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How the gays defined "Santorum"



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One man is responsible for ruining the presidential aspirations of Rick Santorum.  Well, okay, two men.  One is Rick Santorum, and the other is Dan Savage.

Rosie Gray of Buzzrfeed says that Santorum defined him as the gays' nemesis, and while that may have worked in a previous era, it's not working today.  In part because people want someone to fix the economy, not fix their gay neighbors.  But also because of the "well organized gay political movement," as she calls it.  I'm not so sure we're well organized, but we are spunky.

I've been writing about the gays and lesbians who just keep getting in the GOP candidates' faces in the various primary states.  I don't think it's the gay mafia coordinating any of this, I think it's just individual gays and lesbians who are ticked off and not gonna take it any more.

And that leads us back to Dan Savage.  We all were pretty ticked with Rick Santorum when he made his famous "man-dog" comparison to same-sex marriage nearly ten years ago now.  But one guy took our anger and turned it into a highly effective action, and that was Dan.  With the help of his readers, he redefined "Santorum" in a way that wasn't just funny and gross, but also in a way that is now dogging (no pun intended, originally) Rick Santorum everywhere he goes.  It gave proof to the truth that Santorum is a gay-hater.  It gave the media a hook to believe the truth about Santorum, but also to report on it.  And it gave gay people hope, and passion, and inspiration for continuing to take on Santorum.  And as Buzzfeed's Gray notes, Rick Santorum is now unable to run from his past.  All because of the well-organized gays.

Not bad.

It's ironic therefore that Rick Santorum keeps getting glitter-bombed while his nemesis, Dan Savage, also keeps getting glitter-bombed.  Yes, the gay man single-handedly responsible for inspiring the entire community to take down the most dangerous presidential candidate we might face is now also the man who simply must be destroyed at all costs.

Dan isn't perfect, but he's damn good, and a good guy too.  If the activists attacking him had their way, we might be looking at a much stronger Santorum candidacy today.  I hope they keep that in mind as they attempt to destroy one of the gay community's finest assets.

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