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American columnist [[Dan Savage]] initiated a '''campaign in 2003 to create a vulgar neologism''' using the surname of [[Rick Santorum]], the Republican senator for Pennsylvania at the time. The campaign began after Santorum made [[Santorum controversy regarding homosexuality|remarks about homosexuality]] that were widely regarded as homophobic.<ref name=Brewer/>
In 2003, in response to [[Santorum controversy regarding homosexuality|controversial statements]] by United States Senator [[Rick Santorum]], sex-advice columnist [[Dan Savage]] initiated a web-centered campaign to establish the use of the Senator's surname as a new and sex-related term.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rick Santorum vs. the internet |first=Meg |last=Heckman |url=http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/262299/rick-santorum-vs-the-internet?SESS3923bd491987f200071aa5500287e516=bing |newspaper=The Concord Monitor |date=June 12, 2011}}</ref> During an April 2003 interview with the Associated Press, Santorum asserted that consenting adults do not have a constitutional right to privacy as interpreted through [[Griswold v. Connecticut]] and [[Roe v. Wade]], and in his view, certain acts—specifically polygamy, adultery, and sodomy—undermine society and the family. Savage, a [[gay rights]] activist, subsequently asked the readers of his "[[Savage Love]]" column to coin a definition for "santorum," and announced the winner as "the frothy mixture of [[personal lubricant|lube]] and [[feces|fecal]] matter that is sometimes the byproduct of [[anal sex]]".


During an interview in April 2003 with the Associated Press about moral relativism and the [[Catholic sex abuse cases|Catholic Church sex abuse cases]], Santorum argued that consenting adults do not have a constitutional right to privacy with respect to sexual acts, because in his view certain acts—specifically polygamy, adultery, and sodomy—undermine society and the family.<ref name=USATodayApril232003>[http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-04-23-santorum-excerpt_x.htm "Excerpt from Santorum interview"], ''USA Today'', April 23, 2003.</ref> Savage, a [[gay rights]] activist, subsequently asked his readers to coin a definition for "santorum," announcing the winner as "the frothy mixture of [[personal lubricant|lube]] and [[feces|fecal]] matter that is sometimes the byproduct of [[anal sex]]."<ref name=Brewer>Brewer, Paul Ryan. [http://books.google.com/books?id=U34pJTdF-VcC&pg=PA67 ''Value War: Public Opinion and the Politics of Gay Rights'']. Rowman & Littlefield, 2008, pp. 67–68, 86, footnote 54.
Savage created a website to spread the definition, and it became a prominent search result for "Rick Santorum" and "santorum" on many [[Web search engines]]. In 2010, Savage offered to remove the website if Santorum would donate US$5 million to a gay rights group, [[Freedom to Marry]]. Santorum said in June 2011 that the situation comes with the territory, and "unfortunately there are vile people out there who do horrible things. ... It's unfortunate that some people thought it would be a big joke to make fun of my name ..." When asked whether [[Google]] should step in to prevent the definition appearing so prominently under searches for his name, he said they should intervene only if they would normally do so in this kind of circumstance.
*For Savage's website, see [http://www.spreadingsantorum.com/ spreadingsantorum.com], accessed June 19, 2011.</ref> He created a website to spread the definition, which became a prominent search result for Santorum's name on several search engines.<ref name=AmiraFeb162011>Amira, Dan. [http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/02/rick_santorum_has_come_to_term.html "Rick Santorum Has Come to Terms With His Google Problem"], ''New York Magazine'', February 16, 2011.</ref> He offered in 2010 to take the website down if Santorum donated US$5 million to a gay rights group, [[Freedom to Marry]].<ref name=MotherJones>Mencimer, Stephanie. [http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/08/rick-santorum-google-problem-dan-savage "Rick Santorum's Anal Sex Problem"], ''Mother Jones'', September/October 2010.</ref>


Santorum said in June 2011 that the situation comes with the territory, and "unfortunately there are vile people out there who do horrible things. ... It's unfortunate that some people thought it would be a big joke to make fun of my name ..." When asked whether [[Google]] should step in to prevent the definition appearing so prominently under searches for his name, he said they should intervene only if they would normally do so in this kind of circumstance.<ref>[http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/06/santorum-hopes-google-will-do-something-about-filth-on-the-internet/ Interview with Rick Santorum"], ''The Daily Rundown'', MSNBC, June 9, 2011.</ref>
==Coining==
===Background===
{{Details|Santorum controversy regarding homosexuality}}
In an April 7, 2003 interview with the [[Associated Press]], Santorum stated, "If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual [gay] sex within your home, then you have the right to [[bigamy]], you have the right to [[polygamy]], you have the right to [[incest]], you have the right to [[adultery]]. You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does."<ref name="sprigg">{{cite book|first=Peter|last=Sprigg|pages=101–104|title=Outrage|publisher=Regnery Publishing|year=2004|isbn=9780895260215}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Sen. Santorum's Comments on Homosexuality|work=[[Associated Press]]|date=April 22, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/apr/18/langston-hughes-rick-santorum|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=April 18, 2011|title=Rick Santorum disowns Langston Hughes line used in presidential campaign|first=Alison |last=Flood|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |accessdate=May 11, 2011}}</ref><ref name="CNN20030422">{{cite news|first=Sean|last=Loughlin|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/04/22/santorum.gays/|title=Santorum under fire for comments on homosexuality|work=[[CNN]]|publisher=[[Time Warner]]|date=April 22, 2003|accessdate=October 2, 2007}}</ref> Santorum further stated that he believed consenting adults do not have a constitutional [[right to privacy]] with respect to sexual acts.<ref>{{cite news|author=[[Associated Press]]|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,84862,00.html|title=Raw Data: Excerpts of Santorum's AP Interview|work=[[Fox News Channel]]|date=April 22, 2003|publisher=www.foxnews.com|accessdate=October 2, 2007}}</ref> He stated regarding the concept of marriage within the law, "In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing."<ref name="exerptfromsantoruminterview">{{cite news|title=Excerpt from Santorum interview|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-04-23-santorum-excerpt_x.htm|accessdate=May 12, 2011|work=[[USA Today]]|author=[[Associated Press]]|date=April 23, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=[[The Washington Post]]|publisher=[[The Washington Post Company]]|title=Father First, Senator Second - For Rick Santorum , Politics Could Hardly Get More Personal|date=April 18, 2005|first=Mike|last=Leibovich|page=C1; Edition: F}}</ref>


==Santorum interview==
A representative for Santorum asserted that his comments were relevant specifically to the then-pending case before the [[Supreme Court of the United States]], ''[[Lawrence v. Texas]]''.<ref name="gaygroupswant" /> Though Santorum said some of his remarks were "taken out of context", he generally stood behind his comments and defended them as a reflection of the law, and a "legitimate public policy discussion", for which he would not apologize.<ref name="santorumdefends">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/04/23/santorum.gays/index.html|accessdate=May 12, 2011|publisher=[[Time Warner]]|work=[[CNN]]|title=Santorum defends comments on homosexuality|date=April 23, 2003|first=Sean |last=Loughlin}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Santorum stands behind comments on homosexuality|date=April 23, 2003|work=[[The Intelligencer (Doylestown, Pennsylvania)|The Intelligencer]]|location=[[Doylestown, Pennsylvania]]|page=6B, Section: Daily B}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Santorum's remarks draw both affirmation, criticism from Catholics|work=[[National Catholic Reporter]]|date=May 9, 2003|last=Donovan|first=Gill}}</ref><ref name="santorumandgays">{{cite news|work=[[Salon.com|Salon]]|title=Santorum and gays|url=http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2003/04/26/santorum_quotes/|accessdate=May 12, 2011|date=April 26, 2003}}</ref>
[[File:Rick Santorum by Gage Skidmore.jpg|thumb|140px|[[Rick Santorum]]]]
{{main|Santorum controversy regarding homosexuality}}
In an interview with the Associated Press on April 7, 2003, Santorum discussed the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal in relation to liberalism and relativism. He argued that moral relativism involves the acceptance of any adult consensual behavior in the privacy of people's homes, even if the behavior might otherwise be regarded as deviant, an attitude that he believes leads to an unhealthy culture.<ref name=USATodayApril232003/>


He said that, while he had no problem with homosexuality, he did have a problem with homosexual acts: "As I would with acts of other, what I would consider to be, acts outside of traditional heterosexual relationships. And that includes a variety of different acts, not just homosexual." He continued: "We have laws in states, like the one at the Supreme Court right now, that has sodomy laws and they were there for a purpose. Because, again, I would argue, they undermine the basic tenets of our society and the family. And if the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does."<ref name=USATodayApril232003/>
[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] responding to Santorum's remarks included Former [[Governor of Vermont]] [[Howard Dean]] and the [[Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee]], who called on Santorum to resign from his post as Republican Conference chairman."<ref name="santorumdefends" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Dean: Senator should quit post - Politics: Santorum continues to defend remarks on gay sex|date=April 24, 2003|work=[[Long Beach Press-Telegram]]|author=[[Associated Press]]|page=A13}}</ref><ref name="reckless1">{{cite news|date=April 23, 2003|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,84827,00.html|title= Santorum Comments Draw Fire|work=[[Fox News Channel]]|accessdate=December 21, 2010|publisher=www.foxnews.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=[[Boston Herald]]|title=Senator's anti-gay comments draw fire|date=April 23, 2003|first=Noelle |last=Straub|page=3}}</ref> Other Democrats criticizing the remarks included [[Senate Minority Leader]] [[Tom Daschle]] and [[Brad Woodhouse]] of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.<ref name="CNN20030422" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Pennsylvania Senator's anti-gay remarks stir firestorm|work=[[The Miami Herald]]|author=[[Hearst News Services]]|date=April 23, 2003|page=15A}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Democrats demand Santorum resign leadership post over anti-gay comments|work=[[USA Today]]|first=Greg ([[Gannett News Service]])|last=Wright|date=April 22, 2003|publisher=Gannett Co., Inc.}}</ref>


