Eugene Robinson: Santorum in the Extreme

I don't think Mr. Robinson likes him.


http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/santorum_in_the_extreme_20120227/

Santorum in the Extreme

By Eugene Robinson


For all his supposed authenticity, Rick Santorum is not what he seems. Beneath that sweater vest beats the heart of a calculating and increasingly desperate politician who has gone beyond pandering all the way to shameless demagoguery.

That’s the charitable view. The uncharitable take on Santorum’s incendiary rhetoric is that he actually believes this stuff. Either way, it’s time for Republican voters to end his little electoral adventure and send him back to the cosseted life of a Washington influence-peddler.

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Hypocrisy and illusion are nothing new for Santorum. He plays up his alleged blue-collar roots, contrasting himself with the snooty Romney. But his father, Aldo Santorum, was a clinical psychologist who held graduate degrees, including a Ph.D., and worked for the Veterans Administration. His mother was an administrative nurse.

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I have to assume that Santorum knows what Kennedy meant—that when he says “the idea that the church can have no influence or no involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and vision of our country,” he’s just trying to appeal to religious conservatives. If Santorum is serious, his views are not just misguided but dangerous.

Progressives have an obvious interest in seeing the Republican Party choose a weak nominee, but they shouldn’t hope for Santorum. He would be the most extreme candidate since Barry Goldwater—and probably would suffer the same fate. But the nation can’t afford to take that chance.