Former Sen. Rick Santorum's platform includes a war on porn, as announced in a statement posted on his website. "America is suffering a pandemic of harm from pornography," it says. The statement goes on:
The Obama Administration has turned a blind eye to those who wish to preserve our culture from the scourge of pornography and has refused to enforce obscenity laws. While the Obama Department of Justice seems to favor pornographers over children and families, that will change under a Santorum Administration.
[See a collection of political cartoons on Rick Santorum.]
Whether or not banning porn, particularly on the Internet, is possible, Santorum's declaration—which calls porn "toxic to marriages and relationships" and a cause of "misogyny and violence against women,"—is another example of the former senator taking a hard right line on social issues. Statements he has made on contraceptives, abortion, and even the separation of church and state have appealed to social conservatives, but strike many as out of the mainstream. Some conservatives are worried that Santorum's focus on porn and other social issues hurts the party politically. Self-described "establishment Republican" Mark Davis writes, "A Santorum nomination would be guaranteed to blow up the party by focusing on the wrong issues at the wrong time." But as his campaign picks up speed after big wins in the Mississippi and Alabama primaries, Santorum is not likely to back down from such a pledge just yet.
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Previously: Is It Time for Newt Gingrich to Drop Out?
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