He said he was arguing against any relationship other than marriage between a man and a woman, the basis in his view of a stable society: "That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be."<ref name=USATodayApril232003/> The interview triggered an angry reaction, including from gay rights activists.<ref name=Brewer/> A spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee described the views as divisive and reckless.<ref name=CNN20030422>Loughlin, Sean. [http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/04/22/santorum.gays "Santorum under fire for comments on homosexuality"], CNN, April 22, 2003.</ref>
Santorum also faced criticism for his comments from some [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]s including the [[Log Cabin Republicans]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Both-parties-see-benefit-of-courting-gay-vote-1114400.php|publisher=www.seattlepi.com|accessdate=May 10, 2011|title=Both parties see benefit of courting gay vote|first=Scott |last=Shepard|date=May 10, 2003|work=[[Cox News Service]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Santorum statement riles gays - Remarks referred to incest, bigamy.|work=[[Columbia Daily Tribune]]|author=[[Knight Ridder|Knight Ridder Newspapers]]|date=April 22, 2003}}</ref> and the [[Republican Unity Coalition]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/24/politics/24SANT.html|publisher=[[The New York Times Company]]|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=A Republican Group Demands That Senator Apologize to Gays|date=April 24, 2003|accessdate=May 12, 2011|last=Stolberg|first=Sheryl Gay}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Last Sanction|work=[[The Gainesville Sun]]|date=April 30, 2003|page=12A}}</ref> A few Republican Senators criticized Santorum's remarks, but most preferred to avoid comment for or against.<ref name=enrich>{{cite news|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/206701/mods-vs-santorum/david-enrich|accessdate=May 13, 2011|publisher=www.nationalreview.com|work=[[National Review]]|first=David (State News Service)|last=Enrich|title=Mods Vs. Santorum: Another battle with the GOP's liberal wing.|date=April 25, 2003}}</ref> Notable leaders of conservative groups such as [[Concerned Women for America]] and the [[Family Research Council]] and editorialists in ''[[World Net Daily]]'' and the ''[[National Review]]'' spoke out in support of Santorum.<ref name="CNN20030422" /><ref name="jailinggays">{{cite news|title=Jailing gays Does the GOP approve?|work=[[Charleston Gazette]]|date=April 30, 2003|author=Gzedit|page=P4A}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=32268|accessdate=May 12, 2011|publisher=www.wnd.com|first=Joseph|last=Farah|authorlink=Joseph Farah|title=Santorum is right|work=[[World Net Daily]]|date=April 28, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=[[National Review]]|last=George|first=Robert P.|authorlink=Robert P. George|title=Rick Santorum is right|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/207032/rick-santorum-right/robert-p-george|accessdate=May 12, 2011|date=May 27, 2003|publisher=www.nationalreview.com}}</ref>
{{clear}}
==Savage campaign==
[[File:Dan Savage Provided.jpg|thumb|left|140px|[[Dan Savage]]]]
American sex-advice columnist Dan Savage responded to Santorum's comments in an op-ed in ''The New York Times'' on April 25, arguing that they amounted to an overt Republican appeal to homophobic voters.<ref>Savage, Dan. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE5D7163DF936A15757C0A9659C8B63 "G.O.P. Hypocrisy"], ''The New York Times'', April 25, 2003.</ref> A reader of his column, "[[Savage Love]]," suggested he organize a contest to determine a definition for "santorum." Savage had previously sought to coin several sexual neologisms, including "[[Pegging (sexual practice)|pegging]]." He wrote: "There's no better way to memorialize the Santorum scandal than by attaching his name to a sex act that would make his big, white teeth fall out of his big, empty head."<ref>Savage, Dan. [http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=14267 "Bill, Ashton, Rick"], ''The Stranger'', May 15, 2003.</ref>


He said on May 29 that he had received 3,000 suggestions, and posted several for readers to choose from, announcing the winner on June 12 as "that frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex."<ref>For some of the other suggestions, see Savage, Dan. [http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=14422 "Do the Santorum"], ''The Stranger'', May 29, 2003.
[[LGBT rights]] groups which condemned the comments by Santorum included the Pennsylvania Gender Rights Coalition, OutFront, the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights,<ref name="gaygroupswant" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Santorum Angers Gay Rights Groups|work=[[The Washington Post]]|publisher=[[The Washington Post Company]]|last=Cooperman|first=Alan|date=April 22, 2003|page=A04}}</ref> and the [[Human Rights Campaign]].<ref name="gaygroupswant">{{cite news|first=Lisa Jakes|last=Jordan|title=Gay groups want Santorum out of leadership|work=[[Associated Press]]|date=April 22, 2003}}</ref>
*For the winner, see Savage, Dan. [http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=14566 "Gas Huffer"], ''The Stranger'', June 12, 2003.</ref> He set up a website to spread the definition,<ref name=Brewer/> featuring the term over a brown splattered stain on an otherwise-white page. ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' reported in July 2006 that the site appeared at the top of a Google search for Santorum's name. When asked whether he was concerned about the effect on Santorum's children, Savage responded that gays and lesbians have children too, yet their children are required to listen to gay relationships being compared to incest and bestiality. He said the people worried about Santorum's children were "left-leaning trolls": "The only people who come at me wringing their hands about Santorum's children are idiot lefties who don't get how serious the right is about destroying us."<ref name=Spikol>Spikol, Liz. [http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/cover-story/38419699.html "Savage Politics"], ''Philadelphia Weekly'', October 4, 2006.</ref>


Savage offered in May 2010 to remove the site if Santorum donated $5 million to "Freedom to Marry," an advocacy group for [[same-sex marriage]].<ref name=MotherJones/> In February 2011, the term was still the top result for Santorum's name on several search engines, including Google, Bing and Yahoo.<ref>Amira, Dan. [http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/02/rick_santorum_has_come_to_term.html "Rick Santorum Has Come to Terms With His Google Problem"], ''New York Magazine'', February 16, 2011.</ref>
===Readers contest===
[[File:Dan Savage Provided.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Dan Savage]] published the definition on May 29, 2003.<ref name="Savage Love May 29" />]]
[[Dan Savage]] addressed Santorum's comments in an [[op-ed]] published in ''[[The New York Times]]'' on April 25, 2003.<ref name="gophypocrisy" /> He linked Santorum's comments to the broader agenda of the party, saying "Mr. Santorum, who holds the No. 3 position in the Senate leadership, was only repeating what many Republicans have already said."<ref name="gophypocrisy">{{Cite news | last=Savage | first=Dan | author-link=Dan Savage | title=G.O.P. Hypocrisy | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | date = April 25, 2003 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE5D7163DF936A15757C0A9659C8B63 | postscript=<!--None-->|publisher=[[The New York Times Company]]|page=31; Column: 2}}</ref> Savage next handled the matter in his sex-advice column, ''Savage Love'', on May 8, saying: "Striking down an insulting, discriminatory, unconstitutional law will not, as Santorum fears, open the doors to incest, adultery, bigamy, and bestiality. Straight people blew those doors off their hinges long, long ago."<ref name="family ties">{{cite news|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=14193|title=Savage Love Family Ties|first=Dan|last=Savage|authorlink=Dan Savage|work=[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]]|date=May 8, 2003|publisher=www.thestranger.com}}</ref>


==Reception==
Letters on the Santorum controversy began to arrive, "assuming correctly that the incident was right up Savage's sex-politics alley," according to Liz Spikol of the ''[[Philadelphia Weekly]]''.<ref name="Spikol">{{cite news | url=http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/cover-story/38419699.html | title=Savage Politics | first=Liz|last= Spikol |publisher=www.philadelphiaweekly.com| work=[[Philadelphia Weekly]] | date=October 4, 2006 | accessdate=December 19, 2006}}</ref> As general media discussion moved on from Santorum's anti-gay comments, a writer under the pseudonym "Sex and Rick Santorum" urged Savage to organize a reader contest to determine a definition for the word "santorum."<ref name="Savage Love May 15" /> The reader reasoned that since Santorum had invited himself into the bedrooms of homosexuals, they should be "inclusive" and name a gay sex act for him.<ref name="Savage Love May 15" /> Savage agreed, after pointing out that there are no "gay" sex acts, saying: "There's no better way to memorialize the Santorum scandal than by attaching his name to a sex act that would make his big, white teeth fall out of his big, empty head."<ref name="Savage Love May 15" />
''The New York Times'' reported in 2004 that people had tried to use [[Google bomb]]s to link the names of several American politicians to what it called unprintable phrases, including George W. Bush, Hilary Clinton, and Rick Santorum.<ref>McNichol, Tom. [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/22/technology/circuits/22goog.html "Your Message Here"], ''The New York Times'', January 22, 2004.</ref> Savage's campaign was widely discussed in the media, but the word itself did not gain wide acceptance, according to ''The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'' in 2006.<ref>Partridge, Eric. ''The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English''. Routledge, 2006, pp. x–xi: "An example of deliberate coining is the word 'santorum', purported to mean 'a frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex'. In point of fact, the term is the child of a one-man campaign by syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage to place the term in wide usage. From its appearance in print and especially on the Internet, one would assume, incorrectly, that the term has gained wide usage."</ref>


