While running cover for Rick Santorum's comments regarding the president's "theology" Monday with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, campaign spokesperson Alice Stewart flubbed a line, transforming "radical environmental policies" into "radical Islamist policies."
“There is a type of theological secularism when it comes to the global warmists in this country. That’s what he was referring to. He was referring to the president’s policies in terms of the radical Islamic policies the president has."
Stewart later
called Mitchell to explain that she had misspoken. Could happen to anyone under pressure, right? Even someone with experience as spokeperson for Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign that crashed and burned last year and, before that, Mike Huckabee's presidential run in 2008.
The Washington Post’s Anne Kornblut said she thought Stewart would apologize for the comment, but that it may not stop conspiracy theorists from grabbing onto her statement.
“I expect we’re going to hear more from Alice Stewart apologizing about those remarks. But there will be conspiracy theorists thinking it was some kind of message she was trying to get out or it was really on the mind of the Santorum campaign when they are talking about President Obama,” Kornblut said.
Okay, okay, give the woman a break. We're all occasionally stumble-tongues. But what about the conspiracy-theorizing Stewart herself clearly was messaging in that clip? "Global warmists"? Who might they be? Oh yeah. They're the people her boss has repeatedly said are
hoaxing us about human-caused climate change. People like just about every climate scientist who isn't on the payroll of Exxon, the Heartland Institute or the Brothers Koch.
Stewart and Santorum himself know full well that he wasn't talking about environmental policies when he referenced President Obama's "secular theology" last week. That's just a strategic retreat. Since they've chosen to go there, however, perhaps some enterprising reporter will point out the next time it's raised that nothing about Obama's environmental policies is radical. Not even close. But, as we are all too well aware, repeat a label often enough and for some voters it starts to stick. For a few, who were just listening with one ear, half-cocked in the direction of the television, "radical Islamist" may stick, too, apology or no.