Watch Rep. Ron Paul’s Jaw Drop As Rick Santorum Declares: ‘I Agree With Ron Paul’

While many of the 2012 Republican candidates align closely on most issues– they are in the same party, after all– no pairing of candidates represents the ideological divide within the Republican Party better than Rep. Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, the most libertarian and socially conservative of the bunch, respectively. So when Santorum’s first words in the debate tonight, on a question regarding the War on Terror, were, “I agree with Ron Paul,” needless to say that came as a bit of a surprise, particularly to Ron Paul.

RELATED: Rep. Bachmann: Perry’s Take On Pakistan ‘Highly Naive,’ Nation ‘Too Nuclear To Fail’

Santorum then paused slightly, as if expecting applause, but received almost exclusively silence. Particularly striking, and somewhat humorous, was Rep. Paul’s reaction himself, who, while Santorum explained that he did not consider the “War on Terror” a war– “terrorism is a tactic, we are fighting a war against radical Islam”– Paul appeared somewhat stunned to hear it as the camera shot to him. He then turned and wrote some notes as Santorum argued that Jon Huntsman was helping terrorists “wait America out.” Also funny? Watching Santorum wait after saying he agreed with Ron Paul, as if expecting applause, and getting scattered noises of confusion.

The moment via CNN below:

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!