The [[American Dialect Society]] selected "santorum" as the winner in its "Most Outrageous" category in the society's 2004 "Word of the Year" event,<ref>[http://www.americandialect.org/2004_Words_of_the_Year_Final_Vote_.pdf "Most Outrageous"], American Dialect Society, January 7, 2005, p. 2.</ref> as a result of which several newspapers reportedly omitted that category from their coverage of the announcement.<ref>Sheidlower, Jesse. [http://www.slate.com/id/2112150/ "Linguists Gone Wild! Why "wardrobe malfunction" wasn't the word of the year"], ''Slate'', January 11, 2005.</ref> Bloggers linking to it caused it to rise in Google's rankings.<ref name=MotherJones/> ''[[Google Current]]'' reported in 2006 that the word had inspired punk rock and blues songs, and it began appearing on bumper stickers and t-shirts.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20061111035016/http://www.current.tv/google/GC01679 "Santorum"], ''Google Current'', July 15, 2006.
Savage noted that the column had previously succeeded in creating a sexual slang word, "[[Pegging (sexual practice)|pegging]]", by getting the definition to begin appearing in dictionaries of sexual slang.<ref name="Savage Love May 15">{{cite news | url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=14267 | title=Savage Love: Bill, Ashton, Rick | first=Dan|last= Savage|authorlink=Dan Savage | date=May 15, 2003 | work=[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]] |publisher=www.thestranger.com| accessdate=December 19, 2006}}</ref> "I threw it out there to my readers," Savage later said.<ref name="Spikol" /> Savage published several definitions suggested by readers in subsequent columns.<ref name="Savage Love May 29" /> The winning definition was submitted by "Wipe Up That Santorum, Anal Pokers" in the May 29 column.<ref name="Savage Love May 29">{{cite news | url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=14422 | title=Savage Love: Do the Santorum | first=Dan|last= Savage|authorlink=Dan Savage | date=May 29, 2003 | work=[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]] |publisher=www.thestranger.com| accessdate=December 19, 2006}}</ref> The print journal ''Gay and Lesbian Humanist'' noted the contest in its Summer 2003 issue, before a definition had been selected.<ref>{{cite news|work=Gay and Lesbian Humanist|url=http://www.pinktriangle.org.uk/glh/224/gossip.html|accessdate=May 10, 2011|date=Summer 2003|first=Warren Allen |last=Smith|title=Gossip from Across the Pond|publisher=www.pinktriangle.org.uk}}</ref> Votes were collected by e-mail, and the winning definition was announced June 12; Savage concluded by asking for questions about santorum, and urged his readers to get the word out.<ref name="Savage Love June 12">{{cite news | url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=14566 | title=Savage Love: Gas Huffer | first=Dan |last=Savage|authorlink=Dan Savage | date=June 12, 2003 | work=[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]] |publisher=www.thestranger.com| accessdate=December 19, 2006}}</ref> Savage said that the winner was a "perfect fit," as there was no prior name for it.<ref name="Spikol" /> ''Santorum,'' he explained, is "unwelcome. If you're doing [anal sex] right, it's not gonna happen, and if it happens, it's a bit of a killjoy, which is what it would be if the actual senator strolled into the room."<ref name="Spikol" />
*For the bumper stickers and t-shirts, see Spikol, Liz. [http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/cover-story/38419699.html "Savage Politics"], ''Philadelphia Weekly'', October 4, 2006.</ref> Charles Moser of the Sexual Medicine Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality included it in a 2006 article for ''Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause''.<ref>Moser, Charles. [http://education.mistresssatet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Demystifying-Alternative-Sexual-Behaviours.pdf "Demystifying alternative sexual behavior"], ''Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause]], Volume 4, issue 2, October 2006.</ref> [[Jon Stewart]] mentioned it on ''[[The Daily Show]]'' a few times; his reference to it in May 2011 caused the word to be one of the most queried search terms on Google the following day.<ref>Stewart, Jon. [http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-july-12-2006/indecision-2006---no-mentum "Indecision 2006: No-Mentum"], ''The Daily Show'', July 12, 2006.
*Stewart, Jon. [http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/mon-may-9-2011-keira-knightly "The Daily Show: Keira Knightly"], ''The Daily Show'', May 9, 2011.
*Hughes, Sarah Anne. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/rick-santorum-gets-google-boost-from-jon-stewart/2011/05/10/AFmQPbgG_blog.html "Rick Santorum gets Google boost from Jon Stewart"], ''The Washington Post'', May 10, 2011.
*[http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/rick-santorum-google-problem-on-the-daily-show-13571274 "Return of Rick Santorum's 'Google Problem'"], ABC News, May 10, 2011.
*Friedman, Megan. [http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/10/watch-jon-stewart-reminds-internet-of-rick-santorums-google-problem "Watch: Jon Stewart Reminds Internet of Rick Santorum's 'Google Problem'"], ''Time'' magazine, May 10, 2011.</ref> [[Stephen Colbert]] of ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' also referred to it a couple of times.<ref>Colbert, Stephen. [http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/374851/february-21-2011/rick-santorum-internet-search "Rick Santorum Internet Search"], ''The Colbert Report'', February 21, 2011.
*Sehgal, Ujala. [http://www.businessinsider.com/colbert-rick-santorum-chris-lee-craigslist-video-2011-2 "Colbert: Rick Santorum's Long-Term Google Sex Term Problem Is Not As Bad As Chris Lee's 'Short-Time Craigslist Problem'"], ''Business Insider'', February 22, 2011.
*Colbert, Stephen. [http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/mon-april-25-2011-ron-paul "Ron Paul"], ''The Colbert Report'', April 24, 2011.</ref>


The campaign became the subject of a paper about the impact of [[new media]], "Natality in the Private, Public, and Political Spheres: When Santorum Becomes santorum," presented to the [[National Communication Association]] in 2008.<ref>Snidow, Shawn. [http://convention3.allacademic.com/meta/p259493_index.html "Natality in the Private, Public, and Political Spheres: When Santorum Becomes santorum"], National Communication Association, November 20, 2008.</ref> Michael Fertik of [[ReputationDefender]], a company that helps people influence their Web presence, said it was "one of the more creative and salient Google issues" he had ever seen. Mark Skidmore of [[Blue State Digital]] said Santorum will find it difficult to shift Savage's site, because Savage has over 13,000 [[Backlink|inbound links]] against 5,000 for Santorum's own site.<ref name=MotherJones/>
==''Spreading Santorum'' website==
Savage set up a website with dual addresses spreadingsantorum.com,<ref>{{cite news|date=February 22, 2011|work=[[HP/De Tijd]]|url=http://www.hpdetijd.nl/2011-02-22/het-google-probleem-van-presidentskandidaat-rick-santorum|accessdate=May 14, 2011|publisher=www.hpdetijd.nl|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]|title=Het Google-probleem van presidentskandidaat Rick Santorum|first=Niek |last=Stolker}}</ref> and santorum.com, where the term ''santorum'' is defined as "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex."<ref name="valuewar">{{cite book|first=Paul Ryan |last=Brewer|pages=82–86|year=2007|title=Value War: Public Opinion and the Politics of Gay Rights|publisher= Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.}}</ref> The site, titled ''Spreading Santorum'', gives the definition of the term "santorum," under which a brown, splattered stain appears on the otherwise-white page. After this [[splash screen|splash page]], the site features letters to Savage tracking the dissemination of the term. The site includes a video of a person asking Santorum about the term at a [[town meeting]]–style forum and a letter that Santorum sent to a man in [[California]] outlining his objections to the "obscenity" of the website. Savage considered he had met his goal of "rubbing it in [Santorum's] nose."<ref name="Spikol" /> In an analysis of the website, the book ''Crazy Dot Hit'' by Akintomide Akinola posited that the website was a form of [[search engine optimization]] relating to the term.<ref>{{cite book|title=Crazy Dot Hit|first=Akintomide|last= Akinola|year=2010|isbn=3639303970|publisher=VDM Verlag Dr. Müller|page=104}}</ref>


Stephanie Mencimer wrote in ''Mother Jones'' in 2010 that several commentators said the campaign had contributed to Santorum's defeat in 2006 against [[Bob Casey, Jr.|Bob Casey]].<ref name=MotherJones/> Savage tried to contribute $2,100 to Casey's campaign, but Casey's spokesman said in July 2006 that the check had been returned because of Savage's santorum website and remarks in his column.<ref>Budoff, Carrie. [http://web.archive.org/web/20060906031529/http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/15130708.htm "No thanks, Casey donor told"], ''Philadelphia Inquirer'', July 27, 2006.</ref> When he heard Santorum might run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, Savage said he would "have to sic [his] flying monkeys on him"—encourage bloggers to start linking to his website again.<ref name=MotherJones/>
''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'' reported in 2006 that the website was "the No. 1 hit on a Google search of the senator's name".<ref name="budoff">{{cite news | url=http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/15130708.htm | title=No thanks, Casey donor told: The campaign found sex columnist Dan Savage too hot to handle. His $2,100 check has been returned. | first=Carrie |last=Budoff |publisher=www.philly.com| work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] | date=July 27, 2006 | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060906031529/http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/15130708.htm | archivedate=2006-09-06|page=B06; Edition: City-D}}</ref> In February 2011, ''[[New York Magazine]]'' noted that the website was a top result on multiple other [[Web search engine]]s as well, reporting that it, "featured prominently in Google/[[Bing (search engine)|Bing]]/[[Yahoo! Search|Yahoo]] searches for 'Rick Santorum' or 'Santorum.'",<ref name="newyorkmagazine">{{cite news|work=[[New York Magazine]]|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/02/rick_santorum_has_come_to_term.html|title=Rick Santorum Has Come to Terms With His Google Problem|date=February 16, 2011|first=Dan|last=Amira}}</ref> and ''[[Search Engine Land]]'' reported in the same week that the website was the first result in web searches performed on Bing, as well as Google.<ref name="pamelaparker">{{cite news|work=[[Search Engine Land]]|title=Presidential Hopeful Rick Santorum Stymied By Search Problem|first=Pamela|last=Parker|date=February 17, 2011|accessdate=May 27, 2011|url=http://searchengineland.com/presidential-hopeful-rick-santorum-stymied-by-search-problem-65273|publisher=searchengineland.com}}</ref> ''[[CBS News]]'' reported the website remained the number one Google result in May 2011.<ref name="cbsnewswhatare">{{cite news|work=[[CBS News]]|publisher=[[CBS]]|last=Montopoli|first=Brian|title=What are the 2012 GOP candidates running from?|date=May 11, 2011|accessdate=May 11, 2011|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20061623-503544.html}}</ref>


Santorum discussed the issue in a February 2011 interview with ''Roll Call'': "It's one guy. You know who it is. The Internet allows for this type of vulgarity to circulate. It's unfortunate that we have someone who obviously has some issues. But he has an opportunity to speak."<ref name=Peoples>Peoples, Steve. [http://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_84/-203455-1.html "Santorum Talks About Longtime Google Problem"], ''Roll Call'', February 16, 2011.</ref> After announcing he might stand for the 2012 presidential nomination, he told ''The Daily Caller'' in April 2011 that he had not hired anyone to help move Savage's website lower in search results, but hoped his possible run for president would shift his own site to the top organically.<ref>Moody, Chris. [http://dailycaller.com/2011/04/28/santorum-says-he-has-no-plans-to-fix-his-google-problem "Santorum says he has no plans to fix his ‘Google problem'"], ''The Daily Caller'', April 28, 2011.</ref> An ally of his told ''Roll Call'' that Santorum could turn the issue to his advantage: "You say: 'You want to see my battle scars? Google my name. You don’t think I’ve been in the trenches for years? I’ve got the scars to prove it.'"<ref name=Peoples/>
In 2010, Dan Savage offered to remove his website if Rick Santorum would agree to donate [[United States dollar|US$]]5 million to a [[gay rights]] group.<ref name="unproblema">{{cite news|url=http://www.ilpost.it/2010/09/08/rick-santorum-ha-un-problema-con-google/|publisher=www.ilpost.it|date=September 8, 2010|language=[[Italian language|Italian]]|title=Rick Santorum ha un problema con Google|work=Il Post|accessdate=May 11, 2011}}</ref> The organization, [[Freedom to Marry]], advocates on behalf of [[same-sex marriage]] in the United States.<ref name="MotherJonesMay142011">{{cite news|work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]|url=http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/santorum-acknowledges-anal-sex-problem|accessdate=May 14, 2011|date=February 17, 2011|first=Stephanie |last=Mencimer|publisher=motherjones.com|title=Santorum Acknowledges Anal Sex Problem}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2010/09/rick-santorum-vs-google/18960/|accessdate=May 14, 2011|publisher=www.theatlanticwire.com|work=[[The Atlantic Wire]]|title=Rick Santorum vs. Google|first=Max|last=Fisher|date=September 7, 2010}}</ref> Savage told ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'' in 2010, "If Rick Santorum wants to make a $5 million donation to [the gay marriage group] Freedom to Marry, I will take it down. Interest starts accruing now."<ref name="mencimer" /> Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, responded in a statement to ''[[Metro Weekly]]'': "Support for Freedom to Marry's national campaign would be welcome – and a good way for Rick Santorum to start cleaning up the discriminatory mess he and his companions have made."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2010/09/wolfson-wants-santorum-to.html|publisher=www.metroweekly.com|work=[[Metro Weekly]]|title=Wolfson Wants Santorum "To Start Cleaning Up" His "Mess"|first=Chris|last=Geidner|date=September 7, 2010|accessdate=May 14, 2011}}</ref>

