Calling On Santorum To Be Classy
Iowa is days away. Iowa has been dominated, far more than the rest of the nation, by conservative Evangelical voters. It’s the heartland, and such people are the heart of the nation. But they can be a fickle bunch. Last cycle saw a coy appeal to anti-Mormon sentiment by Huckabee bring all those voters home to roost in his camp, and he won. This year, they appear to be a house divided.
The two leading contenders for these votes are Michelle Bachmann and Rick Santorum. Santorum seems to be enjoying a genuine surge, as Romney takes a surprising lead in the polls. This situation is causing all sorts of panic in the state. Bachmann is experiencing defections to Romney and Ron Paul!?
Erick Erickson, the founder of the very tolerant (peg your sarcasm meters) and wise Red State is now blaming social conservatives for the collapse of true conservatism generally. Some wonder if Erickson and is ilk are looking for a new Goldwater, and we all know how well Barry turned out for Republicans.
This is all just Iowa, and American electoral politics. But lurking at its heart is the dangerous anti-Mormon sentiment that Huckabee played on last cycle. USAToday has used the occasion to publish another tired story about Romney’s religious woes and the differences between Mormons and traditional Christianity. There is nothing said in the piece, or to say about it, that has not been said a thousand times before. But the timing is fascinating.
The USAToday piece comes right on the heels of Santorum grabbing the endorsement of “Huck’s Army.” Santorum sounded almost giddy at the endorsement on yesterday’s Hugh Hewitt Show:
HH: Now Senator, you’re making me look pretty smart, because all of a sudden, people have woken up to something I’ve been saying for a long time, which is one of the three tickets out of Iowa is going to have Rick Santorum’s name on it. Yesterday, you picked up the Harris Twins. Tell people why that matters.
RS: Well, I mean, that’s the Huckabee folks. I mean, that’s the Huck army, and these are guys who are just really remarkable, and who have been able to put together an online presence, really, second to none. And having those guys involved and working across the country in building that army in support of us is just a huge, huge asset for us.
Huck’s Army does have a very strong online presence – one that has been rife with anti-Mormon snark, commentary, and downright nastiness. All the bile that had been on the Huckabee website during 2008 landed there. Of course it has been behind the fire wall of a discussion forum and they have been working very hard to deny the whole thing because they know it delegitimized the candidacy of their guy last time. The small amount of digging time I had available to me this morning indicates they, like the Huckabee campaign before them, have done a purge.
If they are done with such things, then they are welcome in the fold of legitimate Republican debate. But history has a way of repeating itself. Therefore, Santorum needs to make it plain and public that such will not be tolerated in his campaign. There is a known and virulent anti-Mormon movement in Iowa. No Republican candidate for POTUS can lay claim to that political energy and remain a legitimate contender, not even someone who by all appearances is a good man, like Rick Santorum.
Posted in Candidate Qualifications, News Media Bias, Political Strategy, Religious Bigotry, Religious Freedom, Understanding Religion | 2 Comments » | 
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After Iowa | Article VI Blog | Lowell Brown on 04 Jan 2012 at 7:33 am #
[...] Calling On Santorum To Be Classy Blogroll [...]
So, What Happened? | Article VI Blog | John Schroeder on 23 Jan 2012 at 6:47 am #
[...] Santorum keeps flirting with anti-Mormon sentiment in a plausibly deniable fashion. That can become a weapon to be used against him just as easily as Gingrich’s intemperance will likely undermine him. [...]