Jesus, gays and health care: New Hampshire voters hammer Santorum

KEENE, N.H. - The Christian values candidate in the Republican field is getting his baptism by fire in New Hampshire.As he campaigns among the state's notoriously grumpy electorate, presidential candidate Rick Santorum has spent as much time arguing with prospective voters over same-sex marriage as he has asking them for their support. In the most recent flare-up on the campaign trail, the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania was challenged Friday about his opposition to gay rights and President Obama's health care plan."I have a question and it's about gay people," asked the first man to be called on at a Santorum town hall meeting here today. "They are children of God too. Do they have the right to marriage? Do they have the right to serve in the military? Should they be treated like any other citizen? Under your presidency, would you protect their rights or would you diminish them?"Santorum answered that he doesn't believe marriage or serving in the military are inalienable rights, but "privileges," adding, "It's not discrimination not to grant privileges."A few people jeered him.At another point in the meeting, a woman who said she had a college-aged son with a preexisting medical condition asked Santorum whether he thought it was right for insurance companies to discriminate against her son. The candidate did not address her question directly, but rather discussed market-based solutions to the lack of insurance coverage for some Americans and said Obama's health care plan has not fixed the problem. Some people objected to his answer.Santorum was interrupted several times during the nearly two-hour event. The local fire chief asked about 50 people to leave the overflow crowd in the basement of the Keene Public Library, spurring further complaints from the audience. At another point, a man shouted "Wall Street got bailed out! We got sold out!" And a band of supporters of rival Republican candidate Ron Paul took to singing carols in an adjoining room.Things didn't get easier for Santorum as the day wore on. At a town hall meeting at a college prepatory school in Dublin, students asked him repeatedly about gay marriage. At one point, Santorum said, "I think I answered that question. I'm not too sure I can add anything more to it."[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Santorum offered the crowd in Dublin a more passionate version of his opposition to same-sex marriage than he had earlier in the day.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]​

Click to expand...