WASHINGTON - Rick Santorum faces a tough battle in the next Republican primary -- to stop the Mitt Romney juggernaut, he must unite South Carolina's evangelicals, social conservatives and Tea Party activists, all while competing against rivals with far fatter wallets.
Daunting? Sure, but it's nothing compared to what's known as Santorum's "Google problem."
Anyone searching "Santorum" online will find not a Wikipedia entry on the life and times of the presidential hopeful, nor a link to his campaign website. Instead, the first hit is a raunchy dictionary definition of a byproduct of anal sex.
Clicking on it opens up a website, "Spreading Santorum," that features rants and ridicule -- much of it stomach-turningly scatalogical -- regarding all things Santorum.
It's not exactly the type of online presence sought by a surging social conservative in one of the most captivating, and widely watched, primary races in generations.
But nine years ago, Santorum, a Pennsylvania senator at the time, offended the wrong person when he made anti-gay remarks in a controversial interview with The Associated Press.
"I have a problem with homosexual acts," Santorum said, adding that he believed the U.S. Constitution does not protect the privacy of adults conducting in consensual sexual relations.
The sex lives of homosexuals, he added, should be regulated in the same way as child molesters and polygamists.
"In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever, to my knowledge, included homosexuality," Santorum continued.
"That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be."
Dan Savage, the syndicated gay sex columnist, was outraged to hear Santorum liken gay sex to bestiality. A reader suggested he hold a contest to redefine Santorum's surname.
The winning entry? A definition -- hilarious to some, heave-inducing for others, but undeniably hard for anyone to ignore -- that includes the word "frothy."
SpreadingSantorum.com was born, following Santorum's political career with regular updates, posts and snarky commentary. Since Santorum came within a few votes of winning the recent Iowa caucuses, the site has been in overdrive.
In September, Santorum demanded Google intervene, but was rebuffed by the Internet giant, much like other politicians and celebrities who have made similar requests. Google prefers to allow its algorithms to do their work, essentially meaning a Web page stays at the top of search results if it's the most popular and other websites link to it.
Google only intervenes if a site is found to be inciting violence or is otherwise breaking the law.
Santorum was indignant, and has threatened to sue.
"I suspect if something was up there like that about, say, Joe Biden, they would get rid of it," he said.
"To have a business allow that type of filth to be purveyed through their website or through their system is something that they say they can't handle. I suspect that's not true."
Savage has offered to take down the website if Santorum donates $5 million to a gay rights group that advocates same-sex marriage. That hasn't happened.
It's a true conundrum for Santorum. The more he complains about the site, the more the media reports on his complaints, which in turn results in more people clicking on Spreading Santorum to see what all the fuss is about. That means the site maintains its dominance over other Santorum Web pages.
And "Google problem" is a bit of a misnomer -- Santorum has the same problem on other major search engines like Bing and Yahoo Search.
With the former senator hogging headlines recently, so too is Spreading Santorum -- so much so that Savage devoted this week's Savage Love, his internationally syndicated column, to his enduring and reinvigorated anti-Santorum crusade.
One reader, JIW, wrote to thank him. Savage was humble.
"If it weren't for my creative, kinky, and hilarious readers, JIW, an otherwise distressing news cycle -- a ranting, raving, washed-up religious bigot tied for first place in the Iowa caucuses?!? -- would not have been leavened by such unintentionally hilarious headlines as 'Santorum Surges from Behind,' 'Santorum Runs Hard,' and 'Romney Squeezes Out Santorum."'
Another reader was less kind.
"Dan Savage is one sick, pathetic excuse for a human being," wrote someone with the handle Savage Isn't Completely Kind - or SICK, for short.
Savage pointed out, correctly, that Santorum was jeered last week in New Hampshire when he insisted that legalizing gay marriage would lead to the legalization of polygamous marriage.
"The same argument was made against legalizing interracial marriage," Savage wrote.
"Here we are, 44 years after the Supreme Court declared laws against interracial marriage to be unconstitutional, and Tiger Woods can marry only one busted Olive Garden hostess at a time."
