Santorum Backtracks Again: 'Snobs' Is a Strong Word

Reuters
Eric Randall 1,187 Views Mar 2, 2012

Friday, Rick Santorum admitted that his comment that President Obama is a "snob" for encouraging every American to go to college may not have been "the smartest thing" to say, marking the second well-publicized gaffe he's walked back this week. On Tuesday, after Santorum said John F. Kennedy's speech on the separation of church and state made him want to throw up, he said, "I wish I had that particular line back." Santorum's campaign has always been more amateur than Romney's -- just this week he hired a "delegate counter," sort of a must-have in a race for delegates -- but perhaps these walk-backs are a move to look more serious. Friday on CNN, Santorum told Wolf Blitzer:

I was giving a long riff about the president mandating things on people... And so I was commenting on the general attitude of, as I do in all of my speeches, of top down, government knows best.  And so I -- I used the term snob.  You know, it was a -- it was a strong term, probably not the smartest thing.

But you know what, I don't give prepared talking point speeches written by other people.  I -- I got a little passionate there and I used a -- I used a -- I used a -- a harsher word than I normally would.

That last bit sounds like a jab at President Obama's use of teleprompters for his speeches, a favorite point of Santorum's, but then, Obama's not the one under fire for his off-the-cuff comments this week, is he?

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