Guess Who Just Praised Rick Santorum by Comparing Him to Obama? Ed Schultz

First, before we get too far in this story, let's point out that while Ed Schultz did praise Rick Santorum, he did temper it a little -- first by making it clear that he (Schultz) is no conservative, and second, the praise was veiled in a comparison to President Obama.

Mediaite has the quote, which came as Schultz defended Santorum's loss as in incumbent senator:

“I mean, there was a sea change that was coming. Nancy Pelosi was on the way with the gavel in her hand. I mean, he got wrapped up. There were four Senate seats that went down in 2006 that the Republicans should have won. It was Montana, John Tester. It was McCaskill in Missouri, it was Sherrod Brown in Ohio and it was, of course, Santorum. So he got kind of caught up in a whirlwind. Not that I’m a conservative in any way, stretch of the imagination, but having seen Santorum on the stump, he is as good as President Obama. I mean, he is a good retail politic guy. He gets in that crowd and those people are believing what he is saying. He’s got a very unique quality and he connects with people; he is not a bus stop kind of candidate. He gets in their face, answers their question, gets away from the bullet points and gets very explanatory. There are qualities about him that I think conservatives would really gravitate to.”

Yeah, you read the right. Now watch it:

Being compared to Obama may not seem like the greatest compliment. But considering that the comments were aimed at Santorum's demeanor on the trail -- something conservatives and liberals have recognized as an attribute of Obama's -- that's still quite the comment coming from Schultz.