Republican Tea Party (GOTP) presidential hopeful Richard John “Rick” Santorum is reportedly defending having cursed at New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny on Fox News as normal for a “real Republican.”

“If you haven’t cursed out a New York Times reporter during the course of a campaign, you’re not really a real Republican, is the way I look at it,” he said on “Fox & Friends.”

So, “Real Republicans” use foul language? The only way to be a “real Republican” is to swear and rant at reporters?

Reportedly Zeleny asked Santorum about comments he made in Wisconsin that Romney was the “worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama.”

“You said Mitt Romney is the worst Republican in the country,” said Zeleny. “Is that true?”

“Stop lying,” Santorum said irately, pointing his finger at him, claiming that he was only talking about Romney’s health care positions. “Quit distorting my words … if I see it, it’s bullsh*t.”

“It was just one of these harassing moments, and after having answered the question a few times, sort of comes back with the same old question, the same old spin. I just said, ‘Okay, I’ve had enough of this you-know-what.’ And so that’s what I did. Look, we’re out there slugging away. We’re the candidate out there that’s mixing it up, and we’re mixing it up.”

It’s understood the Tea Party rabble on the uber-right of today’s Republican party enjoy it when their candidates “mix it up” with reporters, but it isn’t particularly presidential to swear at them, or to lose one’s temper at legitimate questions, and it doesn’t speak well of the party of so-called “family values”.

Part of the “vetting” process of our presidential candidates is getting to see how they react under the daily pressure of campaigning; it allows the voter to get a glimpse of how the men and women wanting to be president will react to the ongoing demands of the job.

An “undoing” moment for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination occurred when she broke down and began to cry, it may have made her look more feminine but it didn’t look presidential.

Santorum has these ongoing back and forth moments between looking viable and looking sophomoric, and right now he’s leaning over sideways to sophomoric.