Rick Santorum may choose to focus more on a social issues at a time of fiscal peril for this nation. Others seem determined not to criticize him for his stands, but instead to engage in petty antics which say more about them than about the flawed candidate. As our reader, ChrisH pointed out in a comment to my post on the Senator’s discipline problem:
Saw a couple people post a portrait of Rick Santorum on Facebook made up of gay pornography. One person called it “brilliant.”
More like childish and immature.
I had seen similar images in my Facebook thread with similar commentary. Santorum has many problems and, like all presidential candidates, should be subject to a thorough vetting by his opponents, pundits and other journalists. But, there’s no need to resort to such pettiness to get a point across.
They would do well to follow the lead of John Podhoretz who wonders at the hysteria, but at the same time points out just how un-Reaganesque the contender is:
Moreover, the hysterical and wildly distorted mass onslaught against Santorum over the past few days — which must be understood as an example of the nearly overt way the mainstream media have declared war on the Republican Party in the run-up to the election — is certain to provoke a backlash among voters who’ll know they’re being fed Democratic campaign propaganda.
No, Santorum’s problem is — forgive the technical graduate-school political-science terminology here — that he’s a sourpuss, and sourpusses don’t get elected president.
. . . .
Like many culture warriors, he is disappointed by America and its failings, which — as his controversial views on the morality of birth control demonstrate — he believes stem from an excess of self-indulgence and the elevation of sexual appetite over self-restraint.
Just because some on the left (and in the legacy media) have gone overboard in their critiques of Mr. Santorum doesn’t mean that other critiques lack merit. Those who go overboard, may indeed, provoke a backlash.
Podhoretz is onto something. Ronald Reagan reminded us of the better angels of our nature. Santorum hectors us about the devils that plague our society. We need a leader who inspires us to improve.
And we need critiques, like Podhoretz, who explain why they find a candidate flawed rather than mock him in a way that deflects attention from his flaws and shines some light on theirs.
The question we need to ask is, who benefits from anti-Santorum hysteria? And the answer, sadly, is: Obama.
There is this interesting blog I read. It had a couple posts recently:
http://www.gaypatriot.net/2012/02/18/the-democrats-crude-bit-of-misdirection/
http://www.gaypatriot.net/2012/02/20/inventing-for-political-purposes-a-republican-war-on-women/
I think it’s saying that, at a time when Obama is destroying America’s future with his fiscal
recklessnessinsanity, the left-wing media frames/supports other controversies in order to distract and misdirect Americans. I think thet point is right. And, in that light, Sweater Vest has been playing the role of Useful Idiot – the guy who just can’t stop himself from jumping into those ‘misdirecting’ controversies with both feet.So, anti-Santorum hysteria is a twofer for the Left. With anti-Santorum hysteria, the Left gets to feel good (indulging their Two Minutes’ Hate), and to have a willing Republican play into their larger strategy to re-elect Obama, at the same time.
You just know that if Santorum actually won the election he’d be derided as “President Frothy” or some other vile description. I’m definitely NOT a fan of Santorum and will be voting against him if he’s the nominee this year, but the depths to which some of his liberal detractors sink to in criticizing the man are just beyond the pale. There’s much to criticize the man for and reasons to oppose him, more than just social issues, yet not this way.
As usual, Ace says my point better:
Social & fiscal conservatism is Rick Santorum’s strengths; he’s hardly dour at all. I love his passion & his ability to articulate everything into a greater theme. This is why Rick Santorum is surging.
What point would that be, exactly?
I think Santorum is right; many problems are caused by excess self-indulgence. And OWS is an example of a prevalent attitude of entitlement and general selfishness (i.e. self-indulgence; refusal to contribute to society by working) that evidently exists in a large percentage of the electorate. And many people (and governments) are in horrible fiscal shape because they don’t know how to follow a sensible budget, and instead spend money on things they want at the moment but don’t actually need and can’t actually afford (and that feeds into aforementioned entitlement mentality). It isn’t all related to sex, but there certainly is a problematic lack of self-restraint.
Having said that, it seems like perhaps Santorum believes the lack of self restraint is exclusively related to sex, considering his willingness to spend how he does. Not that any of the other candidates are small-government fiscal conservatives that don’t also trust Iran.
Also, Santorum may be dour, but perhaps he just being a realist.
I really should read the articles you link to, Dan, before posting a comment. I just read it now, and please disregard my comment about Santorum being a realist. I respect his viewpoint, but I highly doubt anything catastrophic will happen to the United States directly as a result of abortion, which is what I interpret from Santorum’s remark quoted therein.
At one point earlier in the primary season, I was flirting with supporting Santorum, given that he is normally articulate, seems to be a decent person in his personal life, and seems better able to reach working class voters. All of these things are still true, I think. But I think that he shows little ability or even desire to reach out to people who aren’t socially conservative and/or Christian. Even Protestant Christians have reason to wonder if he really respects them, to say nothing of non-Christians. I don’t worry that he would do all of the things people worry that he would do if he were president, if for no other reason than Congress and the courts would not allow it. Even so, I want this election to be about the economy, the size of government, and ending Obama’s misuse of power (e.g., Solyndra, Fast and Furious), not about whether contraception is a good thing or not or whether we should reinstate DADT. Santorum may want to talk about more than just social issues, but it’s his own fault that he keeps obsessing over them.