Republicans Exposing Themselves

If you blinked, you missed it. Or you probably missed it because you were fast asleep. Late last night, nearly a month after suspending his own campaign, 13 paragraphs into a 16 paragraph email to his supporters, Rick Santorum finally endorsed Mitt Romney as the inevitable Republican nominee.

Above all else, we both agree that President Obama must be defeated. The task will not be easy. It will require all hands on deck if our nominee is to be victorious. Governor Romney will be that nominee and he has my endorsement and support to win this the most critical election of our lifetime.

It was a long time coming. Seriously. Shot-gun weddings happen at a faster pace than this endorsement, and with more enthusiasm.

One assumes that Santorum includes himself in "all hands on deck." But Santorum didn't promise to do very much, other than continue "praying for [Romney] and his family." Nor did he urge his supporters to do much more.

Does that mean Santorum is going to morph into a Romney campaign surrogate. Does that mean we're likely to see Santorum stumping for Romney on the campaign trail? Probably not. And with good reason.

We can probably expect to see more of this. It will no doubt go on through the Republican convention. I mean the parade of Republican presidential wannabees now preparing to kiss up to Mitt Romney after attacking him so viciously — and accurately — during the seemingly interminable GOP primaries. (Which, by the way, are not officially over yet.) The latest to apply the chapstick and pucker up is Texas governor Rick Perry.

You may remember Rick Perry from his family's unfortunately-named hunting camp, video highlights from his inspired New Hampshire speech, or the "strong" reaction to his viral web ad. Most recently. however, the man who arguably had the best hair in the Republican presidential field made the news for flipping his endorsement to Mitt Romney.

It comes to us all, eventually: that epiphanic, "come to Jesus moment" when the light of day finally penetrates our cloud of delusion, and undeniable reality slaps us hard across the face. That moment finally came for Newt Gingrich, who annouced that he will suspend his bid for the presidency. more »

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Well, as the saying goes, "It's all over but the shouting." Having slogged through a primary process that felt even longer than it was, it looks like Republicans more »

As a Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney should wear a warning label: "CAUTION: following changes in this candidate's positions could cause whiplash and other injuries." Seriously, you could hurt yourself trying keep up with the speed with which this gu more »

Now that my post-20th-GOP-debate waves of nausea have subsided, I'd like note one good thing that came of the whole ordeal. Their economic agendas are disastrously wrong-headed, and their attacks on President Obama go beyond borderline bigotry. But when the remaining GOP standard bearers attack each other, they are usually spot-on.

The latest example is Mitt Romney's attack on Rick Santorum for voting "No Child Left Behind" and the earmarks that built the infamous "Bridge To Nowhere" in which he basically called Santorum (as Jed Lewison put it) an "unprinicpled hack."

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I'd like to urge Mitt Romney to disregard his fellow Republicans' warnings not to destroy Rick Santorum, and step up his attacks on more »

Funny how things change. more »