Santorum spokeswoman: Obama’s ‘radical Islamic policies’

This about-face didn’t take long: Shortly after Rick Santorum’s national campaign spokeswoman compared President Obama’s ways of running the country to “radical Islamic policies,” she retracted her statement.

The newly hired Alice Stewart let out the little verbal slip during an appearance on MSNBC. When asked by Andrea Mitchell to clarify a comment that Santorum made over the weekend about Obama’s theology being unbiblical, Stewart said the following:

“He was not questioning the president’s character, he wasn’t questioning the president’s religion,” Stewart said. “As he’s said, he has clarified the statement. He was talking about radical environmentalists. There is a type of theological secularism when it comes to the global warmists in this country. He was referring to the president’s policies, in terms of the radical Islamic policies the president has, particular in terms of the energy exploration.”

Was it just a gaffe. Or was Stewart playing to the deeply held fear among some Americans—still—that Obama is a closet Muslim, and a radical sympathizer at that.