==Recognition and usage of the term==
At its annual meeting in January 2005, the [[American Dialect Society]] selected ''santorum'' as the ''Most Outrageous Word of the Year'' for 2004.<ref name="dialect2005">{{cite news|url=http://www.americandialect.org/2004_Words_of_the_Year_Final_Vote_.pdf|publisher=www.americandialect.org|author=[[American Dialect Society]]|accessdate=May 14, 2011|page=2|date=January 7, 2005|work=Word of the Year|title=Most Outrageous - Winner - Santorum}}</ref><ref name="tausig">{{cite book|first=Ben|last=Tausig|title=Gonzo Crosswords|year=2007|page=89|publisher=Sterling|isbn=1402742789}}</ref> Lexicographer [[Jesse Sheidlower]] later wrote in ''[[Slate magazine|Slate]]'', "This year the strongest contender was ''santorum''.... We dismissed one potential problem – that newspapers wouldn't print the term if it won – on the grounds that we shouldn't censor ourselves. And indeed ... ''santorum'' did win, but many newspapers simply skipped this category in their coverage. So much for academic freedom."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.slate.com/id/2112150/ | title=Linguists Gone Wild! Why "wardrobe malfunction" wasn't the word of the year. |first=Jesse|last=Sheidlower|authorlink=Jesse Sheidlower|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|publisher=Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC; www.slate.com; Section: Dispatches | date=January 11, 2005 | accessdate=May 27, 2011|quote= Not surprisingly, posting comments on the Wall Street Journal would require intentionally misspelling the Senator's name (eg. Santorrum) since santorum "does not comply with community standards."}}</ref> Rachel Kranz and Tim Cusick's 2005 book ''Library in a Book: Gay Rights'' provides a glossary of terms relevant to the [[gay rights]] movement, and in the entry on "Rick Santorum" notes: "His remarks particularly angered gay columnist Dan Savage, who began a campaign to associate Santorum's name with an unpleasant byproduct of anal sex."<ref>{{cite book|title=Library in a Book: Gay Rights|last=Kranz|first=Rachel|coauthors=Tim Cusick|year=2005|page=200|publisher=Facts on File|isbn=9780816058105}}</ref> The 2006 edition of ''The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'' did not list "santorum", but discussed it in the introduction as an example of "deliberate coining", noting: "An example of deliberate coining is the word 'santorum', purported to mean 'a frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex'. In point of fact, the term is the child of a one-man campaign by syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage to place the term in wide usage. From its appearance in print and especially on the Internet, one would assume, incorrectly, that the term has gained wide usage."<ref name="newpartridge"/><ref name="newpartridge">{{cite book|first=Eric |last=Partridge|coauthors= Tom Dalzell, Terry Victor |title=The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English|year=2006|pages=x, xi|isbn=0415259371}}</ref>

''[[Google Current]]'' reported in 2006 that ''santorum'' had inspired [[punk rock]] and [[blues]] songs, and was listed in ''[[Roger's Profanisaurus]]'';<ref name="googlecurrent">{{cite news | url=http://www.current.tv/google/GC01679 | title=Santorum | work=[[Google Current]] | date=July 15, 2006 | accessdate=December 19, 2006| archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20061111035016/http://www.current.tv/google/GC01679| archivedate = November 11, 2006|publisher=www.current.tv}}</ref> it was defined in the March 2004 issue of the publication.<ref name="rogers">{{cite news|title=santorum|work=[[Roger's Profanisaurus]]|date=March 2004|publisher=[[Viz (comic)|Viz]]|location=[[United Kingdom]]}}</ref> ''Neologism in the Lexical System of Modern English'' included it among examples of "neologisms" whilst noting, "The social sphere has given names to the new phenomena that have appeared recently in the end of the 20th – beginning of the 21st centuries."<ref name="neologisminthelexical">{{cite book|page=23|title=Neologism in the Lexical System of Modern English: On the Mass Media Material|first=Yaroslav |last=Levchenko|year=2010|publisher=GRIN Verlag}}</ref> ''[[Philadelphia Weekly]]'' reported in 2006 that the term's Web-based success had led to its appearance on [[bumper sticker]]s and [[t-shirt]]s.<ref name="Spikol" /> In April 2006, ''[[Philadelphia Daily News]]'' journalist Dan Gross characterized the phenomenon as "possibly the longest-lasting pop-culture reference to Santorum".<ref name="dangross">{{cite news|last=Gross|first=Dan|work=[[Philadelphia Daily News]]|title=Tony S. likes 'Sanatorium'|date=April 18, 2006|page=37}}</ref>

Professor and Chair of the Department of Sexual Medicine Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in [[San Francisco, California]], [[physician]] Charles Moser, noted in a 2006 article for the journal ''Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause'' in a discussion of general terms involved in alternative sexual behavior, "The mix of fecal matter and lubricant, a common result of ass play, is santorum."<ref name="charlesmoser2006">{{cite journal|url=http://education.mistresssatet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Demystifying-Alternative-Sexual-Behaviours.pdf|title=Demystifying alternative sexual behavior|first=Charles|last=Moser, MD, PhD|date=October 2006|accessdate=May 22, 2011|volume=4|issue=2|doi=10.1016/j.sram.2006.08.007|journal=Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause|pages=86–90}}</ref> Dr. Moser placed the word among "slang terms" associated with "patients' sexual activities".<ref name="charlesmoser2006" /> [[York University]] English professor Terry Goldie wrote in the book ''Queer Sex Life'', "While Savage is not known for delicacy in his treatment of sexual matters, he attempted quite a balancing act in trying to be at once in favour of anal sex and against Santorum. Arguably Savage is not actually ''against'' santorum, but knows that Santorum would be, and would be livid about the new terminology."<ref name="professorgoldie">{{cite book|first=Terry|last=Goldie|pages=151–160, 337|title=Queer Sex Life|publisher=ReadHowYouWant|year=2010|isbn=9781458780423}}; previous edition: {{cite book|last=Goldie|first=Terry|title=Queer Sex Life|publisher=[[Arsenal Pulp Press]]|year=2008|location=[[Vancouver]], [[Canada]]|oclc=182529257|isbn=9781551522364}}</ref>

The ''santorum'' phenomenon, its history and development was the subject of a paper presented at the 2008 annual meeting of the [[National Communication Association]].<ref name="nca2008">{{cite journal|url=http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/5/9/4/9/p259493_index.html|title=Natality in the Private, Public, and Political Spheres: When Santorum Becomes santorum|date=November 20, 2008|first=Shawn|last=Snidow|work=[[National Communication Association|Annual Meeting of the NCA 94th Annual Convention]]|publisher=www.allacademic.com|location=[[San Diego, California]]}}</ref> The paper, titled "Natality in the Private, Public, and Political Spheres: When Santorum Becomes santorum", dealt with the impact of [[new media]] on various spheres of influence.<ref name="nca2008" /> The paper's abstract noted, "The specific issue used as an example for this analysis is Dan Savage's internet media campaign to transform former Senator, Rick Santorum's name into a new sexualized word, to retaliate against and increase awareness about the senator's issue stances regarding sodomy, other sex acts, and GLTB rights."<ref name="nca2008" /> In his 2009 book ''And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture'', author Bill Wasik identified the term as a form of [[sexual slang]], noting, "his surname was turned into a sexual slang word, which a Google search for his last name today - long after he lost his reelection bid - still returns as the number-one result."<ref name="wasik">{{cite book|last=Wasik|first=Bill|title=And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture|year=2009|page=80|publisher=[[Viking Press|Viking Adult]]|isbn=0670020842}}</ref> Author Joselin Linder included the term in the 2009 book ''The Purity Test'', as part of a self-assessment tool in the subsection titled, "The Gay Purity Test".<ref>{{cite book|first=Joselin|last=Linder|year=2009|title=The Purity Test|pages=193, 200|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|isbn=0312387857}}</ref> In the 2010 book ''The Simpsons in the Classroom: Embiggening the Learning Experience with the Wisdom of Springfield'', authors Karma Waltonen, Denise Du Vernay cite the santorum phenomenon in addition to "[[truthiness]]" as part of an exercise for students where they are encouraged to invent their own words and then experiment with them.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Simpsons in the Classroom: Embiggening the Learning Experience with the Wisdom of Springfield|first=Karma|last=Waltonen|coauthors=Denise Du Vernay|year=2010|pages=178, 328|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786444908}}</ref>

==Response by Rick Santorum==
[[File:Rick Santorum by Gage Skidmore.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Rick Santorum]] responded in 2011 to the phenomenon, in separate interviews with ''[[Roll Call]]'',<ref name="stevepeoples" /> ''[[The Daily Caller]]'',<ref name="chrismoody" /> and the ''[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]''.<ref name="brianoneill" />]]
''[[Philadelphia Weekly]]'' reported in 2006 that Santorum "was forced to acknowledge the word existed."<ref name="Spikol" /> Rick Santorum discussed the ''santorum'' phenomenon in a February 2011 interview with the publication ''[[Roll Call]]''.<ref name="stevepeoples">{{cite news|url=http://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_84/-203455-1.html|accessdate=May 9, 2011|title=Santorum Talks About Longtime Google Problem|work=[[Roll Call]]|last=Peoples|first=Steve|date=February 16, 2011}}</ref> The former Senator explained to ''Roll Call'', "It's one guy. You know who it is. The Internet allows for this type of vulgarity to circulate. It's unfortunate that we have someone who obviously has some issues. But he has an opportunity to speak."<ref name="stevepeoples" /> He pointed out to ''Roll Call'' what he viewed as a [[double standard]] regarding the response to the phenomenon, "It's just a sad commentary. You want to talk about incivility. I don't know of anybody on the left who came to my defense for the incivility with respect to those things."<ref name="stevepeoples" />

