Santorum Enters Race & Shoots His Own Foot

The former right-wing senator from Pennsylvania, Rick "man on dog" Santorum, made it official yesterday -- he is a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. But it looks like he hasn't gotten any smarter since leaving public office. On the day he officially entered the race he made a pronouncement that very possibly could have insured his defeat.

Back in 2006 Santorum was soundly defeated in his bid to be re-elected to the Senate -- largely because of his die-hard support for privatizing Social Security. And yesterday, Santorum showed he still doesn't understand the huge support for Social Security among Americans. He made it clear that he still supports destroying Social Security and replacing it with a system of private accounts to be invested in the stock market for the enrichment of his banking buddies.

He even criticized Rep. Paul Ryan for only including the abolishment of Medicare in his budget plan. Santorum thinks the Republicans in the House should have voted to abolish both Medicare and Social Security. Santorum didn't just touch the "third rail of American politics". He danced a jig on it and dared it to zap him (and it probably will).

Most people were amazed a couple of weeks ago when Newt Gingrich mortally wounded his own candidacy just days after declaring he was officially in the race. Santorum has topped Gingrich. He killed his candidacy on the same day that he announced it.