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Republican U.S. presidential candidate Rick Santorum gives a thumbs up gesture at his Alabama and Mississippi primary election night rally in Lafayette, La., on March 13, 2012.JONATHAN BACHMAN

"We have now reached the point where it's halftime," Rick Santorum told supporters in Mars, Pennsylvania, after losing all three primaries Tuesday night.

"Half the delegates in this process have been selected. Who is ready to charge out of the locker room in Pennsylvania for a strong second half?"

Pennsylvania, Mr. Santorum's home state, holds its primary on April 24th and it is widely seen as the candidate's make-or-break moment in the GOP primary race.

"It's a defiant Santorum tonight. Channels a bit of Clint Eastwood with 'halftime' in GOP contest mantra," tweeted NBC analyst Chuck Todd.

Hollywood actor Clint Eastwood's appearance in a Chrysler Super Bowl ad earlier this year lead many to question whether the ad, and its 'halftime in America' message, was intended to support President Obama's bailout of the Detroit auto industry.

Sweater-vest wearing Santorum supporters storming out of a locker-room is quite an image, but may not be enough to grab the nomination from Mitt Romney.

Nevertheless, the 'halftime' sports reference delivered some of the funniest lines on social media.

"Santorum says we have reached 'halftime' of GOP race. Unfortunately, he's Kansas and Romney is Kentucky," tweeted the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza, referring to this weeks U.S. college basketball championship.

One better: "If it really is halftime, Santorum is gonna need to come out of the locker room as Teen Wolf," tweeted Reuters correspondent Sam Youngman.

And for those who cannot remember the moment in the 1985 film when actor Michael J. Fox's character transforms in to Teen Wolf on the basketball court, here it is for your viewing pleasure.

Democratic party strategist James Carville delivered his own withering take on Mr. Santorum's Tuesday night speech: "He was like a chicken with his head chopped off. The chicken is dead. The only person that don't know it is the chicken."

A headless chicken storming out of the locker room after halftime?

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