I am somewhat surprised to see Jonathan Turley come to Rick Santorum’s defense. Hopefully, you all know about Rick Santorum’s Google Problem. Apparently, Santorum went to Google and asked them to intervene so that the first search result under his name is not “san-TOR-um [n.] the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex.” Unsurprisingly, Google turned him down.
To tell you the truth, I think Santorum may have been hoping that a presidential run would generate enough interest in him that some other link (perhaps to his campaign website) would beat out the frothy mix. Now that he sees the effort has failed, he’s whining and complaining about it again.
Mr. Turley thinks the whole thing is unseemly (which it certainly is) and that Santorum actually comes off looking better than the left.
I understand [Dan] Savage’s outrage over Santorum’s views which include not only anti-homosexual positions but an attack generally on the right of privacy for all adults. However, this campaign degrades the debate and makes the opponents of Santorum appear juvenile, crude, and petty. It matches the hateful and unhinged rhetoric of the far right with graphic and shocking rhetoric for the left. Who wins in such a contest? I expect it is Santorum who wins by showing that the left engages in sexually crude tactics — fulfilling his stereotypes of the alliance in favor of gay rights…
…While I expect some may rejoice in the controversy created by this campaign, it has further degraded an already degrading campaign for the entire country as candidates fight to overdo each other in headline grabbing rhetoric and extreme positions.
I have a few observations on this. As a resident of Pennsylvania, I couldn’t help but note the correlation between the new definition of ‘santorum’ and the fall of the senator’s public support. Dan Savage’s campaign did unmistakable damage to Sen. Santorum’s career and left a real mark on his 18% loss to Sen. Bob Casey in 2006. I don’t blame his loss on Savage’s campaign, but it contributed to the margin because it highlighted Santorum’s radically anti-gay worldview. And that was really the only point of Dan Savage’s campaign. In that sense, the mission was accomplished. However, Santorum in now running for president and so it seems that the campaign must go on.
I have to disagree with Mr. Turley that the campaign is ‘petty’ even if I agree that it is crude and juvenile. To be ‘petty’ it would have to be addressing something trivial and be motivated by little more than spite. In truth, it was motivated by a desire to see Santorum defeated at the ballot box. And that’s not trivial.
I’d also like to add that the campaign makes Santorum and his views on gay rights seem ridiculous. Let us not forget that this all started because Rick Santorum suggested that once we allow gay people to get married, the next thing you know we’ll be allowing bestiality. The comparison is offensive, and the slippery-slope argument is absurd. I don’t see how it can be a bad thing that the first thing anyone will see when they Google about Rick Santorum is that he has radical ideas about human sexuality and the law. Let people digest that before they learn about his (lack of a) health care plan.
At some point in the future when Rick Santorum is no longer seeking power, Dan Savage should consider having some mercy. It may be crude and juvenile, but it worked, and it’s driving the senator to distraction. As I said, I think he decided to run for president solely to fix his Google Rank. That even that hasn’t helped proves that Mr. Turley is wrong. Santorum isn’t getting the better of this fight.