On April 28, 2011, Rick Santorum said to ''[[The Daily Caller]]'' about the issue, "I don't see it as a problem at all."<ref name="chrismoody">{{cite news|last=Moody|first=Chris|work=[[The Daily Caller]]|title=Santorum says he has no plans to fix his ‘Google problem'|date=April 28, 2011|url=http://dailycaller.com/2011/04/28/santorum-says-he-has-no-plans-to-fix-his-google-problem/|accessdate=May 9, 2011}}</ref> According to ''The Daily Caller'', Santorum said that "he had not hired anyone specifically to work on an effort to bump the unfortunate web pages down, but is relying on the online buzz his possible run for president would create to shift his site to the top organically", though his [[political action committee]] had paid money for a [[Google]] advertisement which would appear above search terms, but with a different appearance, when individuals input a search term of "Rick Santorum".<ref name="chrismoody" /> Former Senator Santorum commented, "That'll take care of itself over time and if this campaign takes off and we decide to do this my guess is we'll have lots of other things that will transplant things like that. And if it maintains, it will just show a rather disgusting side of politics, unfortunately. What will change, that is if we decide to move forward, I'm sure [the media] will be writing a lot of things and there'll be lots of links to other things that will far supersede some nasty people that are trying to be crude."<ref name="chrismoody" />

In a May 12, 2011 interview with the ''[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]'', journalist Brian O'Neill observed that the phenomenon is referred to as "Santorum's Google problem".<ref name="brianoneill">{{cite news|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|date=May 12, 2011|accessdate=May 12, 2011|first=Brian|last=O'Neill|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11132/1145964-155-0.stm|publisher=www.post-gazette.com|title=Santorum occupies big stage as underdog}}</ref> He described it as a situation "in which web searches of his name turn up a foul term that doesn't pass this newspaper's breakfast test."<ref name="brianoneill" /> Rick Santorum commented to O'Neill, "It's a free country and people can do and say what they want to say."<ref name="brianoneill" /> He went on to assert that this type of strategy is something acceptable among proponents of [[Left-wing politics]] and not to be tolerated by supporters of [[Right-wing politics]].<ref name="brianoneill" />

==Political impact==
===Senate campaign, 2006===
''[[The Economist]]'' noted in January 2006 that "gay activists use [Santorum's] name to denote something indescribable in a family newspaper."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=E1_VPGDJRD | title=The political year: Will lightning strike the Republicans? | date=January 5, 2006|publisher=www.economist.com | work=[[The Economist]] | accessdate=December 19, 2006}}</ref><ref name="Onion AV Club">{{cite news | url=http://www.avclub.com/content/node/45150 | title=Interview: Dan Savage | first=Tasha |last=Robinson | work=[[The Onion]]|publisher= AV Club | date=February 8, 2006 | accessdate=December 19, 2006}}</ref> In April 2006, ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'' reported that the "disgusting" definition was "spreading like [[kudzu]] on the internet."<ref name="kudzu" /> ''The Inquirer'' described the Savage coinage and other references to Santorum in ''[[The Sopranos]]'' and ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' as illustrating his name's evolution into "cultural shorthand ... for [[social conservative|social conservatism]]."<ref name="kudzu">{{cite news | title=What's in a name? Simply 'Santorum' says plenty | first=Thomas |last=Fitzgerald | work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] | date=April 23, 2006|page=A01}}</ref> The regional gay newspaper ''[[Bay Windows (newspaper)|Bay Windows]]'' said in August 2006 that Savage had "succeeded in turning [Santorum's name] into an oft-Googled slang term."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://baywindows.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=008EC9FBCFF24AD18614290016BE1303&nm=Current+Issue&type=Publishing&mod=Publications::Article&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=6467D686C6C24D6ABDD78A4B9557AFD0 | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070927234602/http://baywindows.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=008EC9FBCFF24AD18614290016BE1303&nm=Current+Issue&type=Publishing&mod=Publications::Article&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=6467D686C6C24D6ABDD78A4B9557AFD0 | archivedate=2007-09-27 | title=So they say | work=[[Bay Windows (newspaper)|Bay Windows]] | date=August 10, 2006 | accessdate=December 19, 2006|publisher=baywindows.com}}</ref> According to the ''[[Philadelphia Weekly]]'', writing in October 2006, the term "gained real traction" and "found its way into salacious dictionaries – and books published on actual paper," with Savage admitting that he "worked pretty hard" to get it out there.<ref name="Spikol" />

The [[Human Rights Campaign]] included the full definition in a reprint of an item from ''Gay City News''.<ref name="andyhumm" /> Savage donated $2,100 to the campaign of Santorum's challenger in the [[Pennsylvania United States Senate election, 2006|2006 election]], [[Bob Casey, Jr.|Bob Casey]].<ref name="andyhumm">{{cite news | title=Rick Santorum's Flip Flop on Bias | first=Andy |last=Humm | work=Gay City News | date=August 9, 2006 | accessdate=December 19, 2006|publisher=Reprinted by the [[Human Rights Campaign]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=The Patriot-News|location=[[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]]|date=July 30, 2006|title=Election '06|page=A02|publisher=The Patriot-News Co.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first=Catherine |last=Lucey | title=Sex-columnist Savage goes live on Santorum | work=[[Philadelphia Daily News]] | date=October 11, 2006 | accessdate=December 19, 2006 | quote=After all, it was his no-holds-barred column that spawned the infamous sex term named after Sen. Rick Santorum. (No, really, we can't print it. Just look it up on Google.) In fact, Savage's raunchy reputation meant that Santorum's opponent, Bob Casey Jr., refused a $2,100 donation that the Seattle-based writer tried to give to his campaign earlier this year.|location=[[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]}}</ref> According to the [[Scranton]] ''[[The Times-Tribune (Scranton)|Times-Tribune]]'', Casey returned the money after hearing of Savage's promulgated definition of ''santorum,'' saying that Savage had gone "over the line" demarking political civility.<ref name="overtheline" /> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported that Savage informed the newspaper Casey's campaign had initially accepted the political donation, and subsequently returned it.<ref name="reliablesource">{{cite news|work=[[The Washington Post]]|publisher=[[The Washington Post Company]]|title=The Reliable Source|date=July 28, 2006|first=Amy|last= Argetsinger|coauthors= Roxanne Roberts|page=C3}}</ref> Savage gave the money instead to an anti-Santorum [[political action committee]].<ref name="overtheline">{{cite news | <!--url=http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16991211&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6 | accessdate=December 19, 2006 |--> title=Casey: Donor "over the line" | first=Borys |last=Krawczeniuk | work=[[The Times-Tribune (Scranton)|Scranton Times-Tribune]] | date=August 1, 2006|publisher=www.thetimes-tribune.com}}</ref><ref name="reliablesource" /> Dan Savage noted, "The Casey campaign was grateful for my support. The day my check arrived ... I was personally invited to come meet Casey and get my picture taken with the candidate."<ref name="realbob">{{cite news|title=Who is the real Bob Casey?|date=September 8, 2006|first= Dimitri |last=Vassilaros|work=[[Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]]|publisher=Tribune-Review Publishing Co.}}</ref> According to the ''[[Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]]'', the Casey campaign's finance director Jake Perry informed Savage that the funds would be returned to him, and suggested other groups critical of Santorum that would be assisted by the financing.<ref name="realbob" /> "That way Casey could benefit from my money without having to, you know, associate himself with the likes of me," explained Savage.<ref name="realbob" /> Ray Murphy who headed the organization Philadelphians Against Santorum told the ''[[Philadelphia Daily News]]'' his group had accepted the check from Dan Savage, and stated, "We're proud to accept Dan Savage's contribution".<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Philadelphia Daily News]]|title=Loose ends tied: Stedman & Chaka, Casey & sex|first=Gar|last= Joseph|coauthors= Bob Warner, Catherine Lucey|date=July 28, 2006|page=10}}</ref> In October 2006, Savage appeared at a fundraiser for the organization, and encouraged young people to vote in the election.<ref>{{cite news|title=Savage goes live against Santorum|date=October 11, 2006|last=Lucey|first=Catherine|work=[[Philadelphia Daily News]]|page=06}}</ref> In an interview explaining his motivation for campaigning against Santorum in the election, Savage commented, "Bob Casey is not entirely about Bob Casey, [because] if the Democrats control the Senate in part because Casey is there, it's going to empower a lot of Democratic politicians who I agree with, more than I agree with Casey on issues like choice and gay marriage and other social values issues."<ref>{{cite news|title=Real story on Santorum|date=October 18, 2006|first=Maggie ([[Universal Press Syndicate]]) |last=Gallagher |work=[[LaGrange Daily News]]|location=[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]|page=06}}</ref> Savage stated in an interview at a political fundraiser prior to the election, "from his perch in the Senate (Santorum has) waged a war against gays and lesbians, and we have returned the fire."<ref>{{cite news|page=A1|title=Senator – nemesis of left – in trouble - Santorum in fight for political future in Pennsylvania|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|first= Marc (Washington Bureau Chief)|last=Sandalow|date=October 22, 2006}}</ref>

