Rick Santorum Misses Chance in CNN Debate

Rick Santorum missed his chance to prove himself during tonight’s last Republican Presidential debate before Super Tuesday. Among other mistakes, Santorum seemed ill prepared, pausing frequently, even stopping for a moment to blink at the camera, hoping that words would suddenly come to him.

In comparison to his performance from previous debates, Santorum’s performance tonight was lacking. He did not stand as strongly on issues where he was previously far to the left. Alexandra Petri, writer for CNN, stated that, “This was the first time he’s been close to the center of any debate, let alone a presidential one, and the fit was uncomfortable at best.” Usually, it is Santorum who throws pitches from left field, who is quick to reply, and seems to know exactly how to respond.

Tonight this was not the case. Tonight, Santorum’s best defense when Ron Paul called him a fake was to say, “I’m real, John. I’m real,” as he poked his arm. At this point, most people would say sarcastically, “No, really?” But Santorum went even further. When both Mitt Romney and Ron Paul attacked him for his record in Congress, he responded with a lame, “Politics is a team sport,” and tried to turn the tables, telling Paul that he was “ranked 145th in the bottom half of Republicans this year in a conservative voting record” from the American Conservative Union, the same union that gave Santorum over a 90 percent conservative voting record.

Santorum entered tonight’s debate with a wave of good fortune in the polls, but after his less than satisfying answers during the debate to both the moderator’s questions and his opponents’ attacks, it is likely that we will see his momentum hit a wall.

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