Rick Santorum Says Gay Marriage ‘Suicidal’ For Republicans, Insists GOP Won’t Evolve
Rick Santorum’s gay marriage stance was one of the most early and vociferous, prompting a retaliatory Google bombing by sex columnist Dan Savage that resulted in the former Republican presidential candidate’s “Google problem.”
But Rick Santorum’s gay marriage stance hasn’t softened over the past decade, and a recent interview indicates that the GOP politician still believes America isn’t really “evolving” on gay marriage at all — and that Republicans will never fully accept the idea of marriage equality in his predictive view.
According to Santorum, gay marriage — much like abortion — is a fundamental ideological shift from the core values of the Republican Party. Santorum feels embracing marriage equality would destroy the party from the base up, he says.
Speaking to the Des Moines Register, the former GOP hopeful explains that his belief is marriage equality acceptance would be “suicidal” and a “mistake,” explaining:
“I think you’ll see, hopefully, a chastened Supreme Court is not going to make the same mistake in the (current) cases as they did in Roe v. Wade… I’m hopeful the Supreme Court learned its lesson about trying to predict where the American public is going on issues and trying to find rights in the Constitution that sit with the fancy of the day.”
Santorum dismissively explains there is “an increasing mood” regarding marriage equality in the U.S., adding that “it is not a well thought-out position by the American public.”
Predicting the gay marriage issue will pan out like abortion did in the 60s and 70s, Santorum opines:
“I’m sure you could go back and read stories, oh, you know, ‘The Republican party’s going to change. This is the future.’ Obviously that didn’t happen… I think you’re going to see the same stories written now and it’s not going to happen. The Republican party’s not going to change on this issue. In my opinion it would be suicidal if it did.”
Do you think Rick Santorum’s vision of the GOP and gay marriage fits with general American sentiment?