Casey defeated Santorum in the 2006 election for a [[U.S. Senate]] seat from the state of [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite news | <!--url=http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17442994&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6 | accessdate=December 19, 2006 |--> title=Casey dominated like no one before | first=Borys|last= Krawczeniuk | work=[[The Times-Tribune (Scranton)|Scranton Times-Tribune]] | date=November 9, 2006 |publisher=www.thetimes-tribune.com}}</ref> A California weekly suggested that the campaign's "ripples were felt strongly by the outgoing senator himself in the recent midterm elections",<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.vcreporter.com/article.php?id=4127&IssueNum=104|publisher=www.vcreporter.com | title=Html & the new journalism: How the blog flourished in 2006 | first=Saundra|last= Sorensen | work=Ventura County Reporter | date=December 28, 2006 | accessdate=March 12, 2007}}</ref> and Mark Morford of the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' declared that "Dan Savage helped kill Rick Santorum".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/17/DDGIKNJ7K71.DTL | title=Thoughts to keep you warm when it's cold | first=Mark|last= Morford | work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|publisher=www.sfgate.com | date=January 17, 2007 | accessdate=March 12, 2007|page=E2}}</ref> Savage himself stated of its effects, "you can't really measure impact."<ref name="Onion AV Club" /> In a celebratory column, Savage wrote: "While Santorum would have been defeated even without a filthy, lowercase definition of his last name floating around out there, having a name that can barely be mentioned in polite company anymore didn't help ... We helped to make Rick Santorum into a national laughingstock – with an invaluable assist from Rick Santorum, of course."<ref name="Savage Love November 16">{{cite news | url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=105207 | title=Make a Joyful Noise | first=Dan|last= Savage | work=[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]] | date=November 16, 2006 | accessdate=March 12, 2007|publisher=www.thestranger.com}}</ref> Savage pointed to [[Kathryn Jean Lopez]], conservative columnist and editor of the ''[[National Review|National Review Online]]'', as an example of his success.<ref name="Savage Love November 16" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thestranger.com/savage/ricksantorum|title=Savage Love Web Extra|date=November 14, 2006|accessdate=May 10, 2011|first=Dan|last=Savage|authorlink=Dan Savage|work=The Stranger|publisher=www.thestranger.com}}</ref> In her election day column, Lopez described Santorum as "the politician most successfully victimized by nasty Internet political tactics" and predicted that "some angry people will get the chance to celebrate ... I don't mean people who disagree with him on a federal marriage amendment. I mean people who think it's pretty funny that when you Google the senator's name, you get a repulsive lower-case version of his last name."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWY3ODJhNzM0YjllMTgzMjQ4ZTFkMjAwZmU1ZDRiZTY= | title=The Poll that Matters: Will Pennsylvania voters defy conventional wisdom and reelect Santorum? | first=Kathryn Jean |last=Lopez|authorlink=Kathryn Jean Lopez | work=[[The National Review]] | date=November 7, 2006 | accessdate=March 12, 2007|publisher=article.nationalreview.com}}</ref> In commenting on the phenomenon in his 2007 book ''Value War'', author Paul Ryan Brewer noted, "Santorum's strongly worded signal on same-sex marriage likewise put his political fortunes at risk, as the Pennsylvania senator learned the hard way that ordinary citizens can send signals of their own."<ref name="valuewar" />

===Presidential campaign, 2012===
In response to a September 2009 article in ''[[Politico]]'' about Santorum's intention to run for president in 2012,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0909/Santorum_may_challenge_injurious_Obama.html|title=Santorum may challenge 'injurious' Obama|date=September 15, 2009|work=Ben Smith|first=Ben|last=Smith|authorlink=Ben Smith|publisher=Politico|accessdate=June 17, 2011}}</ref> Savage thanked his readers for their past efforts and requested reader volunteers to relaunch the ''Spreading Santorum'' website, as he no longer had the time required.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=2301822|accessdate=June 17, 2011|publisher=www.thestranger.com|title=Santorum Runs|date=September 24, 2009|work=Savage Love|first=Dan|last=Savage|authorlink=Dan Savage}}</ref>

In September 2010, the high search engine ranking of Savage's site in searches for his name was described as a potential roadblock in a political column by Stephanie Mencimer of ''[[Mother Jones]]''.<ref name="mencimer" /> CEO of ReputationDefender Michael Fertik who specializes in helping individuals with such issues commented, "It's devastating. This is one of the more creative and salient Google issues I've ever seen."<ref name="mencimer">{{Cite news| last = Mencimer| first = Stephanie | title = Rick Santorum's Anal Sex Problem| newspaper = [[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]| date = September 2010| url = http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/08/rick-santorum-google-problem-dan-savage | accessdate = September 12, 2010|publisher=motherjones.com}}</ref> ''[[New York Magazine]]'' noted, "Santorum's ... campaign site only has 5,000 inbound links, compared to the 13,000 that SpreadingSantorum has."<ref>{{cite news|work=[[New York Magazine]]|title=Does Rick Santorum Really Have a Google Problem?|date=September 7, 2010|first=Chris |last=Rovzar|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/09/does_rick_santorum_really_have.html|accessdate=May 11, 2011|publisher=nymag.com}}</ref>

In February 2011, the political newspaper ''[[Roll Call]]'' wrote an article on his "Longtime Google Problem"<ref name="stevepeoples" /> and Maureen O'Connor of media blog [[Gawker]] commented, "The question is whether you can actually get over something like that. You know, it's one thing to try to bury a negative article about you, but it's something different to bury your name when you're getting [[Google (verb)|Googled]]."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgnT-bTDxdA |accessdate=February 19, 2011|first=T.J.|last= Holmes|coauthors= Maureen O'Connor |title=Rick Santorum's Google Problem |date=February 19, 2011 |work=[[CNN]] Newsroom|publisher=[[Time Warner]]}}</ref> In a February 2011 piece analyzing Santorum's political chances in a presidential election, the ''[[Columbus Ledger-Enquirer]]'' commented, "Like Savage's methods or not, they were successful and arguably had an impact on Santorum's ultimate defeat. ... If Santorum actually thinks he has a shot at president, his opponents will surely dredge this bit of dirty silliness from his past and use it to make him appear like a joke candidate."<ref>{{cite news|title=Can we get some Santorum in here?|date=February 6, 2011|work=[[Columbus Ledger-Enquirer]]|location=[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]}}</ref> Similarly, Richard Kim, executive editor of [[The Nation]], opined in response to Santorum's presidential bid that the former Senator is now "widely considered a joke" in part as a result of Savage's "successful" neologism..<ref>{{cite news |title=Rick Santorum vs. the internet |first=Meg |last=Heckman |url=http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/262299/rick-santorum-vs-the-internet?SESS3923bd491987f200071aa5500287e516=bing |newspaper=The Concord Monitor |date=June 12, 2011}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/06/opinion/main20069538.shtml|publisher=cbsnews.com|work=[[CBS News]] Opinion|date=June 6, 2011|accessdate=June 8, 2011|title=The real meaning of Santorum|first=Richard|last=Kim}}</ref> ''[[The New Republic]]''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> Bradford Plumer commented Santorum was a "reasonable candidate" on paper, except for the phenomenon,<ref name="bradfordplumer">{{cite news|url=http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/87986/republican-debate-south-carolina-pawlenty-santorum-paul-cain|publisher=www.tnr.com|work=[[The New Republic]]|title=The Conservative Circus|first=Bradford|last=Plumer|date=May 6, 2011|accessdate=May 27, 2011}}</ref> and Jack Stuef of online magazine ''[[Wonkette]]'' suggested it was up to Santorum to "do something relevant for the first time" since the controversy that would attract enough coverage to displace his top Google result.<ref name="jackstuef">{{cite news|first=Jack|last=Stuef|work=[[Wonkette]]|url=http://wonkette.com/438300/rick-santorum-wants-the-google-to-be-civil-stop-calling-him-sex-names|publisher=wonkette.com|title=Rick Santorum Wants the Google To Be Civil, Stop Calling Him Gay Sex Names|date=February 16, 2011|accessdate=May 27, 2011}}</ref> ''[[CBS News]]'' described the ''santorum'' phenomenon as "a unique Google problem" in its report on the former Senator's plan to formally begin his campaign for President of the United States in June 2011.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20065852-503544.html|work=[[CBS News]]|publisher=[[CBS]]|title=Rick Santorum to launch presidential bid in June|date=May 24, 2011|accessdate=May 24, 2011|first=Brian|last=Montopoli}}</ref> Tim McNulty of ''[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]'' commented in an article on May 31, 2011: "... it looks like that problem might be getting further help from the good people at Google – as of this morning typing in the ex Senator's name brings up the latest news stories on him at the top of the screen, not something unfit for young political wonks."<ref>{{cite news|first=Tim|last=McNulty|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|url=http://earlyreturns.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/early-returns-20/53-post-gazette-staff/2839-daily-santorum-fully-caffeinated|publisher=earlyreturns.sites.post-gazette.com|date=May 31, 2011|accessdate=May 31, 2011|title=Daily Santorum: Fully caffeinated}}</ref>

In February 2011, ''[[Politico]]'' reported Dan Savage had declared his intention to renew efforts regarding the ''santorum'' phenomenon, due to the former Senator stating to ''[[Roll Call]]'' that Savage is "someone who obviously has some issues".<ref name="santorumsgoogleto">{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/50052.html|publisher=www.politico.com|work=[[Politico]]|title=Santorum's Google tormentor reloads|date=February 23, 2011|first=Andy|last=Barr|accessdate=May 11, 2011}}</ref> Savage commented, "I do have issues – I have lots of issues – but I take particular issue with politicians who compare loving, stable same-sex relationships to ‘man on dog' sex, as Santorum has done, or who would ban same-sex marriage and adoptions by same-sex couples, as Santorum has promised to do if he gets elected president."<ref name="santorumsgoogleto" /> He informed his readers: "We will be relaunching the site in the next few weeks."<ref name="santorumsgoogleto" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=6873328|accessdate=May 11, 2011|publisher=www.thestranger.com|title=Still spreading|date=February 24, 2011|work=Savage Love|first=Dan|last=Savage|authorlink=Dan Savage}}</ref> In an interview with ''[[Pittsburgh City Paper]]'' at the 2011 [[LGBT community|Pride Week]] for the [[University of Pittsburgh]], Savage remarked on his hesitation to update the ''Spreading Santorum'' website.<ref name="mcnulty331">{{cite news|url=http://earlyreturns.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/early-returns-20/53-post-gazette-staff/2510-savage-no-new-santorum-site|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|date=March 31, 2011|publisher=earlyreturns.sites.post-gazette.com|first=Tim|last=McNulty|title=Savage: No new Santorum site|location=[[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]|accessdate=May 31, 2011}}</ref> Savage commented, "I'm a little conflicted because he's trying to play the Sarah Palin victim card and saying [in weepy voice] 'Look how they attacked me. I'm just a poor defenseless US Senator who was trying to take this man's child from him, and make sure gay sex and straight masturbation remain illegal ... and they made fun of me.' So I'm a little hesitant to get that going again. And his 'Google problem' remains whether I write another blog post about him or not."<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Pittsburgh City Paper]]|first=Chris|last=Potter|title=Online only: A Conversation with Dan Savage|date=March 31, 2011|publisher=www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/|location=[[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]|accessdate=May 31, 2011}}</ref> In a May 2011 interview with ''[[The Huffington Post]]'' Savage responded to the statement that the phenomenon was "actually wreaking havoc with [Santorum's] potential run for the presidency" by stating, "Well, thank you. That was the plan. And did you see, he [is] now turning it into a feather in his cap. 'Oh, the gays are after me and have hurt my feelings.'"<ref>{{cite news|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|last=Kors|first=Joshua|date=May 9, 2011|accessdate=May 11, 2011|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-kors/dan-savage-interview_b_859172.html|title=Q&A With Dan Savage: On Obama, Fox News' Shepard Smith and Success of 'It Gets Better' Project|publisher=www.huffingtonpost.com}}</ref>

