Santorum's 'Robocalls' Were 'Big Mistake'
By Paul Scicchitano
Newsmax.com
GOP strategist and Fox News contributor Bradley A. Blakeman tells Newsmax that Rick Santorum’s last-minute strategy of using “robocalls” to urge Democrats and independents to vote for him in the Michigan Republican primary may have backfired.
“I think that Santorum’s robocalls were a big
mistake and desperate people do desperate
things,” said Blakeman in an exclusive interview
on Tuesday. “This was not the proper way to end
a campaign in Michigan.
Tuesday's closely fought contest in Mitt
Romney’s home state was open to voters of both
parties. But by targeting Democratic and
independent voters,
Santorum sent the wrong message to the
Republican base, Blakeman said.
“I don’t know whether I could say it tipped it,
but it certainly didn’t help,” he said. “I just
think it was strategically the wrong thing to
do.”
Blakeman, who served as a senior member former
President George W. Bush’s administration, said
the tactic was simply not befitting a
presidential candidate.
“It’s something that you would expect from a
Super PAC,” he said. “If anything, he doubled
down on it and said it was a great thing to do.”
A professor of public policy, politics and
international affairs at Georgetown University,
Blakeman said Santorum attracted unwelcome
publicity at a critical juncture of the contest.
“I think that he certainly didn’t need this
kind of publicity the last day and a half going
into a close election,” he said.
Even so, Romney’s single-digit margin of victory
in Michigan was less than impressive heading
into the all-important Super Tuesday contests in
which some 600 delegates are up for grabs.
Blakeman noted the former Massachusetts governor
should focus his attention on the key
battleground state of Ohio, which is one of the
most important Super Tuesday contests.
“Ohio is so important not only in the selection
process but the election process,” Blakeman
said, adding Super Tuesday represents an
important test of electability.
“It’s almost like a mini national election
because it’s every part of the country,” he
said. “It’s also a test of organization and
messaging and that is a real test of whether you
have the chops to run a national campaign
against an incumbent president.”
Blakeman said Santorum will have a difficult
time regaining his momentum before Super
Tuesday.
“I’m not so sure that losing in the battleground
state of Arizona handily and losing in Michigan
— even though it’s proportional — will give him
the kind of jump without a debate . . . to take
on 10 states at once,” he said.
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