You may want to pass on watching Rick Santorum's appearance on this morning's "This Week" unless you can handle his comments on what makes him want to "throw up". This time, it is the doctrine of the separation of Church and State, invoked historically by figures such as John Locke, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and in modern times, by President John F. Kennedy.
What really raises Santorum's dander is JFK's comment referenced above, in which he argues that no Catholic official could tell the President what to do and no religious school could receive federal funds.
I wonder whether Dr. Gingrich, the "historian" will weigh in on this. Then again, maybe not, unless you pay him $1.6 million for his historical advice. One also has to wonder whether Christian fundamentalists are going to worry that a "papist" like Santorum would be a secret agent of the Vatican.
Santorum's sanctimonious approach to religion, politics and morality are painting him into an ever-narrower corner. No wonder the White House delights each time he gains in the polls. But I don't think the GOP would ever let him become the nominee. Or would they? One GOP pollster calls this a "Democratic pipe dream":
Still, some strategists argue that Santorum’s outspokenness on religion and cultural issues would make it impossible for him to beat President Barack Obama in November, and unlikely he would win the Republican nomination.“It’s a Democratic pipe dream,” Whit Ayres, a Republican polling expert, said of the prospect that Santorum will be the party’s nominee, because he would be “easier to demonize” than Romney, who Ayres said is the “odds-on favorite” to win the party’s nod. Santorum has “said some nutty things.”
“These issues rise and fall with Rick Santorum,” Ayres said, referring to abortion rights and gay marriage. “If he loses, they will recede.”