I keep reading this. Concrete examples would be nice.
Check out a copy of his book, "It Takes a Family", from the library. he's not exactly shy about it.
Example. He's Catholic, so he's against artificial birth control. He believes birth control devalues the act of procreation, even for married couples. He wants, if elected, to defund access to contraception for anything getting public funding. Not sure if that'd involve the military as well, but probably. Mind you, he's including condoms, not just birth control pills for women. And he wants abortion to be illegal.
Now I'm not saying I don't understand the ideological platform to say the federal government shouldn't have the authority to deny states the right to ban abortions as well as funding for public welfare should be reduced. I understand both very well, but combined is a bit of ... cognitive disconnect. Providing contraception is the ONE form of public assistance that I believe even the most hardcore libertarians should endorse on pragmatic grounds.
He also strongly believes that Griswold and Eisenstadt (SCOTUS cases on contraception being sold to married couples) overreached on "right to privacy". His opinion is since it's not an enumerated right, it should receive significantly less or no Constitutional protection. Dude is more into opposing contraception than any Catholic priest or official I've ever met.
Dude also stated if elected, he'd set his AG on enforcing extremely old porn laws that haven't been repealed or found blatantly unconstitutional.
He's a Creationist, and beyond just the literal translation of the Book of Genesis. Which is fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion, except he wants it presented as fact rather than religion/ideological/opinion. I'm not sure, but you get the sen he does not believe in natural micro-evolution such as drug resistant microbes or natural selection. He always specifically used the term biological evolution, so you're never quite sure. The Santorum Amendment was a thankfully meaningless showpiece with no weight.
Really, this quote is the best summation of the man's character and the importance of never letting the man hold another position of any authority:
"They have this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do. Government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulation low and that we shouldn't get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn't get involved in cultural issues, you know, people should do whatever they want. Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world, and I think most conservatives understand that individuals can't go it alone...."
Not even most Republicans liked the guy too much, but he was a high ranking Republican and most of his opponents sucked, so he got the party support. Until his fall from grace. Oddly enough, he pulled a Lucifer and announced his support for Arlen Specter over Toomey. Bob Casey, Jr. isn't perfect, but I've known the guy since I was 12 and he's not a bad person. I don't agree with all of his politics, but I supported him a hell of a lot more than Santorum.
Santorum lost by largest margin of defeat for an incumbent senator in over three decades. I'm only shocked that it was "only" an 18% victory. Trust me, if you throw out your incumbent senator by that margin, you don't want the guy as President. He's in the cold for his betrayal of party loyalty and from his own state. There's no chance he'll win even the primary. Which means he has alternative motives for running.
The only part I can add is... I've known and met the guy. I know lots of people with different aspects of his beliefs. But this guy really, really, to-his-very-core actually believes his ideology. It's hard to explain. But again, you do not want this man in
any position of power, public trust or authority.
