Rick Santorum Wants to Save Us From Barack Obama

Fear and loathing on the campaign trail

WILL SANTORUM ACTUALLY RUN for president? He says he doesn’t know yet, and there’s no reason not to believe him. “After the midterms, I’ll sit down with my family, and we’ll need to have a serious discussion about what role to play in the next election,” he says.

 

It’s probably also too soon to say for sure that he couldn’t win. While he certainly doesn’t have the name recognition of a Sarah Palin or even Mitt Romney, these are strange times in American politics — the Tea Party is proof enough of that. “At this point, it’s possible to see a road for anyone,” says campaign expert Stuart Rothenberg, of The Rothenberg Political Report. “Rick’s an ambitious guy, he didn’t leave the Senate voluntarily, and right now the presidential race is wide open. So he probably figures, why not him?”

At Doc’s Barbeque & Southern Buffet, at his visit in support of Joe Wilson’s stepson Alan, Santorum urges the crowd to stay committed to the fight, this month and beyond. “I hope we have a big change in November, and I think we will,” he says. “But if we don’t, Barack Obama is not done. And even if we’re successful, the best we can hope for is we’ll stop him from doing any more bad things. These laws are still gonna be there. His EPA is going to regulate the amount of carbon we consume. He’s going to try to pass legislation that will limit the amount of CO2 that you can breathe.”

The crowd blanches at this idea, and a low rumble spreads around the room. “They’re not done telling you how to run your life,” Rick Santorum continues, suddenly deciding it’s time to make fun of his enemies even as he issues a warning about America’s coming doom. “Because they’re smarter than you are, and they know better than you.”