Rick Santorum: The Thread

[GoS]

I don't know about you guys, but I can't get enough of this guy. I feel like I should be worried, but he's just so extreme I can't help but find the whole thing hilarious. How do you guys feel?

[bucklind17]

I wouldn't find him as frightening as I do if he were a little further behind, but it's getting a little close to my tastes. The upside is that he's extreme enough that hopefully, only people similarly extreme would vote for him should he get the Republican nomination. But the dude, and his stances on a number of things but particularly rape, is scary and not the thoughts of someone I want leading this country.

[louielouie2000]

I found he & the majority of the Republican candidates quite amusing until very, very recently. The fact so many of them have taken turns going from the bottom of the pack to the top and back again (and again) has proven just how wide open this presidential race is, though. I don't think absolutely anything is a given in this race, and no one can be written off. I'm starting to feel that it's not Romney would could topple Obama's presidency, but someone more like Santorum. Why? Because just how different is Romney from Obama for Americans to warrant an exchange? Americans are extremely reluctant to remove incumbent politicians, especially presidents. I believe it's because they view it as a sign of weakness to renege on their choice of leadership. If Americans throw out their elected leaders (especially presidents), they do so in favor of someone who promises almost radically different policies than their predecessors. Hence why I feel that Santorum is quite scary, and why I shrug off Romney. (For what it's worth, I actually think Romney would probably make quite an effective president)

For the record, I have absolutely zero issues with fiscal conservatism. I think it's paramount to have a balance of power between fiscal conservatism & liberalism. It's just the social conservatism amongst some figures in the right wing which utterly dismays me. We can't drag time into the past, we cannot recreate the world of yesterday. And why would we want to? Why are some working so hard to chip away at women's rights after all these years? I think more than anything it's the hypocrisy of so many social conservatives which fires me up. The party of personal liberty wants to roll back women's rights. Newt Gingrich is chiding America on family values. Thankfully, I don't think we ever have to worry about Gingrich getting anywhere near the White House. Even if the eventual Republican nominee were to chose Newt as their running mate, it'd pretty much seal Obama's reelection.

[GypsySorcerer]

This whole Republican primary has been a train wreck, as each "Not Romney" candidate has had his (or her) moment, only to implode. Santorum is terrifying. Romney is a hypocrite who is embracing right-wing extremism to pander to the base, but Santorum actually believes this ****.

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

This whole Republican primary has been a train wreck, as each "Not Romney" candidate has had his (or her) moment, only to implode. Santorum is terrifying. Romney is a hypocrite who is embracing right-wing extremism to pander to the base, but Santorum actually believes this ****.

Exactly my thoughts. Santorum scares the f*ck out of me! I hope the majorityof sensible citizens of this country see through the evangelical extremism. Rick is getting too close for comfort. The media really sucks for pandering to him and not calling him on his bullsh*t.

[iamnotafraid]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

I think more than anything it's the hypocrisy of so many social conservatives which fires me up. The party of personal liberty wants to roll back women's rights.

Louie I admire the way you write though we disagree
on many things. You come off as a thoughtful soul. But
if the key word here is abortion, when you mentioned
"rolling back women's rights" then I'll stand with Santorum.
And unfortunately, I'm sure I'm in the minority here.

If anyone here has had an abortion, you might not want
to read the rest of my thoughts on this subject. Women's
rights in this case would seem extreme. In some cases, and
I'm not talking about rape, incest or the real endangerment
of a woman's life at giving birth; abortion is murder.

Have any of you seen an abortion being performed? On film
I have. It was one of the most disturbing things I've ever
witnessed. As best I can put it, the child was fighting
for it's precious life.

So if this is considered a woman's right, to take a life; then for
the life of me I can't understand it.

As far as the Republican Candidates go, I like them in this order:

1. Newt Gingrich. (Don't think he's going to win though)
2. Rick Santorum. (Starting to believe he might just pull it off)
3. Mitt Romney. (He looks the most presidential but...)

I would gladly take any of these three over President Obama.
His administration's views on Christian Institutions and their
policy towards Israel trouble me greatly.

All who totally disagree with me here please remember and
watch for this, if nothing else. Watch out for America's stance
against Israel. If it continues, we all will be in serious danger
of God's wrath.

[Fireflies]

Originally Posted by iamnotafraid

If it continues, we all will be in serious danger
of God's wrath.

can't argue with the facts.

[markolas]

All the GOP nominees are varying degrees of insane, with Santorum being among the worst. None of them stands a snowball's chance in hell against Obama in the general election, though I would welcome a Santorum nomination, since it would make Obama's job so much easier come November.

Back in '08, I maintained that no matter who won, Obama or McCain, he'd be a one-term president simply because W had screwed things up so royally that no one could fix it in 4 years and the public would hold whoever won accountable for that. Even two years ago I wouldn't have predicted a 2nd term for Obama.

But I didn't count on the entire Republican field of nominees being so incredibly zany. I mean, this bunch of crazies ranges from run-of-the-mill right-wing opportunist (Gingrich & Romney), to Ayn Rand-style libertarians with no grasp on reality (Ron Paul), to bat-crap looney Christian dominionist with even less of a grasp on reality (Santorum).

Obama has done about as good a job as he could have, given the mess he inherited and the completely obstructionist Republican Congress. He hasn't been as progressive as his base would've liked (which, frankly, they were naive for expecting), or as I would've liked. I'm basically a socialist, at least compared to many people on the Ledge.

[olive]

Originally Posted by iamnotafraid

. If it continues, we all will be in serious danger
of God's wrath.

It's not God's Wrath I worry about , it is the Wrath of his/her Followers.

[markolas]

Made the mistake of reading this thread without being logged in (and without the benefit of the ignore feature). Bet I never do that again.

[markolas]

Also, I was gonna ask who the Santorum supporter among us is, but it's pretty much been spelled out. I'm sure imnotafraid thinks I'm already risking God's wrath based on the fact that I'm a filthy, unrepentant homosexual, so I'm not terribly concerned.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by olive

It's not God's Wrath I worry about , it is the Wrath of his/her Followers.

~Like button~

[markolas]

Sweet monkey fritters, there's two of them now. The Ledge is being taken over by freepers.

[HomerMcvie]

If you're referring to me, I am a card carrying atheist. I was commenting on fearing the followers...

[markolas]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

If you're referring to me, I am a card carrying atheist. I was commenting on fearing the followers...

Unless you're the 2nd person who voted that he/she was a Santorum supporter in the poll, then I wasn't talking about you.