Question They Find Hardest To Understand Mike Daisey Was Nowhere Near Being  Substantially True About Apple in China	Advertisement
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