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.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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