Rick Santorum Cordially Invites You to His Dance Party


Say what you will about Rick Santorum (odds are people have said worse), but he has undeniably put an enormous amount of effort into the Iowa straw poll. As he tells anyone who will listen—at Thursday’s debate, and again on the soapbox at the Iowa State Fair on Friday—he has spent more time in the Hawkeye State than any other candidate. He has visited 51 cites over the last three weeks, and believes his message that liberals “will put you in chains” is finally starting to resonate. Ames, he tells supporters, is where he’s going to shock the world.

So that’s Rick Santorum’s goal for the today in Ames. But as I mentioned yesterday, the Straw Poll is about much, much more than actual voting. It’s like a mini-county fair, in which the various candidates try to offer the most enticing culinary and entertainment options. And Santorum has come up with…well he’s come up with this:

Photo: Tim MurphyPhoto: Tim MurphyHe will host the “Santorum Summer Dance Party” with Big Bopper Jr. and The Crickets. The name of the event comes from the “Winter Dance Party,” which was the last show that Big Bopper Sr. played before dying in a fiery plane crash. Apparently “Rick Santorum’s Custer’s Last Stand” was too clunky.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate