LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Rick Santorum's campaign slogan could very well be one word: doomsday.
To hear him tell it, the U.S. will collapse under the weight of its health care system and basic freedoms will be history. Iran will annihilate Israel and then South Carolina if Iran isn't blocked from building a nuclear weapon. And divorce will yield higher taxes for all Americans.
Unless, of course, Republicans pick Santorum as the party's presidential nominee and he goes on to defeat President Barack Obama.
"Go back and read what the sirens did once you arrived on that island," Santorum warned students at Colorado Christian University this week, invoking mythology. "They devour you. They destroy you. They consume you."
"Ladies and gentleman, we cannot listen to the siren song," he added. "We cannot listen to President Obama and we can't listen to those in our party who want to be just a little bit less than what the Democrats and the left is doing to our country."
It was standard fare for the former Pennsylvania senator. He doesn't mince words in campaign speeches in which he describes how — in his view — the country is heading down the wrong path and the government is growing too big. Gloom and doom usually pepper his remarks. And he often argues that America will falter if he fails to win the nomination.
"You have honor to live up to, to hand off to the next generation as least as great a country as given to you. And you all know that is in jeopardy," he told a crowd in Colorado Springs.
The dire warnings contrast directly with the sunny optimism his top rivals often exude.
GOP front-runner Mitt Romney talks about how much he loves America. And Newt Gingrich lectures on the nation's unique place in the world and its potential to free the world.
They are following legions of other politicians who have used optimism to court voters with visions of the country's greatness.
Ronald Reagan ousted Jimmy Carter in 1980 by asking whether Americans wanted a chance for a better tomorrow. Four years later, Reagan won with his rhetoric about America as a "shining city on a hill," a notion borrowed from a 17th-century Puritan. Bill Clinton captured the presidency by appealing to voters' middle-class struggles and urging them "don't stop thinking about tomorrow."
George W. Bush captured the White House in 2000 with the promise to restore dignity to the office after the scandal-ridden Clinton years. And Obama won his first term in the White House on a message of hope and change, appealing to voters' desire to turn the page after eight years of Bush.
At times, Santorum seems to be doing the exact opposite, currying favor with voters by appealing to their frustrations with Washington as he looks to regain his own political footing after three consecutive losses in the GOP nomination race.
"Every once in a while Rick may get passionate and come across as angry, but Americans can appreciate that, because a lot of people out there are angry at where we are right now and they're looking for a fighter who understands their struggle," Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley said.
The former senator pitches himself as the only politician standing between a wholesale meltdown of American values and a political tsunami for his GOP.
On the health care overhaul, Santorum warns: "Be careful what you do ... because once the government creates a right, it can tell you how to exercise that right."
On Obama's regulations, he says: 'Under Obamacare, you are going to have to provide insurance coverage, free coverage, for things that are absolutely against the teaching of the Catholic Church: free sterilization, free abortions. ... This is just the tip of the iceberg of what we can expect."
On Iranian policy, he warns that Tehran first would destroy Israel and then turn its sights on the United States. "They cannot have a nuclear weapon, because you, in Greenville, will not be safe," he said in South Carolina.
And on declining marriage rates, he adds: "Taxes go up and the economy struggles. We know that marriage and the two-parent family is the unit upon which this country was founded."
Santorum also constantly warns that neither Romney nor Gingrich would be an effective challenger to Obama and says he's sounding the alarm against a political disaster.
"Barack Obama, in a debate or in this election, is going to destroy Mitt Romney on the issue of health care," Santorum told a crowd in Woodland Park.
As for Gingrich, he says this of the former House speaker: "Way too erratic."
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Comments » 37
slogoodland writes:
wow... what a fear monger,but as i laugh the shiitt he spits from his mouth could very well happen if Israel attacks Iran the fall out will be horrific.
THE END OF DAYS?
Ruger writes:
This is the reality of our situation...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li0no7...
Barack is demanding another 1.2 trillion?
http://biggovernment.com/publius/2012...
Beachglow writes:
Time for Mr. Santorum to throw in the towel. It's over for him, and his frustations seem to be coming out in his total negativity.
