Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 11:26 am
With his win in Louisiana tonight, 5 of the top 6 pornography consuming red states that have voted in 2012 have supported Rick Santorum.
According to a 2009 study by Benjamin G. Edelman eight of the top ten pornography consuming states are Red States. Of these top eight six have now voted in the Republican 2012 primary, and Rick Santorum has won five of them. Santorum has won in the third (Mississippi), fifth (Oklahoma), sixth (Arkansas), seventh (North Dakota), and eighth (Louisiana). Mitt Romney can take comfort in knowing that he has won the second (Alaska), and he is a lock to win number one (Utah). West Virginia has yet to vote, but one could easily see Mountaineer State supporting Rick Santorum.
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Besides the fact, that this demonstrated how self-deluded some red state Republicans really can be, this is also another potential example of voters voting against their own self-interest. What we have here are a group of conservative states that consume a great deal of pornography, yet they ended up supporting the one candidate in the primary who has all but promised to take away their porn.
Maybe these conservatives know that they are addicted to the stuff, and the only way they are ever going to kick the cyber nudie horse is if big government in the form of Rick Santorum and his purity crusade saves them? That’s possible, but a more likely scenario is that many of these conservatives who adore their adult entertainment are voting for Rick Santorum for the same reason that they go to church.
They see it as the right thing to do.
These male Republicans don’t see a conflict between their moral beliefs and their porn, which makes them hypocrites of the highest degree. In private they are watching who knows what, which is their right at least until Rick Santorum takes office thanks to their support, but in public they have to present the image of the God fearing Christian. When Election Day hits their state, they pull up their pants, shut off the laptop and with a hymn on their lips and a Hallelujah in their heart; they cast their ballot for Rick Santorum.
Perhaps these voters know that Santorum has no chance of winning, so they vote for him as one last chance to stick a thumb in Mitt Romney’s eye before they have to hold their nose and vote for him in November?
Political Scientists are always trying to measure and predict human political behavior with complicated mathematical formulas and numbers, but voters are irrational and unpredictable. When push comes to shove, red state voters would rather vote for Rick Santorum and keep up their good Christian image than publicly out themselves and their love of Internet porn.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
