New story at Religion Dispatches:
“Seven kids! Seven kids!” one woman exclaimed at a Rick Santorum rally in Louisiana on March 21, when organizers asked people to say what they liked most about the ultra-conservative Catholic, homeschooling presidential candidate.
Two days earlier, the 19-child Duggar family, famous for their reality TV show about large-family living, had released a folksy video in support of Santorum: “19 Reasons & Counting to Vote for Rick Santorum.” In it, Michelle Duggar drove home the same point as the Louisiana fan, giving as the “number two” reason to choose Santorum that, “The Santorums are raising seven precious children, and they have one in heaven.” (The top reason, delivered by husband Jim Bob Duggar, was the longevity of the Santorums’ marriage.)
It’s the same sort of logic offered by another Louisiana rally-goer quoted by the New York Times, 18-year-old Haley Harris, part of the Oklahoma family band that created the unofficial Santorum campaign song, “Game On!”: “If he can run his household, he can run the country,” Harris (whose pastor dad is part of her band) told the crowd.