==Media analysis==
In a 2004 article, ''[[The New York Times]]'' commented, "... recent Google bombs have sought to associate President Bush, Senator Clinton and Senator Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, with various unprintable phrases."<ref>{{cite news|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Your Message Here|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/22/technology/circuits/22goog.html|publisher=[[The New York Times Company]]|date=January 22, 2004|first=Tom|last=McNichol}}</ref> Savage's campaign was referenced in college newspapers of [[Harvard University]]<ref>{{cite news|publisher=[[Harvard University]]|work=[[The Harvard Crimson]]|date=September 30, 2005|first=Daniel J. |last=Hemel|title=Dan Savage|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2005/9/30/fall-arts-preview-readings-listings-bdan/|quote=After Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., compared homosexuality to incest, bigamy, and adultery, Savage embarked on a campaign to coin a new noun, 'santorum,' to be defined as 'the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the product of anal sex.'|accessdate=May 11, 2011}}</ref> and the [[University of Michigan]].<ref>{{cite news|work=[[The Michigan Daily]]|publisher=[[University of Michigan]]|date=September 30, 2005|title=Softer Side of Savage: Advice columnist brings gay marriage debate to A|first=Alexandra|last=Jones|url=http://www.michigandaily.com/content/softer-side-savage-advice-columnist-brings-gay-marriage-debate|page=8|quote=He answers to claims made by the eponymous Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) (thanks to Savage, his readers now use the word 'santorum' to mean 'that frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex')}}</ref> ''[[Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]]'' columnist Dimitri Vassilaros wrote critically about the term's formation in a March 2006 article, characterizing it as "hate content" and "too vile to print in most newspapers".<ref name="googleshaterelativism">{{cite news|work=[[Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]]|first=Dimitri |last=Vassilaros|url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_434440.html|accessdate=May 11, 2011|title=Google's 'hate' relativism|date=March 20, 2006|publisher=Tribune-Review Publishing Co.; www.pittsburghlive.com}}</ref> Vassilaros wrote of Savage, "It was created by a very liberal advice columnist in the alternative media who does not hide his hatred for Mr. Santorum."<ref name="googleshaterelativism" /> ''[[Tucson Weekly]]'' movie reviewer Jim Nintzel wrote in a [[satire|satirical]] piece in April 2006 that he introduced the word to [[comedian]] [[Rob Corddry]] of the [[satire|satirical]] news program ''[[The Daily Show]]'', noting that "Despite his high-ranking position as a member of the media elite, Corddry wasn't aware of this important linguistic development."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Cinema/Content?oid=oid%3A81291 | title=Trigger Happy: Rob Corddry stars in the 'Schindler's List' of paintball movies | first=Jim|last= Nintzel | work=[[Tucson Weekly]] | date=April 20, 2006 | accessdate=December 19, 2006|publisher=www.tucsonweekly.com}}</ref> ''The Daily Show'' referenced the term in its July 12, 2006,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-july-12-2006/indecision-2006---no-mentum|publisher=[[Comedy Central]]|work=[[The Daily Show]]|last=Stewart|first=Jon|authorlink=Jon Stewart|date=July 12, 2006|title=Indecision 2006: No-Mentum|accessdate=May 11, 2011}}</ref> December 11, 2006,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-december-11-2006/headlines---exit-strategies |title=Headlines - Exit Strategies |date=December 11, 2006 |work=The Daily Show with Jon Stewart |publisher=Comedy Central |accessdate=February 22, 2011}}</ref> and May 9, 2011 episodes;<ref name="earlyreturns">{{cite news|url=http://earlyreturns.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/early-returns-20/53-post-gazette-staff/2717-daily-santorum-51011|publisher=earlyreturns.sites.post-gazette.com|date=May 10, 2011|accessdate=May 10, 2011|first=Daniel|last=Malloy|title=Daily Santorum 5/10/11|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]}}</ref> and [[Stephen Colbert]] of ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' called attention to the term in a February 21, 2011 broadcast,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/374851/february-21-2011/rick-santorum-internet-search|publisher=www.colbertnation.com|work=[[The Colbert Report]]|last=Colbert|first=Stephen|date=February 21, 2011|accessdate=May 11, 2011|title=Rick Santorum Internet Search|authorlink=Stephen Colbert}}</ref><ref name="colbertfeb2011">{{cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/colbert-rick-santorum-chris-lee-craigslist-video-2011-2|accessdate=May 9, 2011|work=Business Insider|title=COLBERT: Rick Santorum's Long-Term Google Sex Term Problem Is Not As Bad As Chris Lee's "Short-Time Craigslist Problem"|date=February 22, 2011|first=Ujala |last=Sehgal}}</ref> and subsequently in an April 25, 2011 episode.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[The Colbert Report]]|first=Stephen|last=Colbert|authorlink=Stephen Colbert|date=April 25, 2011|url=http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/mon-april-25-2011-ron-paul|accessdate=May 11, 2011|publisher=www.colbertnation.com|title=April 25, 2011 - Ron Paul}}</ref> ''[[The Rachel Maddow Show]]'' often uses a picture of "Santorum" written in a Google search box as a background image for reports about Rick Santorum. In a June 2008 piece for the ''[[The Antioch Review]]'', contributor Catey Sullivan likened Dan Savage's activism regarding the ''santorum'' phenomenon to that of advice columnist [[Ann Landers]].<ref name="cateysullivan">{{cite news|last=Sullivan|first=Catey|work=[[The Antioch Review]]|date=June 5, 2008|title=No question: 'Answer lady' is utterly perfect|publisher=Pioneer Press}}</ref>

Writing for ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', Jason Linkins commented critically regarding the nature of the activism by Savage, "as far as malicious internet pranks go, Savage's was a pretty effective one. What's not discussed is that its overall cultural importance peaked years ago".<ref name="jasonlinkins">{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/16/rick-santorum-google-prob_n_824117.html|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|title=Rick Santorum's 'Google Problem'|publisher=www.huffingtonpost.com|date=February 16, 2011|accessdate=May 27, 2011|first=Jason|last=Linkins}}</ref> In a February 2011 article, Stephanie Mencimer of ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'' magazine characterized the activism by Savage in coining the word as an act of "revenge".<ref name="MotherJonesMay142011"/> Juli Weiner characterized the former Senator as "[[Google bomb]] victim Rick Santorum", in a March 2011 article for ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]''.<ref>{{cite news|first=Juli|last=Weiner|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=March 3, 2011|accessdate=May 11, 2011|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/03/replacing-rick-santorum-and-newt-gingrich-at-fox-news-is-going-to-be-a-nightmare.html|publisher=www.vanityfair.com|title=Replacing Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich at Fox News Is Going to Be a Nightmare!}}</ref> ''[[Salon.com|Salon]]'' journalist Tracy Clark-Flory wrote of Savage in March 2011, "Rest assured, he is still the same delightfully droll and impudent man who brought us the term 'santorum.'"<ref>{{cite news|first=Tracy|last=Clark-Flory|work=[[Salon.com|Salon]]|url=http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/03/17/savage|publisher=www.salon.com|date=March 17, 2011|title=Dan Savage is coming for your kids|accessdate=May 11, 2011}}</ref> On May 9, 2011, [[Jon Stewart]] of ''[[The Daily Show]]'' mentioned the term without defining it and then told the puzzled portion of his viewers to google it.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[TIME magazine]]|title=Watch: Jon Stewart Reminds Internet of Rick Santorum's 'Google Problem'|first=Megan|last=Friedman|date=May 10, 2011|accessdate=May 10, 2011|publisher=Time Inc.|url=http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/10/watch-jon-stewart-reminds-internet-of-rick-santorums-google-problem/}}</ref> When guest [[Keira Knightley]] appeared for her interview, she admitted she had googled it backstage and now felt "like [her] innocence has been taken away."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/mon-may-9-2011-keira-knightly|work=[[The Daily Show]]|first=Jon|last=Stewart|authorlink=Jon Stewart|date=May 9, 2011|accessdate=May 10, 2011|publisher=www.thedailyshow.com|title=The Daily Show: Keira Knightly}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/05/rick-santorums-google-problem-resurfaces-with-jon-stewart-plug.html|work=[[ABC News]]|date=May 10, 2011|accessdate=May 10, 2011|title=Rick Santorum's 'Google Problem' Resurfaces with Jon Stewart Plug|first=Devin|last=Dwyer|publisher=[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]}}</ref> Jon Stewart's mention of ''santorum'' on his May 9, 2011 program caused the word to be one of the most queried search terms on Google the following day.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jon-stewart-makes-rick-santorum-187219|publisher=www.hollywoodreporter.com|title=Jon Stewart Makes Rick Santorum One of Google's Most-Searched Terms|author=THR staff|date=May 10, 2011|accessdate=May 11, 2011|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/rick-santorum-gets-google-boost-from-jon-stewart/2011/05/10/AFmQPbgG_blog.html|accessdate=May 11, 2011|publisher=[[The Washington Post Company]]|title=Rick Santorum gets Google boost from Jon Stewart|date=May 10, 2011|work=[[The Washington Post]]|first=Sarah Anne|last=Hughes}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=[[ABC News]]|publisher=[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]|date=May 10, 2011|title=Return of Rick Santorum's 'Google Problem'|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/rick-santorum-google-problem-on-the-daily-show-13571274|accessdate=May 11, 2011}}</ref> Michael Grunwald of ''[[Time (magazine)|TIME magazine]]'' commented, "you may have noticed that Santorum has a hilariously obscene Google problem, created by gay activists who objected to his anti-gay comments."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://swampland.time.com/2011/05/17/please-do-not-google-the-name-of-this-undervalued-republican-candidate/|publisher=swampland.time.com|work=[[Time (magazine)|TIME magazine]]|date=May 17, 2011|accessdate=May 17, 2011|first=Michael|last=Grunwald|title=Please Do Not Google the Name of This Undervalued Republican Candidate}}</ref> Marcia Segelstein called Savage's promotion of the term "disgusting" in a piece for the [[Christian]] [[news magazine]] ''[[World (magazine)|World]]''.<ref>{{cite news|first=Marcia|last=Segelstein|url=http://online.worldmag.com/2011/06/03/reaching-out-to-gay-youth/|work=[[World (magazine)|World]]|date=June 3, 2011|accessdate=June 4, 2011|title=Reaching out to gay youth|publisher=God's World Publications}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Language|LGBT|Linguistics|Politics}}
*[[Conversion (linguistics)]]
*[[LGBT community]]
*[[LGBT rights in the United States]]
*[[Savage Love#Neologisms|Savage Love Neologisms]]
*[[Semantic change]]
*[[Word formation]]

