I was reading this fantastic little piece on Santorum being a “true-believer” and how terrifying it would be to have a “true-believer” in the White House. I agree wholeheartedly with the piece, that Santorum is the only candidate running right now who views himself as a Shepherd, in the biblical sense. Someone who is witnessing to the nation, someone who believes that God is a terrible person who will punish him, his family, and everyone in this country if we don’t do what we can to accept Jesus Christ as our savior and live by a strict interpretation of His Word.
And, yes, it is terrifying to think about someone like that in the White House.
But I also feel like there is a real reason as to why he’s the only “true-believer” running right now, and why we’ve never had a “true-believer” in the White House before. And that’s because there’s no future in believing, there’s only a future in making people believe you’re a true-believer.
A true-believer is someone who will step into his new role, see it as a mandate from God, and do everything in his power to actually change things. Change, when it comes to politics, is a bad thing. If you were able to successfully change the things you set out to change - if you were to outlaw all abortions, set-up gay concentration camps disguised as Reform Churches, exile all of the non-believers, do all of these terrible things that motivate your base, you would effectively destroy every platform that one-half of the Institution needs in order to remain part of the Institution.
And the Institution has no interest in losing its greatest commodity - the promise to satisfy its base.
Eight years of Reagan and eight years of Bush and republican congresses and conservative Supreme Courts - why hasn’t any of these promises to the true-believers ever come true? Because, when they do come true, the other side - our side - will be populated with politicians who promise to change it back to the way we like it. And promises of change wins elections. Just look at Obama, he built an unlikely campaign around it. Actual change, tho, takes the fight out of a side. They got what they wanted and there’s no need to fight anymore.
Actual change puts a movement to rest. Putting a movement to rest kills a facet of an Institution. Killing a facet of an Institution ends the careers of half of the people in that Institution.
One man can’t win the Presidency without money and support from the Institution. It is, quite honestly, the only good thing to come out of the two-party system and disgusting campaign costs.
The Institution won’t let Santorum win. They’re capable of looking beyond the next four or eight years, seeing their eventual demise, and doing whatever is necessary to hold power.
I’m not worried about Santorum. He’s not a politician, he’s a true reformer. And reformers are bad for the business of politics.
