KEITH OLBERMANN: Rick Santorum, trying to make the most of a sexist gaffe from a major financial supporter, while a Democratic senator wonders just which century we’re in now.
The fifth story on the “Countdown” — Santorum backer billionaire Foster Friess inserting himself in the contraception debate — yes, the contraception debate, in 2012 — with this comment yesterday:
(Excerpt from video clip) FOSTER FRIESS: This contraceptive thing, my gosh, it’s such inexpensive. You know, back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly.
OLBERMANN: Santorum, with Charlie Rose on CBS this morning, trying to distance himself from the remark from Mr. Friess.
(Excerpt from video clip) SANTORUM: It was a bad joke, it was a stupid joke. I’m not responsible for any comment that anybody who supports me makes, and my record stands for itself.
OLBERMANN: Santorum then accusing Rose, in specific — and the so-called “liberal media” in general — of a double standard in his case.
(Excerpt from video clip) SANTORUM: You don’t do this with President Obama, in fact — in fact, with President Obama what you did was you went out and defended him against someone who he sat in a church for, for 20 years and defended him that, “Oh, he can’t possibly believe what he listened to for 20 years.”
OLBERMANN: I know this act. I know George H. W. Bush, Mr. Santorum, and you’re no George H. W. Bush.
Santorum, referencing the 2008 controversy over the remarks made by this president’s former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, which story was, of course, broken by the so-called “liberal media,” specifically Brian Ross of ABC News.
Foster Friess, meanwhile, responding to this controversy with an apology first posted on his website — later taken down — which said, “I can understand how I confused people with the way I worded the joke and their taking offense is very understandable. To all those who took my joke as modern-day approach, I deeply apologize and seek your forgiveness.”
Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington, not in the forgiving vein today:
(Excerpt from video clip) MURRAY: If it was a joke, it was an insulting joke to women. If he was being real, that is frightening.
OLBERMANN: Murray, also seething over yesterday’s House hearing on women’s reproductive rights, the one that didn’t allow testimony from a single woman proponent of reproductive rights:
(Excerpt from video clip) MURRAY: I feel like I’m waking up on a set of the “Mad Men,” going back centuries here.
OLBERMANN: And who better to step back into the Wayback Machine with than Rush Limbaugh? The decreasingly-lucid entertainer saying the GOP would actually benefit from a return to the culture wars:
(Excerpt from video clip) RUSH LIMBAUGH: If the upcoming election could be decided on social issues, the Republicans could win that in a landslide, because we are on the right side of the culture war. The problem is, we’re scared to death of it. The Republican establishment wants no part of it.
OLBERMANN: Let’s talk about prescription drug use.
Back on the campaign trail, the candidate representing that establishment, Mitt Romney, unconcerned about the polls showing him trailing Rick Santorum.
(Excerpt from video clip) MITT ROMNEY: I’ve been behind, let’s see — I go back awhile — Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick — Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich. In each case, I ended up doing pretty well in the final analysis.
OLBERMANN: Romney, speaking of his competitors as if their pelts were hanging on his wall, hoping to add Santorum to his mythical collection by branding him — of all things — Big Labor’s favorite senator. Citing Santorum siding with Democrats, with votes against “right to work” legislation, for paying prevailing wages on public-works projects and banning permanent replacements for striking workers — i.e. scabs — again and against ending a railroad dispute.
Meanwhile, money for Romney’s attack ads keeps rolling in. His “Restore Our Future” super PAC now with another million dollars to spend in Michigan, added to another million plus from Romney’s campaign. Romney’s total doubling the funds available to Santorum from his campaign and super PAC from that state.
While Newt Gingrich’s sugar daddy, Sheldon Adelson, is reportedly doubling his investment, preparing to give another $10 million to Gingrich’s “Winning Our Future” super PAC on top of the $11 million already donated by Adelson and his family.
No, don’t worry about Citizens United.
President Obama also doing well in the money game, raising more than $29 million for his campaign — the official one —and the Democratic party in January. More than a quarter billion for this election cycle so far. The president also rebuilding the coalition that put him in office in 2008.
The Atlantic and Pew Research polls reporting the president’s support from whites, one point up in 2012 from 2008. His support from non-whites down a point in 2012. Liberals? Unchanged. Conservatives? Unchanged. Moderates? One point up from 2008. Republicans? Unchanged. Independents? Down a point from 2008. And Democrats? Up five points for his re-election bid.
