January 4, 2006

Some thoughts on Santorum from the other side of the state

Larry Kane in The Philadelphia Inquirer:
The year 2006 harbors such volatility that both left- and right-wing partisans are walking on eggshells, with the real fear that extremism will eventually catch up with them at the ballot box.

Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) comes to mind. He has been backtracking on many issues. Notable among these is intelligent design, the quasireligious theory that Santorum has often heartily endorsed. But when the pro-ID side lost the Dover trial, Santorum distanced himself from the whole affair. (He still backs ID, but does not believe it should be taught in public schools.)
I think Mr Kane is being to kind to Lil Ricky. In repub-speak, "backtracking = flip-flop" and should be pointed out continuously.

I'll say it again, Rick Santorum has flip-flopped on Intelligent Design. And he continues to do so, a point which Mr Kane raises (I know old pun, but I haven't had any breakfast yet and I'm still little woozy) when he writes that Santorum "still backs ID, but does not believe it should be taught in public schools."

So let me see if I got this straight (and CAN I use that word when discussing our homophobic Senator??). He backs the concept, and he's written that he feels it's a valid scientific concept, but he doesn't want to see it taught in the public schools.

Why not? If he thinks it's valid, shouldn't he be fighting tooth and nail for the best possible education for the state's students?

Oh, that's right - it's not POLITICALLY viable these days. And Rick has an election to win, an opponent to smear, and his own record to distort.

Rick Santorum - a man of strict principles, until he needs to win an election.

IMPEACH

1 comment:

Shawn said...

Again, Rick Santorum is a man who know who to push his base, bend them if you will, without causing them to break. Last year he threw red meat to his base with his book. This year he's trying to sound like "Mr. Reasonable" to middle-of-the-road voters, enough of them, at least, to win by .5-2% of the vote. Sure, he'll anger a number of his supporters, but in the end, where else will they turn? He's always played this game and he's awfully good at it, I'm afraid. This is gonna be a very, very tight race, which is just how lil' Ricky likes it.