Santorum Giving Up on Suburbanites, Moderates, People Creeped Out by Penn State

Rick Santorum condemned President Obama for not protecting children from pornographers Sunday night, but in the same 5-minute interview, he wouldn't say that Joe Paterno had failed to protect children from an accused child rapist.

Rick Santorum condemned President Obama for not protecting children from pornographers Sunday night, but in the same 5-minute interview, he wouldn't say that Joe Paterno had failed to protect children from an accused child rapist. Ever since Santorum's campaign was revived by surprise wins in February, he has tried to present himself as more than a just culture warrior, and he has failed repeatedly. The latest failure came Sunday night, when Chicago radio host Bruce DuMont said he wanted to test Santorum's "consistency." The exchange, according to The Chicago Sun-Times:

DuMont: Do you really believe the president really does not care about protecting children and going after pornographers?

 

Santorum: He’s not... The Bush administration had a very active program of going after folks who were purveying pornography to children, and this administration has halted most of those prosecutions.

...

 

DuMont: If we were to replace 'Barack Obama' with the name 'Joe Paterno,' could we say that Joe Paterno seemed to be favoring a child rapist over the Penn State football program?

 

Santorum: [pause] That’s sort of an insulting question. It’s a ridiculous question, Sir, and I’m not going to answer it. You’re welcome to ask a question. That doesn’t mean I’m going to answer absurd questions.

The interview comes just before voting begins in the Illinois primary, which should have been a lock for Mitt Romney but polls have showed is a pretty close race. Romney hasn't won the hearts of Republicans in the state, both Politico and The New York Times report Monday. But Santorum isn't working very hard to appeal to the suburbanites there. The Times' Sarah Wheaton and Richard Oppel report that Santorum has begun campaigning against cities. "Think about it, look at the map of the United States -- blue being the Democrats, red being the Republicans -- it’s almost all red. Except around the big cities," Santorum said in Illinois Saturday. "And yet when you look at the economic plan that Republicans put forward, it’s all about tax breaks for higher-income individuals who live in those blue areas mostly." Mitt Romney has won around the cities, Santorum said, like it was a bad thing. It's worth noting, though, that the areas around cities are suburbs, which are a huge part of the Republican vote in a general election.

Santorum suffered an embarrassing defeat in Puerto Rico this weekend, where he spent two days campaigning because he thought being Catholic would appeal to the heavily Catholic electorate there. But Santorum has been losing Catholics all year, the Associated Press reports, because they tend to be more moderate. And he lost these Catholics thanks to a social issue -- his demand that the island make English its official language before becoming a state. Clearly social issues are Santorum's issues, and he's sticking to them no matter what.