Political Savagery

For all but the most extreme partisans, being a political figure is virtually synonymous with having an identity crisis. The tension between the will to bring about meaningful change and the desire to stay in office long enough to accomplish it makes it almost inevitable. For some reason, Republican identity crises are especially pronounced.

Despite their party's historic election victory last year, and the attendant chest-thumping about their mandate from the American people, the party still seeks to present themselves as as victims of "media elites". Obviously, Sarah Palin is a poster child for this tendency, but she's not alone.

Lately former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has been in the news, partly as a potential 2012 Presidential candidate and partly for his "Google problem". Columnist Dan Savage, the man who created that "Google problem" (though many would say Santorum brought it on himself), was asked about it in the March 28th issue of Time as part of an interview about his "It Gets Better" project, intended to help gay kids deal with bullying. Savage's response perfectly crystalized the GOP's powerful/victim dilemma.

"Rick Santorum has said insanely offensive things about gay and lesbian couples. He was a two-term sitting U.S. Senator with a lot of power, and my readers and I are a bunch of jackasses without a lot of power. We made a joke at his expense, and now he [plays] the victim, which is all Republicans seem capable of doing these days."

Santorum's "Google problem" exists mainly because he hasn't done anything of note to push the scatological use of his name further down the search rankings. As long as he persists in casting himself as a victim, it seems unlikely he ever will.