This country is in trouble in many, many ways, but with the right leader, we can turn it around.
titanbite writes:
This guy is an Evangelical fundamentalist mental case,Rick Sanitarium's favorite day IS doomsday,the guy can't hold back his enthusiasm for what he thinks will be the ,"END TIMES!",Armageddon,the Rapture,one would think with all of the names they use to describe the day of their,so-called,prophet's return performance that,at the very least,they would know when it was,supposedly,going to happen.
Taking that lack of basic information into consideration,it isn't outside the realm of possibilities to surmise that Mr. Sanitarium doesn't know jack about what's going to take place in our nation's future,not unlike all of the rest of the teapublican Presidential nominee's.
bananas8187 writes:
I think Rick is right. The country and the world will be much better off when he is president and can make the earth flat again.
MisterK writes:
I didn't realize 'Fox and Friends' was running his campaign. Good luck, Rick!
justanfair writes:
This is another example of the religiosity of the current GOP. When they feared Pat Robertson would become a 3rd party leader in 1988 (?) and included his group, they opened the door to wacko's and nut jobs thumping away on their bibles. Now they can't manage it as the fundies have taken over key positions in the GOP. Best example was Monica Goodling, the number 3 at DOJ under Dick and Dubya. She recruited nearly 200 DOJ lawyers from Liberty and Regent University (that's Falwell and Robertson)to bring their warped view of the world and thus the law to the department. The inmates are not just running the asylum, they created it. Church and State must be kept apart or you get an ungovernable country.
410 writes:
His idiocy knows no bounds.
fritobandito writes:
This country is in the shape it's in due to 8 years of misdirection from a retarded, redneck cowboy. The last thing we need is another idiot Republican mucking things up even further.
Redshoulderedhawk writes:
Very good.
mission_accomplished writes:
you need to eat more possum, rick.
never trust a republican©
monkey14 writes:
All politicians pander to the masses. It's how they get elected. They just pick different groups to pander to. He is no better or worse than any of the others.
RangeRat writes:
"George W. Bush captured the White House in 2000 with the promise to restore dignity to the office after the scandal-ridden Clinton years."
Oh, did he really? Sure, just ask the Surpreme Court who put him in power despite losing the election. Nothing like revising a little right-wing history here and there, now is there?
RangeRat writes:
"And shut up about your deities & churches...And shut up about the god thing"
And don't forget to shut-up about your discriminatory attitude toward religion...the rock this country was founded on, despite your obvious hatred for it.
RangeRat writes:
Hahaha! Good one Bananas...and quite probably that sums up his whole cam-pain in a nutshell!
wonderful writes:
Go squeeze your possum, eh?
This guy is just another LID! (libby in disguise)
Pandering to the masses while at the public trough!
Time for President Romney to step in and fire people!
GETIT?
GOTIT?
GITMO!
Heraclitus writes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bot4rV...
dmarko326 writes:
Ron Paul is more specific on why America is in decline. And it's painfully obvious!
Unemployment will not get better because manufacturing jobs are simply not here anymore.
They haven't been here since the mid 90s. The reason middle class america is seeing the affect is because we have been living on VAPORWARE via EASY BORROWING coupled with a LALA-LAND housing and construction market.
Obviously those times are over.
No One (at Federal Level) really cares about the ranks of the middle class as they are looking at for themselves.
We abandoned the gold standard and we continue to let the Federal Reserve play monopoly with toilet paper.
So economically speaking, things will not get better. In fact, this is a bit of a doomsday scenairio for many Americans.
No one out there is listening to Ron Paul.
He is the only one up there on STAGE actually offering REAL solutions. So what his foreign policy ignores all the BS. If we won't stop focusing on Trillions to worry about the overseas issues and not bring it back HOME and what it will take to make America great again, then do honestly believe we (AMERICA) have a shot.
Rick Santorum is painting broadstrokes but won't have the stones to really say what Ron Paul is.
Forget the other two clowns!
Coastal writes:
You can’t continue to borrow, print and spend $4 billion a day more than you take in and think it‘s never going to catch up with us.
Obama’s planned economic collapse of the U.S. is unavoidable at this rate.
justanfair writes:
Eventually the mega-wealthy will be demanding we tax them more as they won't have a country to glean any more profits from. They will have to cash out and live in Mexico, Costa Rica or elsewhere. They'd rather live here and pay more in taxes, I believe. The GOP doesn't have the courage to address taxes. They'd rather sit on the sidelines and snipe at President Obama.
