Rick Santorum and the Deafening Silence of the Left....and the Media

Rick Santorum is running a phenomenal race right now.  He's saying all the right things, he has hit on a couple of big issues (predominately the plight of lunch-pail American), and he is surging in the polls.  Why is this?  Has "the Conservative base" finally settled on their "not-Mitt" candidate?  Has the character of the race finally jelled to a two man Conservative vs. Moderately Conservative contest?  Maybe.  But I believe something more sinister is at work.

I believe we are watching a coordinated conspiracy of silence underway, one in which the political class on the left and their sycophants in the Bought and Paid For Media have decided that Rick Santorum is far more beatable than Mitt Romney in November, and that they will--through their coordinated actions (and inactions) do everything they can to see to it that Santorum wins the nomination.  What's my proof?

1.  Rick Santorum is one of the the most reviled members of the Conservative political class among  pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage Democrats, and he has been FOR YEARS.  The mere mention of his name was enough to cause Andrew Sullivan to wince and NARAL (or whatever they are currently named) to take to the ramparts.  Where have these voices been as Rick Santorum rises in the polls?  Where has the coordinated action of the left taken place in which they collective express their incredible dread and fear of the possibility that this man might become President?  Nowhere...that's where.  Because across the country, teleconferences and closed email groups of liberals are sitting back and smiling.  They are licking their chops at the possibility that the Republican Party could nominate a man for whom an election based on cultural issues (and not the economy--which they can't defend) would be a certainty. 

2. In the past two weeks, Senator Santorum has made two statements that anyone familiar with his political stance would recognize.  He has indicated a sense that contraception "hurts" women, and he has indicated an uneasiness with opening up additional combat roles for women.  Putting aside for a moment whether you agree with these stances or not, are there any among you who believe that if Rick Santorum and Barack Obama were facing each other in a general election that these two statements would be the pilloried by a synchronized, Media Matters coordinated symphony of BAPM voices?  Do any among you not feel that they entire collective rage of the left would be focused on this man on the basis of these two statements? 

The plain truth of the matter is that Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney generally believe the same things on most social issues--but only one of them is centrally identified with them--Rick Santorum.  The left obviously knows this, and they are executing a brilliant strategy--one in which the media downplays Santorum's social stances while activists encourage Democrats and Independents to vote for Santorum in open primaries and caucuses. Meanwhile, the only media really talking seriously about Santorum's social views is on the right. 

Wake up, Republicans.  There are good reasons to vote for Rick Santorum, there's no doubt about it.  But if you do, you should consider who is in the next booth over doing exactly the same thing.