Daily Santorum: I'm vetted, unlike Cain
Yes, Rick Santorum is in Iowa, still seeking to do well enough Jan. 3 that he can brag to be atop the heap of not-Romneys. But he's also doing that other thing he does so effortlessly and well -- go after his GOP counterparts.
A few weeks ago the target was Rick Perry. Today it's Herman Cain. With the sexual harrassment questions swirling around Cain's presidential bid, Santorum dives right in to say the party needs someone who's been fully vetted over the years. Somebody like . . . him.
Rick Santorum, on Fox News today, after being asked his thoughts on the allegations surrounding Herman Cain.
"I don't know all the facts.... what I can say is that there's something to said for having a candidate in the race who's been in front of the national public eye, who's gotten scrutiny.
I've run five races, three state-wide races in Pennsylvania, and been under the national spotlight and had to answer all the questions on all the issues, have had my background looked at."
His chief strategist -- Pittsburgh's John Brabender -- is piling on too. From Real Clear Politics:
What I would encourage the Cain [campaign] to do, if you're the front-runner and you plan to be the nominee, to be forthcoming so that you are vetted and we don't get into a situation where you are our nominee and we find out things after the fact," said John Brabender, Santorum's senior strategist and media consultant, on Tuesday at the National Journal forum.
Brabender then accused the Cain team of being inconsistent in its responses to the report by Politico that two women in the 1990's accused Cain of inappropriate behavior while he was head of the National Restaurant Association. Block said Cain answered all the questions asked of him on Monday in several media interviews and Washington D.C. appearances.
"The problem was the answers changed during the day," said Brabender. At an afternoon National Press Club appearance Monday, for example, Cain said he was unaware of any settlement reached in the case. But in a later interview with Fox News, Cain recalled a settlement for one of the women.