It wasn't the prelude to Rick
Santorum's official presidential announcement that he likely
expected: Actresses Miley Cyrus and Keira Knightley joined MSNBC's
Rachel Maddow in giving the beleaguered Republican more bad press.
Santorum, who is expected next week to
become the seventh Republican candidate to officially enter the race
for the GOP presidential nomination, cannot seem to escape his Google
problem.
The problem is simple. In 2003 the
former Senator from Pennsylvania likened gay unions to what he called
the moral equivalent of “man on dog,” angering gay activist Dan
Savage. Savage, also the editor of Seattle alternative The
Stranger, asked his readers for a new definition for “santorum”
and then posted it on a dedicated website which has risen to the top
of the search giant's results.
“Mr. Santorum's name recognition is
so low that this Google thing presents a serious barrier for his
campaign,” Maddow said on her program Friday. “Voters meet him,
they shake his hand, they want to know more, so they go home, they
Google him – and ack! dude let go of my hand.” (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page.)
Cyrus also took a swipe at Santorum,
linking his campaign to clothier Urban Outfitters in a tweet to her
more than 1 million followers: “'IF WE ALLOW GAY MARRIAGE NEXT
THING U KNOW PEOPLE WILL BE MARRYING GOLD FISH' – Rick Santorum UO
contributed $13,000 to this mans campaign.”
When messaged back, “@MileyCyrus what
happened to that Christian girl from TN with descent moral values and
a lot of heart?” the teen pop sensation responded, “what an
ignorant statement. I don't have 'alot of heart' cuz im not gonna be
a closed minded hypocrite? LOVE IS LOVE. GOD IS LOVE.”
During
a May 9 appearance on Comedy
Central's
The
Daily Show, Knightley said Googling Santorum had taken away
her innocence, referring to the search engine's top result that
redefines the meaning of “santorum.”
Host Jon Stewart asked whether that
would hurt Santorum's chances at winning the Republican nomination.
“Maybe that's a great thing,”
Knightley responded.