23 February 2012 4:56 AM
After tonight's debate, in which Ron Paul and Mitt Romney repeatedly attacked
Rick Santorum over his 16-year record in Congress, the former US
Senator for Pennsylvania hinted that something nefarious was going on.
"You have to ask Congressman Paul and Governor Romney what they've got going together," Santorum told reporters in the spin room in Mesa, Arizona. "Their commercials look a lot alike and so do their attacks."
Santorum's top strategist John Brabender went even further, charging that the two men had "joined forces" and were coordinating attacks against his man
"Clearly there's a tag team strategy between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. For all I know, Mitt Romney might be considering Ron Paul as his running mate. Clearly there is now an alliance between those two and you saw that certainly in the debate."
2012 Republican ticket? Ron Paul and Mitt Romney
The was also coordination in their attack ads, he charged. "Ron Paul for all practical purposes has pulled out of Michigan. Correct? Where's he running negative ads against Rick Santorum? Michigan.
"It was interesting to me that if you watch Ron Paul when he came into the debate, he wrote negative things about Rick Santorum down because when he started to get questions he would immediately pick up his paper and start mentioning Santorum stuff."
He added: "What is amazing to me this shows a remarkable ability by Romney, who has already proven to be the most negative man in history on TV, now he's even training his opponents to be negative for his benefit and actually I think that takes remarkable skill."
The Romney campaign ridiculed the notion there was any coordination. "If ever there was an iconoclast who got up there and said what he believed, it's Ron Paul," said Stuart Stevens, Romney's chief strategist.
"The President of the United States's political action committee is now running ads that are just like Rick Santorum's. Is Rick Santorum coordinating with the President of the United States? I don't think so.
"So I think that's a sort of whiney silliness. It would not even be a question if he [Santorum] felt that he'd answered these questions better.
"To say, 'People are ganging up on me' in a debate where there's only four people in the debate and they're raising questions kind of speaks for itself."
"You have to ask Congressman Paul and Governor Romney what they've got going together," Santorum told reporters in the spin room in Mesa, Arizona. "Their commercials look a lot alike and so do their attacks."
Santorum's top strategist John Brabender went even further, charging that the two men had "joined forces" and were coordinating attacks against his man
"Clearly there's a tag team strategy between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. For all I know, Mitt Romney might be considering Ron Paul as his running mate. Clearly there is now an alliance between those two and you saw that certainly in the debate."
2012 Republican ticket? Ron Paul and Mitt Romney
The was also coordination in their attack ads, he charged. "Ron Paul for all practical purposes has pulled out of Michigan. Correct? Where's he running negative ads against Rick Santorum? Michigan.
"It was interesting to me that if you watch Ron Paul when he came into the debate, he wrote negative things about Rick Santorum down because when he started to get questions he would immediately pick up his paper and start mentioning Santorum stuff."
He added: "What is amazing to me this shows a remarkable ability by Romney, who has already proven to be the most negative man in history on TV, now he's even training his opponents to be negative for his benefit and actually I think that takes remarkable skill."
The Romney campaign ridiculed the notion there was any coordination. "If ever there was an iconoclast who got up there and said what he believed, it's Ron Paul," said Stuart Stevens, Romney's chief strategist.
"The President of the United States's political action committee is now running ads that are just like Rick Santorum's. Is Rick Santorum coordinating with the President of the United States? I don't think so.
"So I think that's a sort of whiney silliness. It would not even be a question if he [Santorum] felt that he'd answered these questions better.
"To say, 'People are ganging up on me' in a debate where there's only four people in the debate and they're raising questions kind of speaks for itself."
Source: Mail Online - Toby Harnden's blog
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