Santorum's Endorsement Of Mitt Romney Creating Buzz
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Rick Santorum's late-night endorsement of Mitt Romney is creating a political buzz.
"Well it's very strange," Allegheny County Republican chairman Jim Roddey told KDKA-TV's political editor Jon Delano. "It's almost as if he agreed that he'd endorse but didn't want to. He did it reluctantly and then he didn't really want to make a big deal out of it, so he waited until 11 p.m. so that it misses all of the news."
Roddey finds the whole thing perplexing. It wasn't until the 13th paragraph of a lengthy e-mail that Santorum endorsed Romney.
"Then his endorsement was very strange. He talked more about the things he disagreed with Romney than the things he agreed," noted Roddey.
Pennsylvania Democratic chairman Jim Burn says Republicans are clearly divided over Romney.
"They are not comfortable with him; they cannot put their arms around him. The cool reception -- slash endorsement -- that we have seen first from Mr. Gingrich and now Mr. Santorum is a reflection of that disconnect that Mr. Romney has with the base of the party," said Burn.
But if there's one thing that unites many Republicans, it's Barack Obama.
Santorum noted that in his statement: "Above all else, we both agree that President Obama must be defeated. The task will not be easy. It will require all hands on deck if our nominee is to be victorious. Governor Romney will be that nominee and he has my endorsement and support to win this the most critical election of our lifetime."
"They want to see a Republican in the White House, or they want to see someone other than Barack Obama, and so I think they'll come around," added Roddey.
It's easy to make more out of these endorsements than they are really worth.
This election is still six months away, and by that time the only names important to voters will be Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.
Still, endorsing a rival in this way -- especially after an hour and a half meeting with him last Friday -- is, to say the least, unusual.
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