Santorum: Obama is a ‘snob’
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum increased his criticism of President Barack Obama and Democrats Tuesday during an appearance in Boise, Idaho.
Mr. Santorum is surging in popularity among voters nationally according to recent polls, and he looked to rally his socially conservative base of voters in the midwest Tuesday.
The former senator slammed Mr. Obama’s healthcare reforms and criticized congressional Democrats for opposing the proposed healthcare reforms of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican.
In 2011, Mr. Ryan presented a plan to overhaul government funded Medicare, and instead offer subsidies to Americans over the age of 55, giving them the option to purchase healthcare themselves.
“Don’t you see how they see you? How they look down their nose at the average Americans. These elite snobs,” said Mr. Santorum.
Mr. Santorum’s comments sound similar to the criticism that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has received throughout the race. Mr. Romney’s rivals have tried to characterize him as a wealthy businessman who “lives in a world of Swiss bank accounts,” in the words of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
On Tuesday Mr. Santorum used that type of elitist attack against Mr. Obama. Although the Obama administration has promoted itself as favoring economic reforms that benefit the middle class, Mr. Santorum sees his healthcare law as an elitist policy that “looks down” on working class Americans.
The former senator has not had the big spending advantage that Mr. Romney and other candidates have enjoyed throughout the Republican primary race. Voters commonly see him as the underdog candidate, going up against the more well known candidates like Mr. Romney, Mr. Gingrich and Texas lawmaker Ron Paul.
During the Idaho appearance, his comments appeared to be geared towards building anger within the Tea Party Republicans, evangelical Christians and conservative voters in the midwest that helped him achieve three primary victories last week.
“We are reaching a tipping point, folks, when those who pay are the minority and those who receive are the majority. Freedom in an election process is not something people will care about. They’ll care about whether they get their piece,” said Mr. Santorum.
Mr. Romney took a similar approach to voters in Michigan Tuesday, writing an op-ed article in The Detroit News calling himself a “son of Detroit” who understands the interests of working class voters in Michigan.
Mr. Santorum has tried to appeal to religious blue collar working class Americans throughout the Republican primary race. Many political analysts feel that his appeal to working class voters is more authentic than the same attempts by Mr. Romney.
Furthermore, working class voters will be a key targeted demographic in the upcoming presidential election. Working class families were hit the hardest by the recent economic downturn and high unemployment rates in the U.S., and they will be looking for the candidate who can get them back to work again.
