Dave Mustaine of Megadeth Endorses… Rick Santorum?

So this week, we finally got an answer to the questions “do people actually like Rick Santorum?” and “well, show me one person, then?” when Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine threw his support behind the controversial Republican candidate.

Mustaine has not been a stranger to political controversy himself, having made comments in the past about homosexuality and immigration that have raised hackles. The guitarist is open about his Christian faith as well, and though he voted for Bill Clinton after covering the 1992 Democratic National Convention for the Choose or Lose initiative, Mustaine has mostly indicated a preference for Republican Party ideals in the intervening (gulp) twenty years. (Which kind of calls to mind the old adage among conservatives that if you’re not liberal at 30 you have no heart and if you’re not conservative at 50, you have no brain.)

Santorum has long been controversial, particularly on the subjects of gay rights and women’s rights, and his “Google problem” came from far back in his career after the candidate pissed off sex columnist Dan Savage by justifying denial of gay rights by equating it to bestiality. But none of this bothers Dave Mustaine, who thinks that the fact Santorum attended to his sick child makes him a good fit for the White House.

Like many Republicans, Mustaine blames Obama- and not twenty years of looting the middle class- as the genesis of America’s problems. He begins:

“I’m just hoping that whatever is in the White House next year is a Republican. I can’t bear to watch what’s happened to our great country. Everybody’s got their head in the sand. Everybody in the industry is like, ‘Oh, Obama’s doing such a great job…’ I don’t think so. Not from what I see.”

Although he expresses distrust of Mitt Romney’s wealth hoarding, says Newt Gingrich hasn’t shed his “angry little man” image and believes Ron Paul has a narrow but dangerous streak, Mustaine believes Santorum is America’s best way forward in 2012. He says, however, that he is new to the Santorum surge and was not always aware of the candidate:

“Earlier in the election, I was completely oblivious as to who Rick Santorum was, but when the dude went home to be with his daughter when she was sick, that was very commendable.”

The musician says, however, it’s Santorum’s “clean” image that is really winning the Megadeth guitarist over:

“Also, just watching how he hasn’t gotten into doing these horrible, horrible attack ads like Mitt Romney’s done against Newt Gingrich, and then the volume at which Newt has gone back at Romney… You know, I think Santorum has some presidential qualities, and I’m hoping that if it does come down to it, we’ll see a Republican in the White House… and that it’s Rick Santorum.”

Do you agree with Dave Mustaine, and think Rick Santorum is America’s best shot at recovery?