Newsweek Editor Derides Santorum as a 'Firebrand Partisan'

"Newsweek" editor Marcus Mabry, appearing on CNN to deliver a postmortem on Republican Rick Santorum’s loss, attacked the Senator as a "firebrand partisan" and wondered if Republicans would learn a lesson from his loss. A transcript of his comments follows:

11/7/06 10:05pm

Marcus Mabry: "I think while we’ve heard some laudatory things tonight about the bipartisanship, on occasion, of the Senator from Pennsylvania, who only has another two months in office now, we have to remember this was an incredibly politicizing, divisive partisan, both on the floor of the United States Senate, but also back in Pennsylvania. And that’s one of the reasons he’s been turned out tonight. So, while, he reached across the aisle on occasion, his rhetoric is amongst the most heated of the U.S. Senate. The question now is, what will this new Republican– If Republicans keep the Senate and Democrats win the House, as many prognosticators are prognosticating, the question is going to be what is that Republican Senate like. It’s a separate house of the U.S. government. Are they going to work with the Democratic House or are they going to make sure the Democrats get nothing done? If a partisan, firebrand partisan like Rick Santorum is not returned to the Senate, maybe the American people are sending a message to the Republican Senators."