In a speech made in Gettysburg, Pa, on March 20th, Santorum compared this election to the one immediately prior to the outbreak of the civil war in an effort to demonstrate the historical significance of his possible election to the White House. He would be the President to guide the United States through these troubled times, just as Lincoln guided the country out of the Civil War. By focusing of aligning himself with prominent historical figures, Santorum keeps skipping over the clash of cultures that almost ended the United States, and one must wonder with the ever increasing amount of polarization in US politics if Santorum sees another culture war on the horizon? His rhetoric is combative to be sure, but that is often part of a presidential election in its early stages. Although one can be sure that Santorum does not look to start a war within his country that will cost the lives of approximately 3% of the population Santorum does look to the Declaration of Independence and ask people to put their honor on the line for his view of America.
Yet, as absurd as it seems that an outsider in the race to be President of the United States would compare themself to one of the most venerated people in all of US history, Santorum does have a glimmer of a point. Over the past almost four years, Obama has done many historic and important things, such as the Affordable Care Act and undoing DADT, things that demonstrate his commitment to a US left-wing agenda. However, rhetoric in mainstream US media has continuously swung to the right over his presidency. In true democratic spirit, this increased visibility has only come about with much debate and consideration however public discourse is continuously charged with ideas so far to the right of what the current administration is doing that to the outside world, 'anyone following the Republican contest might well have believed Americans were about to outlaw birth control, round up homosexuals, and force immigrants to memorise the complete works of Ludwig von Mises.' Bizarrely, this is why Santorum's comments matter. It is often said in left wing media that for the more conservative elements of US society, everyday could be doomsday. Yet this is mobilizing the right, and although we will not be able to see by how much until after the final presidential election, the agenda is being so successfully pushed to the right, as we see through the stuttering progress of Obama's mandate, regardless of the presidential or congressional standpoint that one must begin to ponder, maybe this election will be the most important since 1860. Maybe it will be the election that leads to a new degree of polarization in American politics and a culture war unlike any seen in the past century. He may not do it directly, but with his inflammatory rhetoric, this is what Santorum is pushing for.
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