I was going to write a post debating whether or not Santorum's good results in Iowa should cause me to reconsider his viability as a candidate [short answer: no] when I stumbled upon internet chatter concerning the very unpleasant thing that happens when you Google 'santorum' [I guess if I still watched The Daily Show I wouldn't be so late with this, ah... story - but Stewart's smugness continues to turn me off - although if the uber right persists in annoying me the way they are I may have no choice but to overcome my Stewart aversion].
The guy can't recover from an association like this, can he? I don't see it - I can't say his name now without feeling a little twinge of disgust - plus, in a very unpleasant way it reminds you of the cogency of arguing against his viability as a candidate - his support is rooted mainly in his social conservatism - that may win you Iowa, maybe even South Carolina in a republican primary, but it's an anchor around your neck come a general election.
And let's not forget this goes to something I've been saying all along - Romney is the only credible, viable candidate in the race - everyone else is either deeply flawed in some obvious way or an outright embarrassment - if Romney can't shake loose from these clowns and pretenders as soon as possible the malignancy will spread to him.
I almost want to feel sorry for Santorum - but then I remember he brought this on himself - I may be somewhat opposed to gay marriage too, but not for sanctimonious moral reasons [I oppose on grounds it's an affront to logic and common sense - I'm happy to give gay couples the same rights as straight couples, but don't force me to pretend that there's no fundamental existential difference separating the two experiences - and traditional marriage is wholly defined by that difference - if we're going to pretend that that difference doesn't exist or matter then what we're really saying is that marriage is now about love - in which case, why should the gov't be involved at all?]. And it's not like there was a great calling for him to run for president - it's not like his resume screams 'we need this man!'. He was just a largely insignificant senator who knew how to work social conservatives into a lather [a santorum, you mean? O God, many twinges of disgust].
[on the other hand a quick review of conservative websites reveals that as far as I can tell absolutely none of them are talking about the Santorum Google problem - which means maybe it doesn't hurt Santorum at all - which merely underscores the point that the primaries are a fantasy world of uber right wish fulfillment that is entirely disconnected from the reality of what it will take to defeat Obama in 2012]
