Sunday, March 11, 2012

Christianist Extremists "All In" For Santorum


It's not surprising that the leaders of the most extremist Christianist organizations are jumping on board the Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum bandwagon. Their idea of "faith, family and Freedom" is that they have the right to trample all over everyone else's freedom and families as the inflict their religious beliefs on all of society. Henece, nothing rings sweeter to their ears than the claim Santorum made that the Founding Fathers vision of separation of church and state is a myth. It's part and parcel with their revision history as showcased by the batshitery of David Barton (who is now aligned with gay-hating Kirk Cameron). Add in Mitt Romney's Mormon faith and Santorum ad the nastiest elements of the Christian Right are a match made in heaven. Politico looks at this consortium of reactionary and theocracy loving thinking. Here are some highlights:

A group of conservative leaders pledged to raise a combined $1.78 million for Rick Santorum's campaign and SuperPAC after meeting privately in Texas this weekend with the Republican presidential hopeful, POLITICO has learned.

More than 200 conservatives from all over the country convened at the Houston Omni for a Friday fundraising reception for Santorum's campaign. They then met to plot strategy with the former senator Saturday morning, discussing how to overcome Mitt Romney's growing advantage in the GOP primary and fend off Newt Gingrich.

"The message was, 'we're all in,'" said South Dakota businessman and conservative organizer Bob Fischer, one of the event’s co-hosts.

Many of those at the meeting were at the January gathering of conservatives at a Texas ranch where there was a vote taken to rally around Santorum as the chief conservative alternative to Romney. Co-hosts in Houston included Fischer, Rebecca Hagelin, Richard Viguerie and Tim Lefever. Also present were conservative leaders Tony Perkins and James Dobson.

“It was not a discussion of who to support, it was a consolidation of support,” said Perkins, differentiating the meeting with the January session. “There was a big push to raise funds. There was a sense of, ‘Now is the time to step up.’”

Gingrich’s continued presence in the race looms large for Santorum, especially ahead of Tuesday’s primaries in Mississippi and Alabama, where polls show the three candidates all drawing a significant share of the vote

“If they were to converge together you would have a majority,” said Perkins, whose Family Research Council has not endorsed in the race.

Saying it was Gingrich’s decision on whether to stay in the race, Perkins deemed the former speaker as “the most influential guy in American politics right now – he could be a kingmaker.”


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