Even if it’s only been in the last few months that Rick Santorum has burst into the national spotlight, the former U.S. senator is familiar with tough campaigning. And now a group that worked to defeat Santorum six years ago is also jumping back on to the national stage.
The website SantorumExposed.com is nothing new, and neither is its YouTube channel. But last month, the group posted “Shit Santorum Says,” a montage of Santorum clips. The video is now one of the most viewed clips on the group’s page and the first to be posted on the site in almost three years.
According to SantorumExposed.com, the page is operated by the Lantern Project, which was established in 2005 to “give voters easy access to the positions, votes and statements of public figures and elected officials, so they can be seen as they really are and not as the pillars of mainstream, middle-American values they claim to be.”
Most of its efforts, however, appear to have been against Santorum. In 2006, a complaint was brought up against the Lantern Project for spending money in that year’s Pennsylvania senate race but not officially declaring itself a federal political committee.
Since Santorum announced his intentions to run for president in early 2011, SantorumExposed.com has also reemerged and started using social media as its primary sound box. Its Facebook page was created in early 2011 and has since been active in posting stories about Santorum’s record and political motives. The page has only gotten busier in recent months as Santorum went from a third-tier candidate to Mitt Romney’s primary rival. Now the Facebook page has become a gathering place for many anti-Santorum voters.
“If you think Obama is scary, elect this guy and you won’t believe how scary a man can get,” wrote Peggu Main.
Regardless of how the delegate math works out, the longer Santorum stays in the race, the longer social media efforts against him will persist. A look at the Facebook page only confirms that with dozens of user posts each and every day.
Photo by Gage Skidmore