Santorum and freedom

What Mr. Santorum has discovered in this campaign is that for a large number of voters, a connection has surfaced between Barack Obama’s economic policies and the issue of personal freedom. The potency of the latter is what’s new, and a vulnerability for this presidency.

Freedom, or liberty, is a staple of conservative politics. Ron Paul speaks about “liberty” as libertarian philosophy, and that has drawn new support. In the Santorum version it comes out as “freedom,” and it wells up from something more akin to the “Don’t tread on me” motto and coiled rattlesnake sewn into the famous yellow Gadsden flag created before the American Revolution. The Gadsden flag was a staple at tea party rallies two years ago.

Rick Santorum has linked these concerns about the status of personal freedom directly to ObamaCare and beyond that to the broader policy legacy of Obama administration.