New Hampshire Residents Hammer Santorum on His Bigotry

While the Republican Party has largely been taken over by hate and fear filled Christianists and Tea Party crazies wherever one goes nowadays, there are signs that Rick Santorums extremism is not playing as well in New Hampshire as it did in the farm lands of Iowa. Indeed, Santorum has been confronted on his anti-gay positions and jeered at some campaign stops. Even more satisfying is the fact that Santorum is currently tied for last place in the polls of likely New Hampshire voters. One can only hope that his numbers will fall further as people come to see just what a vile and psychologically disturbed individual he is and what a scary place his version of America would be for so many citizens. A piece in the Washington Post looks at the pummeling Santorum has been receiving. The following are some highlights:

Former senator and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is trying to get New Hampshire conservatives to fall in love with him. But in so doing, he’s reminding some independents, and certainly Democrats, exactly why they fell out of love with him in his home state of Pennsylvania, where he was ousted from office by more than 17 points in 2006.

At a campaign stop Thursday, he got into a verbal sparring match with a college student about same-sex marriage, after suggesting an equivalence between same-sex relationships and polygamy. Ever since, Santorum has faced a series of confrontations — and some heckling — over his opposition to same-sex relationships and abortion.

A new Suffolk University/7News tracking poll of voters likely to take part in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary showed that following the widely televised exchange with the college student, Santorum’s support, which had been rising, had appeared to plateau. The poll showed him losing support from independents and tied for fourth place

Santorum faced tough questions about abortion, the separation of church and state, and gay rights from a crowd packing a barn in Hollis on Saturday afternoon. . . . On Friday, he was aggressively heckled at a wild campaign stop at a restaurant. The event was forced into the parking lot after a fire marshal deemed the building too crowded. As Santorum spoke, he was interrupted periodically by shouts.

“What about equality for the gays?” one man shouted and, after Santorum opened with a request for respect, the man continued, “How much respect do you have for gay people, Rick?”

Santorum foes believe the red-hot attention he’s received since his Iowa ascent will remind voters of some of his most controversial past statements — and turn off Republican voters who want to tackle Obama with an economic message and not get distracted by social issues.

In another interview in 2003, he compared gay sex to bestiality. . . . “The more familiar people become with Rick Santorum, the more they look at him, the less they’re going to like him,” said Dan Savage, a columnist and gay rights activist . . .

Let's hope that New Hampshire is the beginning of the end of Santorum's campaign and that he soon joins Michele Bachmann in the dust of history.