The Santorum Strategy

[BluePhantom]

I have been thinking about this a lot the last week or so. How have Santorum's religious views become so dominant in political discourse lately? The conservatives blame the press for asking the questions and attempting to focus the conversation, but on the other hand Santorum is stupid enough to get caught in the trap. If these social issues are truly "non-issues" then why bother to talk about them? Why not simply say "I have my own personal beliefs but let's discuss the economy"? I have concluded that a) he is as stupid as a post and can't keep his mouth shut or b) facing a critical primary tomorrow in Michigan (he can forget about Arizona, Romney has that one locked up) and with Super Tuesday a mere week away (a situation where he cannot possibly hope to contend financially with Romney) he is doubling down with the strategy that his comments will focus the national dialogue on him (thereby giving him free publicity in states where he doesn't have the money to campaign) and the religious right will bail him out. I personally think it's more B than A but......

Questions

1) If A and he is simply too stupid to avoid media traps shouldn't we be concerned about his intellectual capacity as POTUS?

2) If B and he is engaging in a political strategy will it work?

3) If B and it does work will he be able to convincingly move back to center if he gets the nomination (which is vital in order to to gain support from moderates and Independents)?

 

[Avatar4321]

He is talking about freedom of religion. As any candidate would be, and as they are, when the President tries to force a Church to act contrary to their beliefs.

And it's actually the cultural problems we face that are leading to our current economic problems. Unless we fix our culture, our time as a dominant economic power is over.

 

[bodecea]

He is talking about freedom of religion. As any candidate would be, and as they are, when the President tries to force a Church to act contrary to their beliefs.

And it's actually the cultural problems we face that are leading to our current economic problems. Unless we fix our culture, our time as a dominant economic power is over.

What is wrong with our culture?

 

[BluePhantom]

He is talking about freedom of religion. As any candidate would be, and as they are, when the President tries to force a Church to act contrary to their beliefs.

And I agree with that position, but Santorum is talking about a lot more than just that. Just yesterday he directly challenged the separation of church and state, his comments on contraception and his endorsement of a state's right to ban contraception is well known. I mean he is not just saying that government can't force the church to act a certain way, he is suggesting that the church can force government to act a certain way and giving it legitimacy.

And it's actually the cultural problems we face that are leading to our current economic problems. Unless we fix our culture, our time as a dominant economic power is over.

Hmmmmm........please expand on this with examples.

 

[kaz]

He is talking about freedom of religion. As any candidate would be, and as they are, when the President tries to force a Church to act contrary to their beliefs.

And it's actually the cultural problems we face that are leading to our current economic problems. Unless we fix our culture, our time as a dominant economic power is over.

What is wrong with our culture?

Well to start, 50% of voters think that their bills are someone else's problem

 

[Avatar4321]

Stating that religious people have a right to participate in the political process is challenging the First Amendment now? Since when? It specifically gives us the right to speak and exercise our religion freely.

As for the culture, it's not obvious?

Economic prosperity requires people who are willing to work, be honest, provide service for one another, think about others needs, eliminate corruption in our lives, personal accountability etc.

If you look at the economic problems we face, it's because of dishonesty, corruption, idleness, and a refusal of people to accept responsibility for their lives. If we fix those problems, our economy will boom. The government windowdressing may help a bit, but it's our cultural problems causing our economic problems.

 

[Meister]

I keep hearing about what he thinks about the states rights on banning contraception.
It was a gotchya question that they tried to lay on Romney, also.
The question was, do you think that the state has the right to ban contraception....I myself do imagine that if they forced the issue, yes, they would have that right...just like he thought they would have that right. (Ma. mandated Romneycare for an example) Do I believe they will, no, does he, no, has any state even brought up the issue, no.
It was there for a trap, and he fell in because of the spin put on it after all was said and done.
Media at it's best.

 

[Avatar4321]

And as much as people don't like to think about it, the breakdown of the family has caused alot of the economic problems as well. I work with clients every day from single family households. They easily make up most of juvenile delinquents. I've read countless psychological evaluations of these kids and most of them are in the system because of their parents, or more specifically, the lack thereof.

I applaud any effort a single parent is making in raising a child nowadays, but the facts show that it's not what the children need. If we end up raising children with problems, it's going to weaken our economy in the long term.

We could go over this in more details with more specific data, but i dont think it really changes the fact that our culture is the problem.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

3) If B and it does work will he be able to convincingly move back to center if he gets the nomination (which is vital in order to to gain support from moderates and Independents)?

To his credit, I don’t believe that’s Santorum’s concern, he is going to stay on his hard right course to the WH or bust. If he wins the nomination, Santorum will use his candidacy as a de facto National referendum on social conservatism. This is likely why he’s attracted so many republicans, including those who don’t consider themselves to be social conservatives – they’re attracted to his convictions, a trait they clearly see lacking in Romney.

And Santorum will be doing the GOP a favor: when he’s defeated by Obama, the Party will finally be free from the stranglehold of the radical right.

What is wrong with our culture?

Nothing. In fact our culture is the best it’s ever been, with equal access to all laws by all citizens imminent.

