Line of the Week (Winning! Edition)

“We were winning. We were winning in a very different way because we were touching hearts. We were raising issues that, well, frankly, a lot of people didn’t want to have raised”—Rick Santorum in his concession speech this week.

On the first sentence, perhaps that is the slogan that the Pittsburgh Pirates or the Charlotte Bobcats can start using.

On the second sentence, perhaps raising issues “a lot of people didn’t want to have raised” (or, at least, his views on those issues) might have something to do with why he ended up “winning in a very different way.”

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics,
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. Herb says:

    Eww. Sorry, stuck on the “touching hearts” thing.

    Show me on the campaign where Rick Santorum touched you.

  2. al-Ameda says:

    I think Rick touched many hearts when he said, in Michigan:

    ” President Obama wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob … Oh, I understand why he wants you to go to college. He wants to remake you in his image.”

    I was deeply moved.

  3. Hey Norm says:

    The first line sounds like Santorum is channeling Charlie Sheen to me.
    The kool-aid in his camp is tiger’s blood flavor maybe?

  4. @Hey Norm: Yup. Sheen was the inspiration for the post title.

  5. grumpy realist says:

    Well, if “winning in a different way” == losing, then I guess ol’ Rick was right.

    Just think of the other places where this could be used!

    “High ROI in a different way” for Mr. Madoff

    ” Tsunami recovery in a different way” for Fukushima

    “Getting to orbit in a different way” for the North Koreans.

    “Country development in a different way” for Iraq. Oh wait, we already did that….

  6. ernieyeball says:

    Winning isn’t everything, in a very different way it is losing.

  7. Graham says:

    I love the way he boldly bucks convention to throw off traditional standards of “winning”.

    Sure, the establishment can keep telling themselves that it’s about who gets more “votes” in elections, has the power to make “policy decisions”, or “is” the commander in chief, but in his heart Santorum is the real winner, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what really matters?