3 ms·

all it takes is 5 million? doesn't sound like that big a problem, considering all the obstacles one must surpass to become president. like if someone would be

all it takes is 5 million? doesn't sound like that big a problem, considering all the obstacles one must surpass to become president. like if someone would be president, if and only if he could find 5 million, there are people who would give it to him. it wouldn't be a show stopper. maybe the problem with the donation is he thinks not being homophobic would lose him too many votes..?

jat850 16y ago
There is no way, ever, that Rick Santorum will ever make a 5 million dollar donation to the organization in question - not if he wishes to maintain the direction his ideologies take. In his case, it would be a complete show stopper. Not from a financial standpoint, but from a political one.
philwelch 16y ago
You can't support gay marriage and be elected President, not even as a Democrat (maybe in 2016). As a Republican? Forget it.
- xenophanes 16y ago
  That's dumb. Why not, exactly? Some significant proportion of all voters hate it. But that's true for abortion too. And you can favor abortion and become president. (or can't you?) also i take it there's a lot more voters who hate gay marriage than who hate homophobes? otherwise potential presidents would lose lots of votes either way and could go either path. wtf...
  - yummyfajitas 16y ago
    While a vocal minority on the left supports gay marriage, they will vote dem regardless of the dem candidate's position on this issue. After all, republicans are a bunch of stupid racist religious types who kill their own meat rather than buying it from the store like civilized people. A large group of people on both sides of the political aisle oppose gay marriage. They are not strongly motivated to vote - if you don't piss them off, many will stay home. If you piss them off, the ones on your side will stay home and the other guy's will vote against you. It's simple calculus. (Abortion is much the same. The fanatical anti-abortion types will always vote against the godless muslim babykillers who have sex outside of marriage, even if the candidates on their team do absolutely nothing to prevent abortion.)
    - konad 16y ago
      Eating meat is barbaric, not civilised.
  - philwelch 16y ago
    Yes, American politics is dumb. "And you can favor abortion and become president. (or can't you?)" Generally, for Democrats, a presidential candidate have to characterize themselves as personally opposed to abortion, and fervently wishing for as few abortions as possible be performed, while regretfully conceding that it's best for everyone involved if the government doesn't prohibit it. For Republicans, the candidate usually has to say they want to ban abortion, but there's no requirement to ever make any actual attempts to do so at any point once elected. Either way, you want to talk about the issue just long enough to satisfy the fanatics on your side, but not much longer than that because no one wants to hear about abortion.
brazzy 16y ago
The headline "Rick Santorum donates $5 million to gay marriage advocacy group" would be politically much, much worse than the status quo.

jat850 16y ago

There is no way, ever, that Rick Santorum will ever make a 5 million dollar donation to the organization in question - not if he wishes to maintain the direction his ideologies take. In his case, it would be a complete show stopper. Not from a financial standpoint, but from a political one.

philwelch 16y ago

You can't support gay marriage and be elected President, not even as a Democrat (maybe in 2016). As a Republican? Forget it.

xenophanes 16y ago
That's dumb. Why not, exactly? Some significant proportion of all voters hate it. But that's true for abortion too. And you can favor abortion and become president. (or can't you?) also i take it there's a lot more voters who hate gay marriage than who hate homophobes? otherwise potential presidents would lose lots of votes either way and could go either path. wtf...
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  While a vocal minority on the left supports gay marriage, they will vote dem regardless of the dem candidate's position on this issue. After all, republicans are a bunch of stupid racist religious types who kill their own meat rather than buying it from the store like civilized people. A large group of people on both sides of the political aisle oppose gay marriage. They are not strongly motivated to vote - if you don't piss them off, many will stay home. If you piss them off, the ones on your side will stay home and the other guy's will vote against you. It's simple calculus. (Abortion is much the same. The fanatical anti-abortion types will always vote against the godless muslim babykillers who have sex outside of marriage, even if the candidates on their team do absolutely nothing to prevent abortion.)
  - konad 16y ago
    Eating meat is barbaric, not civilised.
- philwelch 16y ago
  Yes, American politics is dumb. "And you can favor abortion and become president. (or can't you?)" Generally, for Democrats, a presidential candidate have to characterize themselves as personally opposed to abortion, and fervently wishing for as few abortions as possible be performed, while regretfully conceding that it's best for everyone involved if the government doesn't prohibit it. For Republicans, the candidate usually has to say they want to ban abortion, but there's no requirement to ever make any actual attempts to do so at any point once elected. Either way, you want to talk about the issue just long enough to satisfy the fanatics on your side, but not much longer than that because no one wants to hear about abortion.

brazzy 16y ago

The headline "Rick Santorum donates $5 million to gay marriage advocacy group" would be politically much, much worse than the status quo.