BigOrangeKitty writes:
I agree. Ron Paul is the only candidate to choose if we're seriously interested in restoring America. With all the others, it will be more of the same -- bigger government, more debt, less freedom -- and then we will crash.
ISPEAKFORGOD writes:
magic underwear and a silver cross cross is the answer! "mormon magic underwear" is fireproof, won't rip, stain, fade or get green around the edges. it protects from eternal fire also! the silver cross wards off vampires!! not to worry boop!sleep well everything is covered by mitt....
Klaatu writes:
Will someone please inform Rick Santorum that his candidacy died at birth !
If he wants to go to the White House so badly
TAKE THE PUBLIC TOUR !
luvsnaplessometimes writes:
Rick Santorum is as bad as Mitt. Everytime he opens his mouth he sticks his foot in farther. Hey Rick, why don't you follow Bachman and go home and be submissive to your wife? Take the other 2 clowns with you! Ron Paul is the only one making any sense, but no one is listening. We’ll get 4 more years of Obama, which isn’t bad considering the group of clowns the repubs give us. GO HOME RICK AND TAKE THE OTHER TWO NUT CASES WITH YOU. OBAMA 2012!
ISPEAKFORGOD writes:
you forgot BROWN_EYE---GITMOO-----GETMOO BROWN_EYE
philsco writes:
Maybe you should call the Kansas Speaker of the House so you can pray together for Obama's demise.
philsco writes:
Well Biff, maybe you too should get together with the Kansas speaker of the house to pray for Obama's demise.
Moral majority my ARS
philsco writes:
It's not religion thats the problem, it's the people who use it to proclaim their superiority over everyone.
And if you want to talk about hatred, call the Kansas speaker of the house and ask him why he is praying for Obama's death.
derrina1 writes:
Feel free to leave if you don't like the freedoms afforded American citizens under the constitution.
But I hear you, you want in. In our bedrooms telling us how we should act based on a fictional book.
Chester writes:
Santorum reminds be of that nut case Glenn Beck! I hope he drops out of the race, so Gingrich and Romney can slug it out! Then hopefully one of them can beat Obumbles in the fall.
profiler writes:
He is right about one thing: amerika is a police state. You really have NO rights...they are an illusion. The fascist state will stop at nothing until they have totaly control. They are 98% THERE ALREADY!.
If he is sincere...he might as well admit he won't be able to change things. amerika's fate is written in stone. Nobody can change that. The masses are angry. Class warfare is one tactic used to sidetrack the masses into believing rich people are to blame for todays problems. The fascists running this country are to blame! We are now living in a police state. That won't change until the masses rise up against our gestapo government. When that happens we will see whose side many government employees are on...the side of freedom or that of the police state. The biggest threat to every citizen is not the economy. It is not iran. It is the GOVERNMENT! It is the police who randomly lie and frame people. It is the taxing authorities that squeeze the last dime out of people struggling to survive while the politicians vote themselves raises every year.
www.killercop.com see your gestapo government at work!
www.fija.org see how to fight the police state
www.copblock.org see the truth about gestapo amerika
Is amerika worth fighting for? In many ways no. You can waste your time voting if you believe your vote means anything...if not...you can always watch CBS or NBC for the governments latest propaganda...
American_by_Choice writes:
ROFL... Let's just make it official and rename the AP 'Pravda'...
It is a mathmatical certainty that ObamaScare will bankrupt the US... as the US is already bankrupt.
You can't subsidize dead-weight and expect anything more than them to do more of what they're being paid to do... and nothing encourages the near-dead weight to go all the way, when they see they look down upon are doin' better than they are...
There's nothing about the AP worth saving.
American_by_Choice writes:
ROFLMNAO.. A socialist belittling another's psychological stability.
Now THAT is hysterical... (In at least two senses and on several levels)
wonderful writes:
filty chet-
Can you feel the love in the new obama civility, eh?
GITMO!
almasonlybar writes:
Had no idea people were still taking LSD.
naples759 writes:
i think god is punishing santorum for hating gays by putting goofy thoughts in his mind and making him spew them out
he he he
American_by_Choice writes:
Santorum doesn't hate the homosexuals.
He just understands that their 'movement' represents a decadent insurgency intent upon crippling western culture, through the populism hyped by militant sexual deviants who lack the strength of character to overcome their unenviable affliction.
And he's right...
But being right is more than enough for the ideologically wrong to hate him.
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