Did you see the presidential candidate Rick Santorum lose his cool with a New York Times reporter? If not, you can watch it above. It was a trivial incident, really, but we live in a trivial media age in which politicians think that embarrassing moments are something to boast about. Losing your temper shows that you are human, rather than a politician. Santorum and his spinners have tried to whip up the little row for all it’s worth ahead of his ‘last chance’ primary in Wisconsin. Santorum’s anger, they say, shows he is a ‘real Republican’ — i.e. not like the fake Mitt Romney. Rick doesn’t mind sticking it to the evil liberal media, you see. His campaign team has even sent out a fundraising email in his name that begins: ‘I’m not afraid to take on the New York Times.’
Nothing winds up American conservatives like the New York Times; and no Republican candidate ever harmed his popularity on the Right by having a spat with the Gray Lady. I remember once hearing Tucker Carlson tell the Conservative Political Action Conference that, unlike much of the conservative media, at least the New York Times tried to get its facts straight. He was practically booed off the stage. It’s hard to ignore the suspicion, in fact, that this was all a stunt — one that gives off a whiff of desperation, given that Santorum is close to losing the nomination to Romney. Have a look at the footage and make up your minds. For what it’s worth, I reckon there’s something phony about Rick’s tantrum.
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