Santorum Scolds GOP Frontrunners Over Personal Attacks

(Newsroom America) -- Rank-and-file Republicans may still be wrestling over whom to support as the next GOP presidential nominee, but for Rick Santorum, one thing that might help voters decide is if the field's two top candidates would quit sniping at each other.

Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania who won the Iowa caucus, used the occasion of Thursday night's debate in Florida to defend the political records of both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. But he also admonished the candidates to end the personal attacks and get back to the issues.

"These two gentlemen who are out distracting from the most important issues we have by playing petty personal politics," Santorum said following a heated exchange between Romney and Gingrich over mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

"Can we set aside that Newt was a member of Congress and used the skills he developed as a member of Congress to go out and advise companies, and that's not the worst thing in the world, and that Mitt Romney is a wealthy guy who worked hard and he's going out and working hard? You guys should leave that alone," Santorum, who has been running a distant third in Florida, said.

The Pennsylvania Republican echoed what a number of other GOP advisers and pundits have been saying - namely, that the personal sniping at each other has hurt the quality of the debates and taken the Republican focus off the main target, President Obama.

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