Rick Santorum, Lakoffian Conservative
Doesn’t it seem like Rick Santorum is merely a plant to prove George Lakoff’s theory of conservative moral politics? In Lakoff’s analysis, conservatives follow a “strict father model”, which has several aspects. Primary among these aspects is what Lakoff calls the “Principle of Self Defense: It is the moral duty of all adherents of Strict Father morality to defend Strict Father morality above all else (Moral Politics, p. 97).”
Among the aspects of the strict father model is “moral order”. It is based on what Lakoff calls a “folk theory” of the natural order, according to which,
“God is naturally more powerful than people… Adults are naturally more powerful than children. Men are naturally more powerful than women.” These power relations then become relations of moral authority (p. 81).
Rich Santorum noted on ABC’s “This Week” that his faith fits with his ideas on governing, that he disagrees with the absolute separation of church and state. In Santorum’s view, God provides the order which we try to implement. In other words, we need religion and the church to inform our minds and our consciences as we go about the task of governing.
Conservatives and liberals also seem to see a different meaning in the word “freedom.” For liberals, freedom is associated with individual rights; for conservatives it seems to come with thinking and acting in accordance with the truth.
Rick Santorum seems to find that truth in the Bible and in conservative community. This, it seems, is what spurs him to refer to President Obama as a “snob” for promoting college attendance. If students in college will merely be indoctrinated by liberal professors, they will lose their understanding of what is right, and with it their true freedom.
The recent skirmishes around contraception also seem to play well into the Lakoffian analysis, touching on notions of moral boundaries, moral order, and moral purity. Contraception permits sex outside of established family boundaries, threatens the family which is established by the moral authority of husband over wife, and parent over child, and fosters self-indulgence at the expense of self-control.
For Santorum, the election seems less about the practice of democracy, and more about ensuring that right triumphs and saves America and Americans from their less lofty impulses.