Santorum unwittingly alienates the conservative youth vote


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After the last presidential election, one would think that Republicans, Democrats, Independents—you name it—would have come to value the younger voting demographic a little more,  particularly college students. One would think.

Many politicians have passed up the opportunity to pander to youth, but few have outright insulted this group of potential voters. As it  happens, Rick Santorum is one such rare politician.

During the Values Voter Summit in Washington D.C.  last weekend, Santorum told a crowd, “We will never have the elite, smart people on our side, because they believe they should have the power to tell you what to do. So our colleges and universities, they’re not going to be on our side.”

Not only does Santorum sarcastically imply that since smart people are nosy and invasive they won’t vote Republican (ironic, considering it’s the GOP who wants to regulate people’s right to marry and women’s bodies), but that those in universities are the same way: slaves to a system of control.

But it is the very “institutions” of church and family that Santorum goes on to praise in his speech that have historically relished “the power to tell you what to do.” The doctrines, rituals, commandments, and hierarchy of these units tell you what to eat, how to dress, who to talk to, and how to have sex—and that’s just for starters.

The comment about colleges is simultaneously a backhanded slap to and dismissal of student voters, especially Republican college voters. With polls consistently showing that college students are more liberal than ever, this is a dangerous move.

Ironically, Santorum holds a BA, MBA and JD, which undoubtedly contributed to his rise in politics in the first place. Yet, now he parades about as if his higher education never happened, characterizing every youth who dares to go to college as “elitist” and on the wrong side.

If Santorum was intentionally trying to alienate conservative college students, he very well may have accomplished his goal. If not, he has at least lost the GOP a few votes that will be very hard to get back.