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| huffingtonpost.com |
As Rick Santorum continues to gain momentum on the campaign trail following his three recent primary victories in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado, one has to question the Republican Party's goal of winning back The White House. If defeating President Barack Obama is goal number one, how can you seriously be considering Santorum for the presidency when he has little chance of garnering the vote of the independent voter across this nation. Certainly, Santorum meets the criteria of the conservative crowd but how on earth can he reach out to the independents and voters dissatisfied with President Obama?
His far right conservative political views once exposed by the Democrats, will leave little room for independents to embrace him as their candidate. Recently, his views have been uncovered and exposed on the national scene with the contraception controversery as well as the Pentagon's announcement of shifting women closer to frontline combat. As recent as October, Santorum proclaimed his contraceptive view, "Many in the Christian faith have said, "Well, that's okay. Contraception's okay. It's not okay because it's a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be."
Santorum expressed his views on moving women closer to combat by saying, "I think that could be a very compromising situation, where people naturally do things that may not be in the interest of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved. It already happens, of course, with the camaraderie of men in combat, but I think it would be even more unique if women were in combat. And I think that's not in the best interests of men, women, or the mission."
I applaud Rick Santorum for maintaining a steady and sure path regarding his beliefs. I actually respect him for sticking to his views and as an American, I gladly support his right to have the views he has and would fight for his right to not only have them but also to express them. However, Santorum is seeking the Presidency and his views are contrary to the vast majority of the people of this nation.
Santorum has made it clear that as president, he would repeal the change to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell", referring to it as an attempt to "inject social policy" into military policy. His views on homosexuality are clear. "I have no problem with homosexuality" he says. "I have a problem with homosexual acts". Santorum maintains that, "it destroys the basic unit of our society because it condones behavior that's antithetical to strong healthy families." Santorum has stated, "I believe we should move forward with a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman."
These views are fine and good. However, they are out of step with a fairly sizable portion of the nation's population and will prevent him from being a serious challenger to President Barack Obama. It's very clear that the Republican Party is not in love with Mitt Romney. Scared to death about Newt Gingrich. Unable to embrace Ron Paul. Santorum fits the conservative movement perfectly but he just is not electable. What will the Republican Party do?
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