With the addition of Rick Santorum in the annals of the 2016 presidential election polls (insert joke here), the Republican hopefuls may begin to feel a bit stuffy… er… strained.
Santorum spoke to a small group of voters with the following message:
“There’s potentially 16 people on the Republican side… I just think it’s important to nominate somebody that you know and that you trust, because trust is the most important thing.”
Santorum also commented, like his Republican brethren, on breaking away from the ?new car smell? of newcomers to the 2016 election polls.
Smelling Rick Santorum is not advocated by this writer.
With 26 declared or exploratory Republican hopefuls and five potential candidates, it seems that Santorum has his work cut out for him in attempting to distinguish himself. In fact, distinguishing himself from other candidates might be something that Santorum should do ? except that he is in line with the conservative platform to a very high degree.
The website ontheissues.org calls him a ?Hard-Core Conservative.?
What You Need To Know
Besides the typical platform, Santorum’s candidacy raises a number of questions, particularly regarding where he stands.
On the one hand, Santorum calls himself Catholic, but on the other, he says that it is ?very difficult? to listen to Pope Francis.
This is, of course, understandable, since Santorum values the message that ?the global warming debate is a radical environmentalist attempt to ?centralize power?? over the Pope’s message of respect for the environment. (Note: this last link is to a number of articles regarding Pope Francis and the environment. There really are too many to choose just one.)
And then there’s the one about Santorum accusing Obama of having a ?phony theology.? Of course, Santorum would know, since he is in possession of a greater theological grounding than the leader of his Church.
Why The 2016 Election Polls?Matter
For a progressive Catholic Christian, these things matter to me. However, as a citizen of the United States, the fact that Santorum’s name will be in the 2016 election polls matters even more.
Few of us agree with everything?that anyone says. Waiting for complete consensus is a futile effort (not to mention boring).??In fact,?I certainly don’t agree with the Catholic Church on everything, but there is enough there of substance (especially with Pope Francis) that I can choose to follow that path. ?That said, it bothers me that a public figure would claim to have his own theology spot on (or at least better than others), and yet also criticize the leader of the Church that symbolizes his theology. It bothers me that he recognizes that a struggle exists for single mothers, but that winning the White House isn’t for helping those moms.
It bothers me that he is full of crap.
It should bother you too, because based on his showing in 2012, he could go all the way in the 2016 election polls.
Watch his announcement here at 5 p.m. EDT.
