No two ways about it, Rick Santorum had a good night. Not only did he sweep Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri but he also got off the best line of the night.
“I don’t stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama.”
A slap to the side of the head of Romney while pushing him aside and casting himself as the one and only true conservative who has the creds to take on the Kenyan guy – and he did it with a single sentence. Impressive.
Is there more to this Santorum fellow than any of us give him credit for?
Not really. He’s still the bigoted, narrow-minded, gay-bashing, religious zealot you always knew him to be. The only reason people are still talking about Santorum at this stage of a Republican primary is that he’s fortunate enough to be running at a time when the GOP decided to put on a clown show instead of a true presidential nomination race where thinking adults articulate intelligent ideas based on strong conservative ideals.
Instead, the GOP has offered the likes of Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich who have embarrassed themselves and insulted the intelligence of Americans with…
- Wanting to do away with the minimum wage. (Bachmann)
- Wanting to build a 20 foot high electrified fence at the border that would kill Mexicans attempting to cross it. (Cain)
- Wanting to eliminate Dept. of Education/Energy/Health and Human Services, the Federal Aviation Administration, IRS and implement a $1 trillion budget cut in the first year. (Paul)
- Wanting to deregulate the oil industry further because the Gulf oil spill was simply an “act of God”. (Perry)
- Wanting to colonize the moon. (Gingrich)
You could fill pages with stuff like this. Whatever world Republican candidates are hoping to make better, it sure as hell isn’t the one we’re living in.
And into this field of misfits, loons, pretenders and grifters comes a Rick Santorum whose main appeal is to social conservatives who agree with Santorum that:
- women who get pregnant by way of rape or incest should be forced by their government to give birth to the baby because that pregnancy is a “gift” from God.
- homosexuality is on the same level as adultery, bigamy, incest, bestiality and pedophilia.
- contraception endangers the country and should be banned.
“Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”
Fear not. Rick Santorum will not be the Republican nominee. While he may be the anti-Romney flavor of the week, he lacks the the organization and money to take on Mitt Romney nationwide. He also lacks the support of the Republican establishment which is putting its money on Romney. They understand that selling Romney to the masses in a general election will not be an easy task but selling a hardcore crazy evangelical like Rick Santorum would be an impossible task.
Enjoy the moment, Rick, as fleeting as it may be.
(The Rick Santorum source image for this illustration is a Creative Commons licensed image from photographer Gage Skidmore.)
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Mario I have been a big fan of your work for a while now, however I do not care for this picture at all. You could of made the same point without some suicide reference.
Good work Mario, I like the art work because in my mind Santorum has committed political suicide with his fanatical religious beliefs. I am not a religious man but I am praying that enough people recognize Rick for the bigot he is and give him no chance for a shot at POTUS.
Mag. My illustration was inspired by the poster for the 2008 film, ‘Save Me‘. In case you haven’t heard of it, here’s a synopsis.
In that sense, my image was not referring to physical suicide but instead to an intellectual suicide brought on by religious zealotry.
Winning three states will give Santorum a lot of momentum and a lot of money.I’m no fan of Santorum but I will not underestimate him and the millions who are voting for him.He’s dangerous,but he’s still (unfortunately)in the race and has to be taken serious.
Mario, the graphic is disturbing to those of us that live by the cross, but I certainly understand the bigger picture. Frankly, I’m more surprised that it took Santorum this long to get a foot in. Knowing the mid west is more inclined towards Christian Conservatism. I know, because I lived in Colorado through Jr. High, and High school, and worked most of my jobs in Colorado. Missouri has always had a strong Christian, and other faith based Conservative strong hold. I thought it would be between Romney, and Santorum, throughout most of this campaign. It’s true, what Pjevs commented. Santorum will likely carry the faith based groups, more on his views with abortion. That’s how much many conservatives hate abortion rights. His challenge is convincing families that fully support birth control. Regardless of their religious status, many more American’s do not want to see a change that takes us away from birth control, not the important programs like Planned Parenthood. I needed Planned Parenthood in my 20′s. Young, newly married, with low wage incomes and a need for birth control along with exams for cancer, as I have that history in my family, was a very vital service for us. Many woman, couples with conservative views, would not say so out of fear of judgement, that they want to keep such needed programs. Santorum is like a blast from the past on issues with woman suffrage, the way he talks about marriage, and birth control, gay rights, etc..
As an Iowan I am truly embarrassed by being in the middle of three states (Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri) that let this looney tune win our states GOP madness. Of course, I wasn’t involved as it was GOP event, but nevertheless it is my home state. Please all, rest assured, not everybody in Iowa is nuts. Like other states, however, we have more than our fair share.
Ricky boy shouldn’t have a chance since he is so out of touch with reality but I’m always reminded voters in this country re-elected George W Bush so almost ANYTHING is possible.
I really believe the GOP knows they don’t have a snowball chance of beating Barry and are just going to let this one go and pull out the big guns in 2016. If Barry doesn’t have to worry about reelection and he starts acting like he has a pair and gets tougher and gets some things accomplished then the fireworks will be enormous in 2016.
Love the art work, appreciate the prose, and that means , “It works”. The symbolism works…as I have now posted in my place…
“If we cannot see symbolism as a powerful media for delivering a message, we are truly lost.”
Love the graphic, Mario (and all the rest you do).
Santorum (Google that) is just another frothy, brown flavor of the week.
He appeals to the stuck-up, feet stuck in the 50s, religious fundamentalist crowd that will become more and more rare as the world moves forward. In relation to the world outside the US these people are dinosaurs. They are too mentally isolated to realize they are extinct. He is their current leader, but they would fall behind any Pat Robertsonesque idiot who comes along.
I say let them send their kids to Camp Gay Away, build Intelligent Design amusement parks with animatronic dinosaurs being ridden by Bible characters and strive to force anti-abortion laws that will only marginalize them even more than they are now.
Santorum won’t be the Repub candidate. In 2016 there will be another just like him – a standard bearer for the ignorant and obtuse. To moderates they drag the Republican party into the Twilight zone (and I don’t mean the fun one with Vampires). By their very nature they make themselves un-electable in national elections. For that I am grateful.