Posted on 01/05/2012 10:21:11 PM PST by Libloather
Santorum booed for his positions on same-sex marriage, legal pot
By Alicia M. Cohn - 01/05/12 06:21 PM ET
Amid boos and occasional cheers, Rick Santorum defended his views on same-sex marriage and legalized marijuana, as he was peppered with questions by a crowd of college students in New Hampshire on Thursday.
The conservative candidate did not sidestep a challenge issued by several members of the crowd on the subject, but instead asked students to break down their argument so he could reply at length.
“Don’t you have to make the positive argument why the law should be changed?” he asked.
Santorum was speaking at the College Convention 2012, an event in Concord, New Hampshire planned ahead of Santorum’s recent surprise jump in the polls.
The initial question posed to Santorum was to explain how same-sex marriage “personally” affected him. Santorum has expressed his support of a federal ban on same-sex marriage.
Santorum noted that he was not surprised to take a question on same-sex marriage from a college-aged audience, and said he was “happy to engage in a discussion” but emphasized that it would be “civil” even as he faced interruptions from various members of the audience.
Santorum grilled one female audience member who chimed in on the subject, challenging her to defend her argument in favor of same-sex marriage by answering questions about whether the definition of marriage should be changed to reflect whatever makes various people happy.
"Are we saying everybody has the right to marry," Santorum asked.
"Yes, yes," a significant segment of the crowd responded.
"What about three men?" Santorum challenged. “If she reflects the values that marriage can be for anybody or any group of people, as many as is necessary, any two people or any three or four, marriage really means whatever you want it to mean.”
The student fired back a qualification that people should be allowed what makes them happy so long as it didn’t harm anyone else.
“Who decides that, though?” Santorum said.
Santorum concluded with a passionate defense of traditional marriage that included his argument in favor of a “birthright” of every child to know and be loved by a man and a woman. His argument earned applause.
Asked about laws to legalize marijuana, Santorum admitted he is not familiar with the nuances of medical marijuana laws. Marijuana use by prescription has been legalized in several states, with various restrictions. Santorum pushed back against rumbling in the already testy crowd, joking he knows he’s “supposed to know everything.”
But he said he believes marijuana use is dangerous, based on his personal experience of seeing it used. "I went to college, too,” he told the crowd.
Santorum hit the campaign trial in New Hampshire after a near-win in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday, where Mitt Romney beat him by just 8 votes. Santorum is enjoying a slight bump in the most recent polls in New Hampshire as a result, hitting 11 percent and 8 percent in the most recent polls from Washington Times-JZ Analytics and Suffolk University, respectively. Santorum's win in Iowa was credited in part to the large evangelical voting population and Santorum's credibility with social conservatives.
Or you can alienate them and turn them into little Democrats in the long run.
During the socialist rise to power, it seems that the younger generation lost their belief in God, but i never heard of any thing like what is going on now.
They are losing their belief in nature itself, the natural relationship between men and women, how do you deal with something like that?
He needs to get a better answer than that. If "danger" is the standard used to determine what should be legal or illegal they why haven't we banned alcohol, tobacco, automobiles, bathtubs, McDonalds, contact sports, and about 90% of prescription drugs?
Only Taxpayer, Property owners and Vets get to vote. Not even Government workers{Fed,State and local} should be allowed to vote.
If people on welfare wanted to vote, they would have to get a job and keep it for 1 year.
But,hey...what do I know?
“What the heck was Santorum doing wasting time talking to college kids? That is Ron Paul territory right now. Santorum isnt going to change the minds of any of them. These probably the most devoted and loyal voters out there right now. “
Read Post 12, he’s not talking to the college babies, he’s talking to us. Lots of us out here would like to see a PRINCIPLED conservative run, rather than someone that sees 40% (or whatever) support for gay marriage and then runs and cowers. It was a great move, especially in Primary Season.
“I hope Paul runs 3rd party, he would pull all these cretins away from King Barry.”
Good point. You ALWAYS want a solid conservative in a 3-party race, because that person will hold the base. That’s why Reagan was able to win (big-time) in 1980, and it’s also why Bush lost in 1992 (Bush was no longer considered conservative by then - and for good reason).
I am much of your opinion.
Todays college kids are at about the same maturity as a 1960’s 9th grader.
I find that answer troublesome from a supposedly "conservative" presidential candidate.
At the federal level, the first question should not be whether marijuana is "dangerous", but whether it's within the scope of federal authority.
The expansion of the federal government through abuse of the Commerce Clause is NOT a "nuance", it's one of the fundamental problems we need to get addressed.
If he doesn't understand that, somebody better be explaining it to him.