{{clear}}


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{reflist|}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|santorum}}
{{wikiquote|Santorum}}
{{wikinews|Wikinews investigates Wikipedia usage by U.S. Senate staff members}}
* {{cite web|title=SpreadingSantorum.com|url=http://www.spreadingsantorum.com/}}


{{Dan Savage}}
{{Dan Savage}}
{{Sexual slang}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Santorum Google Problem}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santorum Google Problem}}
[[Category:American political terms]]
[[Category:Sexual slang]]
[[Category:American political neologisms]]
[[Category:Dan Savage]]
[[Category:Dan Savage]]


Revision as of 17:00, 21 June 2011

American columnist Dan Savage initiated a campaign in 2003 to create a vulgar neologism using the surname of Rick Santorum, the Republican senator for Pennsylvania at the time. The campaign began after Santorum made remarks about homosexuality that were widely regarded as homophobic.[1]

During an interview in April 2003 with the Associated Press about moral relativism and the Catholic Church sex abuse cases, Santorum argued that consenting adults do not have a constitutional right to privacy with respect to sexual acts, because in his view certain acts—specifically polygamy, adultery, and sodomy—undermine society and the family.[2] Savage, a gay rights activist, subsequently asked his readers to coin a definition for "santorum," announcing the winner as "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex."[1] He created a website to spread the definition, which became a prominent search result for Santorum's name on several search engines.[3] He offered in 2010 to take the website down if Santorum donated US$5 million to a gay rights group, Freedom to Marry.[4]

Santorum said in June 2011 that the situation comes with the territory, and "unfortunately there are vile people out there who do horrible things. ... It's unfortunate that some people thought it would be a big joke to make fun of my name ..." When asked whether Google should step in to prevent the definition appearing so prominently under searches for his name, he said they should intervene only if they would normally do so in this kind of circumstance.[5]

Santorum interview

Rick Santorum
Main article: Santorum controversy regarding homosexuality

In an interview with the Associated Press on April 7, 2003, Santorum discussed the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal in relation to liberalism and relativism. He argued that moral relativism involves the acceptance of any adult consensual behavior in the privacy of people's homes, even if the behavior might otherwise be regarded as deviant, an attitude that he believes leads to an unhealthy culture.[2]

He said that, while he had no problem with homosexuality, he did have a problem with homosexual acts: "As I would with acts of other, what I would consider to be, acts outside of traditional heterosexual relationships. And that includes a variety of different acts, not just homosexual." He continued: "We have laws in states, like the one at the Supreme Court right now, that has sodomy laws and they were there for a purpose. Because, again, I would argue, they undermine the basic tenets of our society and the family. And if the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does."[2]

He said he was arguing against any relationship other than marriage between a man and a woman, the basis in his view of a stable society: "That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be."[2] The interview triggered an angry reaction, including from gay rights activists.[1] A spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee described the views as divisive and reckless.[6]

Savage campaign

Dan Savage

American sex-advice columnist Dan Savage responded to Santorum's comments in an op-ed in The New York Times on April 25, arguing that they amounted to an overt Republican appeal to homophobic voters.[7] A reader of his column, "Savage Love," suggested he organize a contest to determine a definition for "santorum." Savage had previously sought to coin several sexual neologisms, including "pegging." He wrote: "There's no better way to memorialize the Santorum scandal than by attaching his name to a sex act that would make his big, white teeth fall out of his big, empty head."[8]

He said on May 29 that he had received 3,000 suggestions, and posted several for readers to choose from, announcing the winner on June 12 as "that frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex."[9] He set up a website to spread the definition,[1] featuring the term over a brown splattered stain on an otherwise-white page. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in July 2006 that the site appeared at the top of a Google search for Santorum's name. When asked whether he was concerned about the effect on Santorum's children, Savage responded that gays and lesbians have children too, yet their children are required to listen to gay relationships being compared to incest and bestiality. He said the people worried about Santorum's children were "left-leaning trolls": "The only people who come at me wringing their hands about Santorum's children are idiot lefties who don't get how serious the right is about destroying us."[10]

Savage offered in May 2010 to remove the site if Santorum donated $5 million to "Freedom to Marry," an advocacy group for same-sex marriage.[4] In February 2011, the term was still the top result for Santorum's name on several search engines, including Google, Bing and Yahoo.[11]

Reception

The New York Times reported in 2004 that people had tried to use Google bombs to link the names of several American politicians to what it called unprintable phrases, including George W. Bush, Hilary Clinton, and Rick Santorum.[12] Savage's campaign was widely discussed in the media, but the word itself did not gain wide acceptance, according to The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English in 2006.[13]

The American Dialect Society selected "santorum" as the winner in its "Most Outrageous" category in the society's 2004 "Word of the Year" event,[14] as a result of which several newspapers reportedly omitted that category from their coverage of the announcement.[15] Bloggers linking to it caused it to rise in Google's rankings.[4] Google Current reported in 2006 that the word had inspired punk rock and blues songs, and it began appearing on bumper stickers and t-shirts.[16] Charles Moser of the Sexual Medicine Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality included it in a 2006 article for Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause.[17] Jon Stewart mentioned it on The Daily Show a few times; his reference to it in May 2011 caused the word to be one of the most queried search terms on Google the following day.[18] Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report also referred to it a couple of times.[19]

The campaign became the subject of a paper about the impact of new media, "Natality in the Private, Public, and Political Spheres: When Santorum Becomes santorum," presented to the National Communication Association in 2008.[20] Michael Fertik of ReputationDefender, a company that helps people influence their Web presence, said it was "one of the more creative and salient Google issues" he had ever seen. Mark Skidmore of Blue State Digital said Santorum will find it difficult to shift Savage's site, because Savage has over 13,000 inbound links against 5,000 for Santorum's own site.[4]

Stephanie Mencimer wrote in Mother Jones in 2010 that several commentators said the campaign had contributed to Santorum's defeat in 2006 against Bob Casey.[4] Savage tried to contribute $2,100 to Casey's campaign, but Casey's spokesman said in July 2006 that the check had been returned because of Savage's santorum website and remarks in his column.[21] When he heard Santorum might run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, Savage said he would "have to sic [his] flying monkeys on him"—encourage bloggers to start linking to his website again.[4]

Santorum discussed the issue in a February 2011 interview with Roll Call: "It's one guy. You know who it is. The Internet allows for this type of vulgarity to circulate. It's unfortunate that we have someone who obviously has some issues. But he has an opportunity to speak."[22] After announcing he might stand for the 2012 presidential nomination, he told The Daily Caller in April 2011 that he had not hired anyone to help move Savage's website lower in search results, but hoped his possible run for president would shift his own site to the top organically.[23] An ally of his told Roll Call that Santorum could turn the issue to his advantage: "You say: 'You want to see my battle scars? Google my name. You don’t think I’ve been in the trenches for years? I’ve got the scars to prove it.'"[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Brewer, Paul Ryan. Value War: Public Opinion and the Politics of Gay Rights. Rowman & Littlefield, 2008, pp. 67–68, 86, footnote 54.
  2. ^ a b c d "Excerpt from Santorum interview", USA Today, April 23, 2003.
  3. ^ Amira, Dan. "Rick Santorum Has Come to Terms With His Google Problem", New York Magazine, February 16, 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Mencimer, Stephanie. "Rick Santorum's Anal Sex Problem", Mother Jones, September/October 2010.
  5. ^ Interview with Rick Santorum", The Daily Rundown, MSNBC, June 9, 2011.
  6. ^ Loughlin, Sean. "Santorum under fire for comments on homosexuality", CNN, April 22, 2003.
  7. ^ Savage, Dan. "G.O.P. Hypocrisy", The New York Times, April 25, 2003.
  8. ^ Savage, Dan. "Bill, Ashton, Rick", The Stranger, May 15, 2003.
  9. ^ For some of the other suggestions, see Savage, Dan. "Do the Santorum", The Stranger, May 29, 2003.
    • For the winner, see Savage, Dan. "Gas Huffer", The Stranger, June 12, 2003.
  10. ^ Spikol, Liz. "Savage Politics", Philadelphia Weekly, October 4, 2006.
  11. ^ Amira, Dan. "Rick Santorum Has Come to Terms With His Google Problem", New York Magazine, February 16, 2011.
  12. ^ McNichol, Tom. "Your Message Here", The New York Times, January 22, 2004.
  13. ^ Partridge, Eric. The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Routledge, 2006, pp. x–xi: "An example of deliberate coining is the word 'santorum', purported to mean 'a frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex'. In point of fact, the term is the child of a one-man campaign by syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage to place the term in wide usage. From its appearance in print and especially on the Internet, one would assume, incorrectly, that the term has gained wide usage."
  14. ^ "Most Outrageous", American Dialect Society, January 7, 2005, p. 2.
  15. ^ Sheidlower, Jesse. "Linguists Gone Wild! Why "wardrobe malfunction" wasn't the word of the year", Slate, January 11, 2005.
  16. ^ "Santorum", Google Current, July 15, 2006.
    • For the bumper stickers and t-shirts, see Spikol, Liz. "Savage Politics", Philadelphia Weekly, October 4, 2006.
  17. ^ Moser, Charles. "Demystifying alternative sexual behavior", Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause]], Volume 4, issue 2, October 2006.
  18. ^ Stewart, Jon. "Indecision 2006: No-Mentum", The Daily Show, July 12, 2006.
  19. ^ Colbert, Stephen. "Rick Santorum Internet Search", The Colbert Report, February 21, 2011.
  20. ^ Snidow, Shawn. "Natality in the Private, Public, and Political Spheres: When Santorum Becomes santorum", National Communication Association, November 20, 2008.
  21. ^ Budoff, Carrie. "No thanks, Casey donor told", Philadelphia Inquirer, July 27, 2006.
  22. ^ a b Peoples, Steve. "Santorum Talks About Longtime Google Problem", Roll Call, February 16, 2011.
  23. ^ Moody, Chris. "Santorum says he has no plans to fix his ‘Google problem'", The Daily Caller, April 28, 2011.
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