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Rick Santorum: Top 7 culture war moments

As a senator, Rick Santorum was one of the Republican Party's best-known culture warriors. Now, as a surging presidential contender, Mr. Santorum is still leading the charge, and facing questions about some of his old, and not so old, comments. Here is a sample.

7. Gay marriage: Just say no with a constitutional amendment

AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
Rick Santorum at a Presidential Lecture Series sponsored by The Family Leader, last year at Pella Christian High School in Pella, Iowa.

  • By Linda Feldmann Staff writer

On Feb. 13, the day that Washington legalized gay marriage, the seventh state to do so, Santorum visited on a campaign swing. And he didn’t mince words.

“I think it waters down marriage and I don’t think that’s what we need,” Santorum said in a meeting with state GOP lawmakers in Olympia. “We need to have a national consensus on this, a national debate. I believe we should move forward with a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.”

Santorum has said a constitutional amendment would invalidate the same-sex marriages already in effect.

But the former senator doesn’t just preach to the choir. After doing well (and eventually winning) the Iowa caucuses, where social conservatives dominate the GOP electorate, he went on to the more socially liberal New Hampshire. While appearing at a convention of college students in Concord, before that state’s Jan. 10 primary, he was booed after a lengthy exchange on gay marriage.

At one point, Santorum compared same-sex marriage to polygamy, according to ABC News.

“So anyone can marry anybody else? So if that’s the case, then everyone can marry several people … so you can be married to five people. Is that OK?” Santorum asked.

“Not what she’s asking!” a student yelled.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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