Beginner’s Guide to the GOP Debate, Part IV, Romney/Santorum

Hey folks,

Here is Part IV of my GOP Preview, written originally in October 2011 (basically to get friends of mine up to speed politically). Hope you like it and you may learn something about the candidates that you didn't already know. Thanks. If you're behind, you can read Part I (Bachmann/Cain), Part II (Gingrich/Huntsman), and Part III (Paul/Perry) in each of the embedded links.

Mitt Romney:

Romney is the former Governor of Massachusetts. During his time there, he enacted a health care bill to extend coverage to all citizens of the state. It was the model for President Obama’s health care bill. So, in the eyes of today’s GOP, this is a negative. The Republican spin doctors are real clever with names and branding. So, Obama’s health care bill became known “Obamacare”. It doesn’t take a genius to see where this is going. Romney’s bill was called “Romneycare”. Tim Pawlenty, thought he was being cute, and called it “Obamney-Care” during a debate. He is now out the race. Politicians and jokes are like oil and water.

Romney has 5 children (thoughts on this later). He was a businessman before politician. He made his money buying companies, breaking them up, and selling the pieces at a profit. The company’s name is Bain Capital. Here’s Romney (center) with his Bain buddies. They made so much cash, they literally posed for pictures with money. One guy has money in his mouth. I guess this is what rich folks do for fun. And, I promise you will hear Romney or others say we need someone who understands the business world in the White House. This narrative does not hold up when you look at the facts. When Romney was at Bain, the process of buying, selling and chopping up companies led to thousands losing their jobs. So, beware of the “business man as president” talking point. I have to go into that in another post. But, this line of thinking does not mesh with how you run a country during slow economic growth, recession, or a depression.

Romney is not well liked in the Republican party either. He is a notorious flip-flopper. He was pretty moderate when he won in Massachusetts. Here’s a wonderful video of him taking both sides of a few issues as the years have gone by. Video is under 2 minutes:

A few years ago, another Republican candidate (in 2008), Mike Huckabee said he looks like, “…the guy who laid you off…” It must be the polished, purposely combed-in gray, Just for Men look of his. And, if he wins the nomination and beats Obama, you can assume he will take it easy on Wall Street. He’s collected 7 million in donations from them and we still have 13 months to the election. He also thinks of corporations as people (video). This is a big point of protest at these occupations now (will be detailed in a later post). Romney is also socially awkward. At an appearance, he said to a bunch of unemployed people, that he too was unemployed. Even though his net worth is estimated between 190-250 million dollars. However, he is the favorite for the nomination. Herman Cain will fall apart, for a bunch of reasons. I hope one of them is his pizza-themed version of “Imagine” (see Part I).

Rick Santorum:

He is a former Senator from Pennsylvania. He is VERY anti-gay rights, lifestyle, etc. Here is his position, this appeared in an April 2003 interview, from the AP.

“Santorum stated that he believed consenting adults do not have a constitutional right to privacy with respect to sexual acts. Santorum described the ability to regulate consensual homosexual acts as comparable to the states’ ability to regulate other consensual and non-consensual sexual behavior, such as adultery, polygamy, child molestation, incest, sodomy, and bestiality, whose decriminalization he believed would threaten society and the family, as they are not monogamous and heterosexual.”

Yikes, now that was some heavy stuff. But, it does gets funny. Dan Savage, who is a gay rights activist and author, took exception to Santorum’s comments. And, he really got back at him. I have to say, this is one of my favorite things in the political world. If you Google the name “Santorum”, Dan Savage has worked it somehow, that the first item that appears is the description of a sex act. You know what, it’s pretty tough to describe tactfully, here is the exact wording:

“Santorum 1.The frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex. 2. Senator Rick Santorum”

I urge you to Google it yourself, again no exaggeration on my part. You don’t have to click any links (if you’re at work). It’s the just the first thing you see in the results. If you Google “Rick Santorum”, the sex act appears as the second search result, after his political website. I wish I could see the look on someone’s face, who Googled his name for the first time. Classic stuff. Wherever you are, Dan Savage, thank you. Santorum is also seriously hawkish on war, while polls show the majority of Americans want the wars to end. But, we’re talking about someone who wanted to regulate consensual sexual activity. It doesn’t have to make sense.

See you next time,

James