Rick Santorum-Pure Democracies are no way to run a country

[Dill]

(11-09-2023, 12:05 PM)pally Wrote: Exactly what prejudices am I trying to justify by pointing out Santorum's statement?  I know you believe he is irrelevant and no one takes him seriously, but he states beliefs that are found in a large number of Newsmax viewers.  Trump regularly promotes Newsmax to his supporters.  Personally, I think that organization and their talking heads are full of crap.  Unfortunately, many Newsmax viewers do not share that belief. I am glad you are one who sees through their nonsense.

None. You are just reporting what he said. That's not framing him as "the voice of the GOP." 

He's significant enough to get news time as a commentator on Fox and Newsmax. 

And he's certainly a bellweather for some elements of his party. 

Since at least 2020 people in his forum have been discussing the authoritarian turn in the GOP,
and the effort of many to work around the popular vote to keep minority control of government.
That's the underlying theme of all our discussions of Gerrymandering and 1/6 and voter ID laws
and GOP rejection of Liz Cheney and creative legal theories about legislatures picking electors regardless of popular vote.
Add to that the ongoing intimidation of election officials and judges and threats to "weaponize" the DOJ to go
after his enemies--including his former AG--when Trump returns to power

So what people should be taking from this is not that "Santorum doesn't speak for the GOP,"
but that too many in the party are tending in this anti-democratic direction--including leaders who should know better.

The only serious question is whether this tendency grows or shrinks during 2024. That will give
some indication of whether it is becoming fixed as the GOP's identity.