Is Santorum the Right Choice?

As the New Hampshire Primary approaches, I thought it important to discuss the newest Romney contender. After reading article after article about Rick Santorum, I found him to be a complex man that would be terrifying as a commander-in-chief. I say that from a purely academic standpoint and not from any other elitist, liberal bias epithet that might be hurled my way.

To begin, he appears to be the perfect conservative candidate. He's hardworking, fiscally responsible, and morally opposed to everything liberal; on the other hand he is what many are calling, a "cultural warrior." To put that in layman's terms, he is essentially a fanatic religious zealot, which keeps him from securing the independent voter. For instance, Rick Santorum has likened entitlement program participants to drug abusers and democrats as their dealers.  That would include entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, all of which are used by the largest voter turnout group: the elderly.

He further alienated voters with his defense of Catholic priests and cardinals during the sex abuse scandals by defending the church and casting the citizens of both Boston and Massachusetts as the real villains of the abuse:

"No surprise that culture affects people's behavior . . . liberal culture. The idea that sexual inhibitions should be put aside and people should be able to do whatever they want to do, has an impact on people and how they behave."

"No surprise that the center of the Catholic abuse took place in a very liberal, or perhaps the nation's most liberal area, Boston."

As a consequence of his action, the former governor and now campaign rival Mitt Romney came out and defended the Massachusetts voters, condemning all remarks made by Santorum. The former senator never apologized for the remarks towards the citizens of Boston.

On a more humorous note, Santorum has a "Google problem." Columnist and gay activist Dan Savage launched a full-blown grassroots campaign in the form of a webpage titled, "Spreading Santorum." Created in response to remarks that Santorum made equating homosexuality to "man on child, man on dog or whatever the case may be," it has surged faster than his poll rankings to the top of Google's organic search list for his name.

None of this, however, affects me. I've seen it all before, and it's just standard Republican procedure. The thing that got to me and should have gotten to Child Protective Services, is his actions as a result of his hyper pro-life stance.

In a book written by Santorum's wife, she discusses the birth of their last child, who was born prematurely and dying in the hospital. Though I personally can't relate to that experience, I imagine I would have handled it a bit differently than their family. After the child died, they brought the body of the 20 week-old fetus home to show their children. As each of the children held the lifeless body, they were told that their brother was an angel now. If that's not weird to you, I say vote Santorum.

So what should this mean for Republicans in New Hampshire? It means electing Santorum is a good move for the Obama campaign. People can tell you they hate socialism all day - until that day is their 62nd birthday. They can slander gays openly - until they run against a Democrat, and they can blame Massachusetts for their problems - until they run against Mitt Romney.