Conservative outrage?

Alana Goodman, at Contentions, with reference to Rick Santorum’s moralizing, asks, “where’s the conservative outrage?” Well, I’ve got some if you need it.

Outrage, however, may be a bit too strong a word. It’s disappointment; disappointment that the allegedly conservative alternative to Mitt Romney would wade in such Nanny State waters.

I consider myself to be a live and let live conservative. I don’t want the government meddling with my diet or in my bedroom. But here’s what I’d like us all to consider about Santorum: what if he is merely advising us what is the better way, the moral way? And that he, as president, would not attempt to legislate morality? I suggest that this is much more likely than any attempts to create a theocratic state (I can already hear Debbie Wasserman Schultz pontificate on this, if you’ll excuse the Roman reference…).

Unfortunately, there’s likely a significant bloc of independent voters who won’t see Rick Santorum this way. They’ll see a pushy, hard-line Catholic all too ready to impose his version of morality on us all. Untrue, but ofttimes perception trumps reality. Which is how we wound up with a President Obama.

As much as I respect the vest, Mitt Romney remains the most electable among the current Republican candidates.