 

[BluePhantom]

Stating that religious people have a right to participate in the political process is challenging the First Amendment now? Since when? It specifically gives us the right to speak and exercise our religion freely.

I am not sure anyone is really challenging that. I am pretty firm in my belief of separating church and state but that doesn't mean that a person of faith cannot be involved in government. It just means that their decisions and policies need to be based upon something other than their faith.

Economic prosperity requires people who are willing to work, be honest, provide service for one another, think about others needs, eliminate corruption in our lives, personal accountability etc.

If you look at the economic problems we face, it's because of dishonesty, corruption, idleness, and a refusal of people to accept responsibility for their lives. If we fix those problems, our economy will boom. The government windowdressing may help a bit, but it's our cultural problems causing our economic problems.

Agreed.....what does that have to do with Santorum's views on contraception or church influencing government policy?

 

[Meister]

Stating that religious people have a right to participate in the political process is challenging the First Amendment now? Since when? It specifically gives us the right to speak and exercise our religion freely.

I am not sure anyone is really challenging that. I am pretty firm in my belief of separating church and state but that doesn't mean that a person of faith cannot be involved in government. It just means that their decisions and policies need to be based upon something other than their faith.

Economic prosperity requires people who are willing to work, be honest, provide service for one another, think about others needs, eliminate corruption in our lives, personal accountability etc.

If you look at the economic problems we face, it's because of dishonesty, corruption, idleness, and a refusal of people to accept responsibility for their lives. If we fix those problems, our economy will boom. The government windowdressing may help a bit, but it's our cultural problems causing our economic problems.

Agreed.....what does that have to do with Santorum's views on contraception or church influencing government policy?

Santorums views on contraception or his views on state rights pertaining to contraception?

 

[OtaniKitano]

"How have Santorum's religious views become so dominant in political discourse lately? "

Because the NeoCon jerks can't talk about the economy. THey have no answers.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

He is talking about freedom of religion. As any candidate would be, and as they are, when the President tries to force a Church to act contrary to their beliefs.

And it's actually the cultural problems we face that are leading to our current economic problems. Unless we fix our culture, our time as a dominant economic power is over.

You're not paying attention!

He is talking about the LACK of freedom.

 

[Meister]

"How have Santorum's religious views become so dominant in political discourse lately? "

Because the NeoCon jerks can't talk about the economy. THey have no answers.

If you were anywhere close to being up on the facts (which you're not, obviously)

You would know that the corporate media are asking these questions in interviews and in debates, instead of asking the tough questions. Then they spin it...go figure huh? Maybe more regulations, Otan?

 

[Full-Auto]

"How have Santorum's religious views become so dominant in political discourse lately? "

Because the NeoCon jerks can't talk about the economy. THey have no answers.

If you were anywhere close to being up on the facts (which you're not, obviously)

You would know that the corporate media are asking these questions in interviews and in debates instead of asking the tough questions. Then they spin it...go figure huh? Maybe more regulations, Otan?

This should give everyone a chuckle...


First Read - Dirty trick? Gun rights robo calls in Michigan boost Santorum, uses NRA name

 

[Firehorse]

The established republicans have made a big mistake. In there effort to crowd the field with with conservatives and thus split the vote of their own party so Romney could carry the day, they gave us exactly what we conservatives wanted, a real candidate (several actually) as each conservative candidate drops out, Romney gets further and further from winning the nomination as the remaining conservatives get higher and higher vote totals.

The established republicans claimed the tea party movement for political gain, but it's starting to become clear to them that we Christian conservatives simply out number their primary rigging plans. The Established Republicans may have thought they could absorb us, but it's becoming more and more obvious that the Christian conservatives will not follow this time around. We will lead because the republican leadership is quite obviously lost its way.

All santorum or newt have to do to win the nomination is to stay in the race.

 

[BluePhantom]

Santorums views on contraception or his views on state rights pertaining to contraception?

The SCOTUS has already ruled on that issue several times so while I defend his right to have his opinion, his opinion seems to be unconstitutional.

 

[Avatar4321]

Santorums views on contraception or his views on state rights pertaining to contraception?

The SCOTUS has already ruled on that issue several times so while I defend his right to have his opinion, his opinion seems to be unconstitutional.

Several times? Try once in a fundamentally flawed case that doesn't follow the Constitution.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

He once said he wanted all Pennsylvanians to have access to education but, like rMONEY, he has flip-flopped on this issue too. He is university educated, but will his children be?

I'd like to send a thank you back through time to the founding fathers who made Santorum throw up at the separation of church and state.

Are we absolutely certain that the Clown Car Candidates are not working for the Obama campaign?

 

[Luddly Neddite]

One more thing about Santorum being against education -

I heard on the news earlier that Chicago has in excess of 100,000 jobs available and no one to fill them.

WHY?

Because there is no one with the necessary education.

In all fairness, Santorum is not the only pub who is against (elitist!!) education. WHAT have any of them done to educate AMERICANS to do these jobs? NOTHING.

Instead, like Romney, they invest in FOREIGN jobs and FOREIGN banks and AMERICAN companies have to hire from out of the country.

How long before rw's STOP voting against their own country?