Did Santorum Trap Poor Romney?

HOME POLITICS NATIONAL NEWS WORLD ECONOMY SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT Joe Conason Carl Hiaasen Connie Schultz E.J. Dionne Gene Lyons Jonathan Alter April 12, 2012 THE BIG STORY, E.J. DIONNE How Santorum Boxed In Romney Rick Santorum's departure from the presidential race could not come soon enough for Mitt Romney. In proving himself more tenacious than anyone predicted, Santorum dramatized one of Romney's major problems, created another, and forced the now inevitable Republican nominee into a strategic dilemma. READ MORE POLITICS Will Sheldon Adelson Get Revenge In Nevada? Las Vegas casino baron and billionaire Sheldon Adelson, the hawkish backer of Israel's right-wing government who dumped over $15 million into the Super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich for president, could play just as big in the Nevada Senate race -- where a woman he fired in 1997 (and still loathes) will be the Democrat on the ballot. READ MORE FEATURED COLUMN: LEONARD PITTS JR. A Tea Partier With Guts Barack Obama himself has never had the guts to say it. Indeed, while it is famously difficult to prove a negative, it seems apparent that few people in all of politics and media have had the guts to say it. Did John McCain ever say it? Did Rick Santorum or Bill O'Reilly? So let us plant a little flag for, mark with a yellow highlighter, the thing Rep. Raul Labrador said Sunday on "Meet the Press": that "it wouldn't matter" if President Obama were a Muslim. And if it seems rather much to be handing out medals for such a modest statement of principle, well... the principle has been under fire for so long that even a modest statement feels momentous. READ MORE TODAY IN STUPID Allen West: Almost Half Of Congressional Dems Are Communists Florida Rep. Allen West has claimed in the past that he is the "modern day Harriet Tubman," but his latest wild statement leaves him looking more like Joe McCarthy. West made his latest in a long line of controversial comments at a Tuesday afternoon town hall meeting in Palm City. When asked "What percentage of the American legislature do you think are card-carrying Marxists?" West answered, "I believe there's about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party." READ MORE FEATURED COLUMN: JIM HIGHTOWER GOP Presidential Contenders' Goofy Greed Rick Perry's latest "oops" moment is even stupider than his failure to remember his own lines in a presidential debate. In his grandiose desire to be president, this tightfisted champion of taxpayers dipped liberally into the public till to have Texans subsidize his failed run. Perry essentially abandoned the state and his gubernatorial duties for about six months -- but the no-show governor kept billing us for his $150,000-a-year paycheck. It turns out that he was also double-dipping, by taking another $90,000 a year in pension payments -- even though he's not retired. Two state checks a month for doing nothing -- good work if you can get it! READ MORE SOCIAL SECURITY AND YOU When Should You Take Your Social Security? There is no question I am asked more often than this one: "When should I start my Social Security?" Another version of that question goes like this: "Should I take my Social Security at 62... or wait until age 66 or even age 70?" As I've pointed out so many times in this column, that is almost an impossible question to answer because there are so many potential variables. And the biggest variable of all is your life expectancy. READ MORE CARTOON OF THE DAY   (c) 2012 Eastern Harbor Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 28 West 27th Street, Suite 502 New York, NY 10001