He may not have a chance in hell of being nominated, or of winning if the GOP were crazy enough to make him their candidate in 2012, but that does not mean his presidential aspirations should not be taken seriously. Republican strategist Mark McKinnon says we need to sit up and take notice, because Santorum’s political ideology is as extreme as it gets:
A Rick Santorum presidency would be very, very dangerous for America.
Unfortunately, he’s thinking about it. No matter what they say, assume that any politician who steps inside the borders of Iowa or New Hampshire has got the presidential itch. And Santorum just announced a series of Iowa visits to scratch himself before conservative activists.
Santorum’s views on social and cultural issues don’t fit into any mainstream, pragmatic, or moderate conservative framework. His religious zealotry is frightening — jaw-droppingly so:
Santorum once grouped gay sex with incest, polygamy, and bestiality, and he believes consenting adults have no constitutional right to privacy when it comes to sexual behavior. He is a strong supporter of teaching intelligent design. He is anti-gay, anti-immigrant—supporting the most extreme anti-immigrant legislative proposals though he is the son of an Italian immigrant father—antiabortion, and anti-anything that smacks of progressive thinking, centrism, bipartisanship, or moderation in the Republican Party.
Santorum was one of only two senators who voted against Robert Gates to be secretary of Defense because Gates advocated talking to Iran and Syria, which Santorum said would be talking to “radical Islam” and would be a grievous error.
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Santorum’s view of conservatism departs from the libertarian tradition of Republican icons like Ronald Reagan.
Here’s Reagan in 1975:
“If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism…The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom, and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.”
And here’s Santorum in 2005:
“One of the criticisms I make is to what I refer to as more of a libertarianish right…This whole idea of personal autonomy, well, I don’t think most conservatives hold that point of view. Some do. They have this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do, government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulations low, that we shouldn’t get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn’t get involved in cultural issues. You know, people should do whatever they want. Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world, and I think most conservatives understand that individuals can’t go it alone. That there is no such society that I am aware of, where we’ve had radical individualism and that it succeeds as a culture.”
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Despite his actions and extreme ideology, and the fact that he was defeated in his bid for re-election by the widest margin of any incumbent senator since 1980, Rick Santorum should be taken seriously. He is articulate, focused, and a tenacious campaigner. And ideological conservatives love him. His base will be narrow but passionate. They will mobilize and they will vote. Especially in early primary states like Iowa and South Carolina.
And that means there’s one word that should come to mind when thinking about a Rick Santorum presidential candidacy: dangerous.
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