How about only taxpayers get to vote.
Go Santorum... HE IS PISSING OFF THE RIGHT PEOPLE!
LLS
George Bush Pere was never a conservative nor considered one. His place on the 1980 ticket was a sop to the Rockefeller wing of the party. Recall his "voo-doo economics" attacks among others on RWR during the primaries. Biggest mistake Reagan ever made was to invite that poisonous POS to share the ticket.
GB one gave us Clinton who set the stage for Obama with the placement of far left 'agents of change' in the government bureaucracy. When the situation called for a cleaning of the Clinton stables, GWB through his domestic strategery of 'inert passivity', instead left the red scum in placed allowing them to further undermine our republic.
If the predominant view of most of today’s college students is: how much sex can I have, and how much dope can I smoke, then we might as well bring down the curtain. I can’t believe the self-indulgent clowns in the student audience represent all college kids. But it is depressing.
Biologically, they are younger men and women. It is the indoctrination to which they have been subjected in the State run schools which runs contrary to their upbringing, and contrary to nature itself which causes confusion.
During the socialist rise to power, it seems that the younger generation lost their belief in God, but i never heard of any thing like what is going on now.
If they had it in the first place, that is.
Instead of the tacit acknowledgement that there was indeed a greater power than humankind in the universe implicit in saying The Lord's Prayer every morning, instead of the Pledge of Allegiance, which too, acknowledges God's soverignty, and allegiance to something greater than the individual, they have been pounded with the doctrine of 'if it feels good do it'.
All save the most stalwart will flag under such intense attack, and the combination of peer pressure and ridicule are potent adversaries, indeed.
For this reason, a strong and worshipful background is critical to resisting the indoctrination.
With fewer parents attending church, and actually, a second generation of indoctrinated youth in the works, it is no surprise that they have indeed lost their faith--and often the fault is as much that of the parents as the children.
They are losing their belief in nature itself, the natural relationship between men and women, how do you deal with something like that?
Again, this is no accident, but by nefarious design.
In the ranks of those who would claim the title of 'educator' there are those who seek to do the only thing they can to increase their numbers--recruit more to their way of life.
They have created this confusion, again by the indoctrinational bombardment of children with deviancy presented as 'normal' and moral relativism, in order to weaken their sense of right and wrong, in defiance of nature itself.
How to combat this? It must be done at home, wherever.
Few are so depraved or lost as to not know what is naturally wrong, some are confused by the indoctrination.
IMHO, this is why Santorum's engagement of the students in debate is excellent, because it strips away the veil of indoctrination and gives them food for thought.
Not all will be saved from the abyss, but every one who is saved is a victory.
This is why it is up to all of us to not dismiss them with labels, but to stand steadfast in our faith, to engage them in intelligent debate when possible, and expose the flaws in their rationale whenever possible.
The sort of name calling I have seen on this forum of late, a veritable feeding frenzy of name calling, allegations without support or substance presented to back them up, would alienate anyone who thought of discussing those candidates in a rational manner. That does no service to Conservatism, this site, nor our country, all it does is to give people a chance to show off some graphics they came up with and crank the feedback loop to maximum in an echo chamber only they can enjoy. Sad to see in an election year when rational presentations might sway votes instead.
They are losing their belief in nature itself, the natural relationship between men and women, how do you deal with something like that?
Again, this is no accident, but by nefarious design.
Almost diabolical, isn’t it.
Not a bad idea.
Never heard that before, but I don’t watch many movies or TV shows.
“Santorum concluded with a passionate defense of traditional marriage that included his argument in favor of a “birthright” of every child to know and be loved by a man and a woman. His argument earned applause.”
And there it is...something that most older adults understand, but today’s youth completely do not.
Many, themselves, come from broken homes.
Soon they will begin the process of mating with an occasional live-in lover here and there.
Yours is certainly the conventional wisdom. I'm glad Santorum is wading in against it. The homosexual and pro-death crowds have a visceral hatred for Rick...just google, "Santorum" with the safe search turned off. The sooner he draws them out and exposes them, the sooner a lot of disinterested, but otherwise traditional fence sitters turn in his direction. With his remarks as to the birthright of a child to be raised by a man and woman, I wonder how many in the crowd came from single parent homes and thought, "Hey...he's right."
Then, the users will realize how stupid it is.
IMHO, Drug testing as a condition of employment is an excellent weed-out (pun intended) for people who are too stupid, or too undisciplined to set down the bong for a few weeks while they job-hunt. If you *know* that you're going to be tested, then put the stuff away for awhile.
Not when you’re trying to roll evangelical momentum into a South Carolina upset. Gross tactical error.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.