Pope Rick?
GQ reports that Rick Santorum has chosen his own code name now that he has earned Secret Service protection (bet he’d trade it for delegates).
Drum roll, please. It is…
“Petrus.”
No, really.
The use of code words to refer to candidates are a throwback to the era when Secret Service and White House Communications Agency communications were not encrypted. The tradition has stuck around. The only real rule the Service has is that the word chosen be comprehensible over the radio and not be similar to someone’s else’s. That’s why code names tend to have two or three strong syllables.
It’s tempting to associate a candidate’s code word with some aspect of their personality. Sometimes this is true and sometimes it is not. “Petrus” is a biblical allusion—as in St. Peter, the first pope. (The Latin name is derived from the Greek word for “rock.”)
As Jesus said, “Upon this Rick…”
Well, at least he didn’t choose “Sanctum.”
My analysis: This is a clever way for Santorum, considered an uber-Catholic by those who generally don’t know too much about Catholicism, to let voters in Catholic-rich Illinois know that he is actually Catholic.
Because, it turns out just over four-in-ten Catholic Republicans know he’s Catholic, and evangelicals are as likely to think he’s one of their tribe as think he is a papist.
Smart move, Rick! Not infallible, though.
Mitt Romney’s Secret Service code name is “Javelin.” That is way cool. He can’t lose.
I”ll saya it again: he’s ambition on stilts.
Hey, all politicians are egomaniacs.
Santorum = Petrus = Rocky. Am I seeing a mini-series here?
No way he wins IL.
Last night everyone I knew had their phones off the hook to avoid the Romney robo-calls. Still, Rocky always gets up off the mat to take another beating and blows to the head seem to do little damage.
Only four in ten Catholic Republicans know Santorum is a Catholic, and only 2% of Catholics know Romney is a Mormon? What’s with that? I guess its related to the almost 50% in Alabama and Mississippi who believe Obama is a Muslim.
Petrus, too close to POTUS.
I was wondering if Ken and Bruce were also code names?
Well, Pope Rick is right there -out in front -loudly declaiming his “enemies”/
Sounds a lot like our RCC at times
I’m surprised that he didn’t choose “Opie.”
It would make the backwoods variety of suthunuhs feel real warm and fuzzee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opie_Taylor) – and could be a “nudge nudge wink wink” link to his/not his Opus Dei association.
I suspect humility is not part of Santorum’s vocabulary. Petrus makes me want to vomit. (grin)
Petrus didn’t end up taking Illinois, blue state home of godless communists and other moderate republicans.
I think that “Opie Petrus” lost badly in Illinois because the voters felt under attack and exercised their right to “Stand Their Ground” and defended themselves to the extent possible. And it was done without gun violence.
But if it had been Florida – that would have been a different story altogether.