Nomination Excitations: Is It Walking Like A Duck? [Updated Below]
From Byron York’s report on the GOP Debate of last night [tip of the fedora to Memeorandom]:
Rick Santorum suspects something is up between Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. Santorum had a tough night at the 20th, and likely last, Republican debate, held here at the Mesa Arts Center. He took a lot of attacks from Romney and a few from Paul, and he noticed that Paul and Romney didn’t seem to go after each other. When it was all over, and Santorum met reporters, he didn’t try to hide what he was thinking.”You have to ask Congressman Paul and Gov. Romney what they’ve got going together,” Santorum said. “Their commercials look a lot alike, and so do their attacks.”
“They’ve got something going on?” a reporter asked Santorum.
“You tell me,” Santorum said.
Santorum’s aides have long suspected that Romney and Paul have some sort of deal by which they attack other candidates but not each other. “Clearly there is a tag-team strategy between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney,” top Santorum strategist John Brabender told reporters after the debate. “There’ve been 20 debates, right? Why don’t you go back and see how many times Ron Paul has ever criticized anything Mitt Romney has done.”
“Ron Paul has for all practical purposes pulled out of Michigan,” Brabender continued, referring to next Tuesday’s primary. “Anybody see him up in Michigan? And yet where is he running negative ads against Santorum? Michigan.”
A few feet away, Romney aides dismissed the accusations as “whiny silliness.”
Now, as long-time readers of these Dispatches know, I am not prone to believe in conspiracies theories. I have written a number of times that I do not believe the Left is engaged in a well-organized conspiracy to destroy everything American stands for. That is most certainly their goal, but I believe most of them are smart enough to know that attempting to build a well-oiled and functioning demolition team is impossible. I believe the Left follows the strategy of ‘letting a thousand flowers bloom’, in other words: pounding the Leftist way of thinking into the heads of people and letting them go off on their own, knowing that they will act based on Leftist Logic, knowing that their droogies will, in their deluded enthusiasms seek to spread their mutant logic to others with a determined zeal.
This is why I resist believing that most conspiracy theories offered are not worth considering. The logistics of conducting one are too complex, most especially because the complexity required to carry them off works against the successful maintenance of secrecy need for any conspiracy to succeed.
[Here It Comes!] But, in this case, I have to admit that I’m leaning towards making an exception and Jeff Goldstein is to blame. He wrote, in a Debate Open Thread over at his joint, the following:
I DVRed the debate and here’s my takeaway: Ron Paul is working with Mitt Romney. And I’m curious how the Paul supporters justify what is becoming more and more clear here. Not only is Paul going after Santrorum (and before that, Gingrich) with his advertising, but he goes after them at debates, as well — and gives Romney, who is far and away the most statist politician on the stage, a complete pass.
It’s an orchestrated alliance, and it’s an obvious one. So. Any Paul people out there want to comment?
Jeff is not prone to believe in organized conspiracies, so, if he sees one here, then attention must be paid.
Thinking back over all of the debates, it is, indeed, curious that Mr. Paul has failed to throw a major punch at Willard, and, as I recall, when he has sought to counter a Romney point, he has not addressed him directly.
In this case, methinks the Santorum Campaign may be onto something.
What say you all?
UPDATE at 1701…
Some people have speculated that Ron Paul, by going easy on Willard, hopes to be named Secretary Of The Treasury, but others think the motive is for a different reason: getting Rand Paul the VP slot.
From Matt Lewis, we learn:
Nobody knows if some sort of bargain has been made, but it is interesting that Rep. Ron Paul has never really attacked Mitt Romney, yet he has frequently attacked more conservative candidates at just the moment they were beginning to pose a threat to Romney. (For example, consider his latest ad, attacking Rick Santorum.)
The timing has been noticeable.
Now, a Kentucky media outlet, WFPL News, might be offering us a clue:
Kentucky’s junior senator says it would be an honor to be considered as a possible running mate for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
… After a speech in Louisville today, [Sen. Rand] Paul held that door firmly open, saying he wants to be part of the national debate.
… “I don’t know if I can answer that question, but I can say it would be an honor to be considered,” he said.
Of course, this could be much ado about nothing — just a politician answering a question. On the other hand, it is sure to spark more speculation that some sort of deal may be in the works between the Romney and Paul camps. It’s not as if Ron Paul’s campaign hasn’t stoked speculation. As the Dallas Morning News reported, Paul’s national campaign chairman, Jesse Benton, recently said: “Any Republican should have Rand Paul on his short list.”
Interesting.
