Larison has a good analysis of the stupidity of Rick Santorum’s latest pitch, which celebrates the upward mobility of Americans with a bunch of feel-good, rah-rah, false rhetoric:
In many respects, these [downscale, rural and working-class] ought to be constituencies whose interests Santorum would want to defend, since many of them also happen to be socially and culturally conservative, but he is so preoccupied with affirming America as a land without classes and brimming with boundless opportunity that he cannot move beyond the easy point-scoring against Pawlenty’s self-promotion to see this. These are constituencies that are poorly represented overall, they are scarcely represented at all by their Republican elected officials, and they respond favorably to conservatives who can appeal to both their social conservatism and their economic interests. […]
Santorum should do that, but it would require some imagination and political savvy, of which he has neither.
I have a bigger question — why does Santorum think he has a future as a national candidate? If he appeals to anyone, it’s a narrow base of suburban, white, Catholic right-to-lifers, a group that should be happy with most of the potential Republican nominees, each of whom has appeal to broader groups than old Rick.
(By the way, Larison is getting married this weekend. Mazel tov!)
beltane
Is Rick Santorum running in the 1956 presidential election?
Keith
Given how awesome the GOP’s minority outreach is, I look forward to Santorum backing up his notion of upward mobility by telling us how blacks can become NBA superstars and rappers, while Hispanics can become comedians.
Staging a Comeback
Let me be the first to extend condolences to Mr. Larison. He may as well be attending his funeral.
Michael
The irony of having the Santorum thread immediately after the “butthurt roundup” is not lost upon me.
And I dont see Dick being the pitcher as much as I see him as a catcher…….
A Guest
Maybe Larison’s prose will tighten up once he is allowed to consumate his passions. He can be awfully discursive.
El Cid
For me, I can’t think of Santorum without this. (Wonkette.)
SiubhanDuinne
@A Guest #5: Discursive is the precise word I was seeking while reading Larison’s piece. And he throws modifiers around with Ayn Rand-like abandon. (I swear *Atlas Shrugged* would be under 100 pages if you removed the adverbs.)
MattF
It’s been known for some time now that Santorum lives in a world that isn’t the same as the, um, real one. I’ll note that, e.g., DeLay and Frist have moved on with their lives… Is Santorum the only ex-Senator who hasn’t noticed that Bush-era Republican politicians aren’t real popular?
pat kelly
Mr. Santorum has a magic mirror, just like the Queen in Sleeping Beauty (or was it Snow White?) He was the fairest Republican for a couple of minutes, and when he looks in the mirror, he still sees that. Ego, ego, ego.
demo woman
@El Cid: Santorum’s children remind me of the children in The White Ribbon.
R-Jud
@demo woman:
I shuddered. Good call.
JGabriel
Corrected to reflect the reality that Republicans literally cannot appeal to the economic interests of the downscale rural and working class: it is the Republican Party’s primary purpose to represent the class that screws them over.
Appeals to xenophobia are used to separate them from their natural class allies amongst minorities, and appeals to religious fundamentalism are used to alienate them from the educated progressives most interested in helping them.
.
MoeLarryAndJesus
This never gets old:
santorum.com/
Jay C
Larison (as he most usually is) is quite correct about Rick Santorum’s latest blather about the nation’s economy: but, like the ex-Senator, he still seems to avoid the central point of the whole discussion (IMO). I.e. that the fundamental economic structure of the United States which actually DID make America (more-or-less) “… a land without classes and brimming with boundless opportunity” for the last couple of centuries has changed – for the worse – and that the “Economy of Opportunity” which enabled all that upward mobility for all that time is swiftly going away. And may not ever come back.
Norwegian Shooter
Epic WIN in this thread. Who’s going to be the first to break the seal?
liberal
Given Larison’s religious predilections, that’s kinda funny.
:-)
feebog
@Jay C
Couldn’t disagree more with your observation. This country was founded by rich white guys, many of whom owned slaves. I would argue that the opportunity for true upward mobility, that is to rise from the ranks of the poor or the lower middle-class in this country, did not start until the early 20th century, and only became reality for most after WWII. And even then blacks and other minorities were playing catch up.
It is true that the means for upward mobility in this country is eroding. That is a product of 30 years of Reagan-onmics, which makes it harder to get a quality education, under taxes the rich at the expense of the middle class, and gives free rein to corporations to rip us all off.
Cain
I was looking at his old blog and boy I did not know he was such a big bollywood fan.
cain
bobbo
Anyone who thinks he or she can be President has to be at least a little nuts.
sacman701
I could see Santorum picking up the hard-right/paranoid vote if Palin self-destructs or loses interest before the primaries. He’d probably have more appeal to those folks than Romney (Mormon, passed “totalitarian” health care bill as MA governor), Huckabee (too moderate on economic issues), or Pawlenty. He’d still have a hard time winning the nomination, but he could stay in the race for some time.
Ken Pidcock
I do not under-estimate Rick Santorum. He thinks well on his feet, you cannot get to his right on social issues, and, perhaps most significantly, he is serious.
It seems a distinct possibility that Republican voters in 2012 – especially if 2010 hasn’t gone as promised – will have grown weary of the clown show and will regard current front runners as the fluffernutters they are. Santorum might seem an attractive alternative.
Which is a problem, because the man is as close to an authentic fascist as we have in the mainstream political scene.
forked tongue
Plus, he almost certainly has the coveted K-Lo endorsement.
grumpy realist
I get annoyed when I, as a member of the “middle class” am accused of voting against my own interests because I vote Democratic and don’t mind higher taxes.
The concept of the Commonwealth seems to be an absolute mystery to these bozos. So does the concept of “history”, “bad economic situation”, and “stringing the nobles up on lampposts.” That’s why I’m for strong progressive taxation: insurance against future revolutions. (You can also think of it as the monetary equivalent of noblesse oblige.)