It’s not what they stand for – but what they say
From bible bashing to very public gaffes – it seems there’s not much that’s off limits in the US presidential race, as the Republicans outdo each other to prove they’re never wrong for long.
Gaffes? They’ve made a few. But although their every word is captured, somewhere, somehow, on the great global gossip sharing site that is the internet, the current crop of Republicans vying to be President are showing few signs of political embarassment over some of their more extreme pronouncements.
Take Ron Paul, for instance. There are many in the GOP who must be cringing openly at some of the out and out libertarian’s finest gems. Like claiming Hamas was founded by Israel. Or that the Federal Reserve should be eliminated. His huge antipathy to any kind of federal government includes branding Social security and Medicare as unconstitional and comparing them to slavery. More worryingly for his campaign, he’s had to distance himself from a 1990’s flyer which warned of a coming ‘race war’ in America.
God, sex and alcoholism
Rick Perry’s no stranger to controversy either. He called the BP oil spill an act of God. He’s considered the idea that Texas should secede. He’s compared same-sex marriage to alcoholism – and suggested gay people should, well, just abstain. He’s a “firm believer” in intelligent design and wants it taught in schools alongside that other theory – evolution. A lesson on education policy might look a bit rich, coming from the man who couldn’t remember the three federal agencies he wants to scrap.
Oops. Rick Perry
But wait. There’s another Rick shouting to be heard – Rick Santorum. He’s also down on gay marriage, this time comparing it to polygamy. He’s railed against the ‘dangers’ of contraception: “It’s not OK”. He thinks doctors should face criminal charges for carrying out abortions. And he’s called for ‘surgical strikes’ on Iran if they develop nuclear weapons.
The blah community
Then there are the Santorum pronouncements that are just bizarre. “They talk about income inequality. I’m FOR income inequality.” Or that he finds it “almost remarkable” that Obama, as a black man, would oppose abortion. In similar vein, he came out with this bon mot the other week: “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money; I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money” He later tried to clear that one up, claiming he’d actually said “blah people”.
They talk about income inequality. I’m for income inequality. Rick Santorum
But if you’re looking for a politician with absolutely no trace of embarassment, then stand up Newt Gingrich. This, after all is the thrice married adulterer who’s a staunch advocator of family values. His latest attack condemns Mitt Romney as a destroyer of jobs, harking back to his time as CEO of the private equity firm Bain. Never mind that Gingrich himself has served on the advisory board of a private equity firm – and back in 1989, railed against a crackdown on political lobbying: “The idea that a congressman would be tainted by accepting money from private industry or private sources is essentially a socialist argument.”
Secular atheist fascism
He doesn’t think much of child labour laws, though – he’s proposed firing school janitors so children can work part time within their school for money and to develop “pride in their community.” And as for religion – he worries about a ‘gay and secular fascism’. Or that his grandchildren will grow up in “a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American.” That’s those gay, secular radical Islamist fascists, presumably.
At least there’s time for some fun and games, though – as Gingrich told the GOP Convention back in ’96: “A mere 40 years ago, beach volleyball was just beginning. No bureaucrat would have invented it, and that’s what freedom is all about.”
It’s a dog’s life
Corporations are people. Mitt Romney
Poor old Mitt Romney’s just got a few policy U-turns to poke fun at – along with his penchant for waving large wads of cash around, offering $10,000 bets with his rivals, and describing corporations as ‘people’. But in terms of popular outrage, it’s all eclipsed by the time he tied his dog to the roof of his car when the family went on a camping trip in the early eighties.
Bombing Iran? Voters don’t have a problem with that. But tamper with canine rights at your peril.
Felicity Spector is the US politics expert for Channel 4 News. Follow her on Twitter @felicityspector