This is the same phenomenon we've seen over and over -- Bachmann, Perry, Cain, Gingrich -- when some hot issue or a good debate performance gives people the feeling: "There he is !!" This is followed by a surge in the polls. The next step is for his record and his baggage to be spotlighted -- and then the surge plummets.
Everyone seems to agree that Santorum is sincere, that he is committed, that he really really believes what he says. He has strong convictions and he stick to them. No dancing around, pretending to be something you're not. That's appealing in itself.
But what is it he believes? What is it he wants to do, as president? Aye, there's the rub. Here's a list, compiled by Think Progress blog, with my additional thoughts in brackets.
"Rick Santorum's Top 10 Most Outrageous Campaign Statements"
1. He promises to "annul" all same-sex marriages, because they "destabilize society." [But Massachusetts has had same-sex marriage for 6 years now; and they still have the lowest divorce rate of any state. The same year it became legal in MA, Oklahoma amended its constitution to outlaw gay marriage. Six years later, OK still has the highest divorce rate of any state. And what about States Rights, which most conservatives champion -- or did when it was about race. Still, he wants to overrule state laws, by presidential fiat?]
2. "I'm for income inequality. I think some people should make more than other people, because some people work harder and have better ideas and take more risk, and they should be rewarded for it. I have no problem with income inequality.”
[I don't know anyone who argues with that, but it misses the point. The controversy is about all the deregulation and favorable tax breaks that help the wealthy, shifting a bigger burden to the middle class and forcing the elimination of safety net benefits for the poor. "Income inequality" is one feature of this, but no one is seriously talking about forcing income equality. This country has long had a progressive tax policy, supported by Republicans as well as Democrats. But in recent years, loopholes and deregulations have offset much of the gains. Most people think a strong middle class, protection of minority rights, and help for those in need -- are all vital for a democracy. That's what this issue is really about.]
3. Santorum has pledged to repeal all federal funding for contraception and allow the states to outlaw birth control, insisting that "it's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”
[That is an exact quote. It needs no further comment.]
4. He wants to reinstate Don't Ask, Don't Tell, saying that gay soldiers would disrupt the military because “they’re in close quarters, they live with people, they obviously shower with people.”
["They" shower with "people"????? What kind of aliens does he think gay people are? But the military says this has not been a problem. Santorum is projecting his own homophobia. The military has already adjusted and moved on. Santorum seems to be terrified of same sex feelings.]
5. Obama should oppose abortion because he's black. His reasoning here is a little garbled, but it seems to be the idea that abortion was once seen as a way to decrease the black population. And black people should be especially sensitive to authorities deciding who gets aborted. “I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say ‘now we are going to decide who are people and who are not people,” he explained.
[Just let the racism in that remark sink in. No further comment.]
6. Speaking in Iowa in December, Santorum promised to significantly reduce federal funding for food stamps, arguing that the nation’s increasing obesity rates prove the food stamp program is unnecessary.
[I guess poor people can just survive off of their stored fat deposits, huh? Solve two problems at once. Nice thinking, Rick.]
7. He would not allow exceptions for abortions to protect the life and health of the mother, because all such exceptions are "phony."
[Except the ones in which pregnancy is, in fact, life-threatening. But Dr. Santorum knows better than medical experts.]
8. He claims that Obama is trying to move us to "socialized medicine;" and his daughter, who was born with a genetic abnormality wouldn't survive under such a system, because they don't give the same medical care to children like her.
[Ask the people of France about that. On the other hand, his daughter has almost died several times and wasn't expected to live this long -- and the miracle of prayer keeps saving her. Why won't prayer just keep on working, regardless of our health care system?]
9. Health care is a luxury. Answering a question about the uninsured, Santorum explained that health care, like a car, is a luxury resource that is rationed by society and recalled the story of a woman who said she was spending $200 a month on life-saving prescriptions. Santorum told her to stop complaining and instead lower her cable and cell phone bills.
[He's all heart, this guy. Wonder why he didn't also tell her to pray for better health so she wouldn't need the medicine?]
10. Insurers should have the right to exclude -- or increase the rates -- for people with preexisting conditions, "because it costs more to cover them."
[Survival of the fittest, eh, Rick? But what about someone who loses a job (and its insurance coverage) and has a chronic, preexisting illness? Is that fair?]
[And I will add two more from just the past couple of days.]
11. Women should not be allowed in military combat areas, because men "have feelings." When men see women in danger, they have a natural feeling of wanting to protect them, so they won't be able to do the fighting job they need to do.
12. On "This Week," George Stephanopolis asked him about this passage from his 2005 book:
'Sadly the propaganda campaign launched in the 1960s has taken root. The radical feminists succeeded in undermining the traditional family and convincing women that professional accomplishments are the key to happiness.'He claimed not to be familiar with the quote (from his own book), saying: ''I don't know - that's a new quote for me." Later he explained that his wife wrote that section of the book and that she had given up her career as a nurse and a lawyer to raise their children and that she felt that "many people looked down their nose at that decision."
It must exemplify their family values that his wife gets no credit for her "professional accomplishments" in writing part of his book; her identity is the self-sacrificing mother of seven. He did not acknowledge her in his list of people who helped with the book, much less credit her as co-author.
As to unfamiliarity with the quote from his book (whether he wrote it or not) --as has been pointed out, this same passage was a much discussed, controversial issue when he ran, and was defeated, for re-election to the Senate in 2006.
So he has a short memory, in addition to being a bundle of anxieties about sex (I haven't even mentioned his infamous comment about "man on dog sex" when he was opposing gay rights laws a while back). Now he wants to institutional all his sexual hangups by making them official policy as president, along with institutionalizing Catholic positions on contraception, abortion, etc. -- and make the rest of us live with their restrictions.
Yes, indeed, he has strong convictions and he sticks to them. That could be a problem.
Ralph
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