Top story on Drudge as I write this. And to think, some people accuse him of being pro-Romney.

“Satan has his sights on the United States of America!” Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has declared.

“Satan is attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity, and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has so deeply rooted in the American tradition.”…

“This is a spiritual war. And the Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country – the United States of America. If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age?”

“He attacks all of us and he attacks all of our institutions.”

Rush Limbaugh defended him half-heartedly on his show today, noting that the media thought it was cutesy-poo when evil clown Hugo Chavez compared Bush to the devil a few years ago but conceding that Santorum will “have to deal with it. He’ll have to answer it. I don’t know. It’s just not the kind of stuff you hear a presidential candidate talk about.” At the Post, John Podhoretz wonders if the best replacement for a president who sometimes seems to look down on Americans is … a president who sometimes seems to look down on Americans:

Like many culture warriors, he is disappointed by America and its failings, which — as his controversial views on the morality of birth control demonstrate — he believes stem from an excess of self-indulgence and the elevation of sexual appetite over self-restraint.

There is no way that a man who expresses such a dark view of the American national character can win the presidency.

Remember: This entire process is a job interview in which the candidates are trying to get hired by the electorate. Insulting the electorate and accusing it of spiritual weakness and sinfulness are not the ways to get yourself the job of president.

Click the image below to watch Santorum elaborate on America’s moral failings at a campaign event on Sunday night. Quote: “God gave us rights to life and the freedom to pursue His will. That’s what the moral foundation of our country is. So we would have the freedom, the liberty, not to do what we want to do but to do what we ought to do.” Defining freedom as “the freedom to pursue God’s will” certainly would make for an interesting campaign plank; Democrats would tread lightly in attacking it, but then, if even some on the right think Santorum railing against Satanic “sensuality” is kooky, they can afford to. The most striking thing to me when he discourses on morals is how passionate he is about it — so much so that it makes me wonder why his great ambition is to run for president instead of a job more narrowly tailored to his passion. That’s also why it’s hard to believe him and his supporters when they insist that he wouldn’t try to ban contraception. Why wouldn’t he? If we’re in a struggle with Satan against the corrupting influence of sensuality and at risk of betraying “what the moral foundation of our country is,” why wouldn’t a President Santorum wield his power to stop it? I sure am curious to see how the libertarian vote shakes out in November if it ends up being him against the mastermind of Obamanomics. Gary Johnson: Ten percent or bust!

Update: Commenters are noting that Santorum couldn’t ban contraceptives as president even if he wanted to. Indeed: The Warren Court’s Griswold decision makes that impossible and it’s unlikely in the extreme that there are five votes on the Roberts Court to reverse it. I used contraception as an example only because it’s been in the news lately and because Santorum’s said before that he has no regulatory designs on it. But the point stands. Why wouldn’t a president who’s passionate about America’s perceived moral failings want to use his power to whatever extent he could to reverse them?