Back to the Republican race. For more on that, on the campaign trail, I’m joined by Joe Williams, the White House reporter for Politico. Joe, good evening.
JOE WILLIAMS: Hi, good to be here.
OLBERMANN: Mr. Santorum and Mr. Friess, this attack on the press for its so-called “double standard,” is that going to work — at least with Republican voters — because it’s that standard whistle — the dog whistle of, “Here’s the liberal media again,” with or without any liberal media to actually be dog whistled about?
WILLIAMS: Well, if this week in Republican politics were a movie, it’d be “Back to the Future.” I mean, the only thing we’re missing is the ’88 DeLorean and a nutty professor, which many people would argue are present on the set.
But certainly, the controversy over Foster Friess and Rick Santorum — and Santorum’s attempt to blame the liberal media — I mean, that kind of plays into the old-fashioned notion here, because there’s nothing that the base loves better than an old-fashioned press bashing. I mean, it never fails to excite the base, even if Santorum himself kind of gets the — the — the issues wrong.
Not only did the press break the Reverend Wright story, but the president was compelled, because of the firestorm and furor — it wouldn’t go away, I mean, there were weeks on end where there was reporting about Reverend Wright and the president’s close ties to him — that President Obama had to go and make a well-received race speech to try to debunk all these issues.
So, the right — it’s something that they enjoy. They love it, it’s red meat. Whether or not it carries over and is able to drown out the noise from the Republicans on the birth control issue, and on other women’s issues that took place this week, remains to be seen.
OLBERMANN: Yeah, Mr. Santorum also seemingly forgetting that William Ayers came up during the debates after first having been raised, I guess, in March.
Romney and his confidence that he’s going to prevail anyway in Michigan — despite the polling, despite the cool reception he’s gotten around the state — is his campaign, in private, saying that they’re going to be able to close this polling gap with cash between now and the 28th of the month?
WILLIAMS: Well, in private they’re kind of wishing they could get back into the Delorean and stop this from happening, because this wasn’t supposed to be in the script. Basically, he is worried about losing Michigan, he has to be. If there were any way that he could get this out of the way and completely obliterate Santorum, he’s going to do that.
But certainly, his first swings at Rick Santorum have not connected very well. Santorum is a lot tougher to attack on negative ads than Newt Gingrich was, who had all kinds of targets. Santorum has been very consistent, he comes across as a authentic conservative, which is one of the reasons why he is leading in the polls there. And, not only that, but one of the reasons why Romney is behind is because he speaks conservative but with an accent, a Massachusetts accent, which the conservative bedrock does not like.
OLBERMANN: And Santorum keeps saying that those negative ads — essentially, whether they’re negative or not, he keeps saying that they’re negative attacks from Romney — that they’re turning off more voters than they’re bringing in. Is there any indication that that’s right in the primaries?
WILLIAMS: Well, the polls bear that out. Certainly after Florida, where he dashed Newt Gingrich completely, the negative rating for Romney ticked upwards, because polls have shown this consistently — that negative ads, they work, but they also have some blowback on the person who’s producing them, and making them look less than credible, less than above the fray. So, that’s a risk that he has got to take, or that he’s taking, for promulgating these negative ads.
And certainly, the longer it goes on, the more that Romney’s negatives will go up. So, I think he’s right on that.
OLBERMANN: And, speaking of polls — obviously it is, as I said at the beginning of the show, 264 days until the election — but those Pew numbers, that really peg the president’s supported at almost exactly what it was when he beat John McCain in 2008, are they meaningful in the middle of February?
WILLIAMS: Well, the middle of February, anything can happen. We’re several months out from a general election, we’ve got tensions in Iran, gas prices are on the rise. The recovery, while a positive — positive territory — is still quite fragile. However, if you’re on the White House, this is awesome news. Because you’re right where you are, despite 8.5 percent unemployment, despite a fragile economic recovery and largely because of the disarray on the Republican side. So, this is — this is all good if you’re them.
I think it’s meaningful, in that it allows them to raise more money, it allows the president breathing space to have a more hopeful message than the negative one that he’s almost certain to roll out in the general election. And any news at this stretch of the campaign, you want to take it and build on it as much as you can.
OLBERMANN: Joe Williams, the White House reporter with Politico. Thank you, Joe. Have a good weekend.
WILLIAMS: My pleasure.
