Rick Santorum continues his rise within the GOP field, and this time he's taking on Mitt Romney in Romney's own turf in Michigan and beating him.
And as each GOP candidate gets their turn at the top of the pile, the scrutiny mounts and old comments and positions are called back into question.
Today Joe, Mika and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean kicked around a few thoughts about Santorum's positions, and Dean told them both Joe and Mika he thought the Morning Joe panel had been too easy on Santorum during a recent interview.
Here's what Dean had to say:
Mika Brzezinski [to Howard Dean]: So, before the break you said you thought we were easy on [Rick] Santorum.”
Fmr. Gov. Howard Dean, D-Vt.: “I thought you were easy on Santorum. Maybe on the birth control stuff…”
Brzezinski: “Has he ever voted to ban birth control? Is there anything on record that says he would do something extreme? …my Twitter feed is exploding, so you’re not the only person who had the same reaction to that conversation.”
Dean: “Here’s the deal. It is probably true because I don’t know any of the thousands of votes he took. It’s probably true that he never voted to ban contraception, but he has voted and said a lot of incredibly intolerant things. Particularly about gay people.”
Brzezinski: “That’s a problem.”
Dean: That’s a problem. Particularly on the abortion issue…he does in fact vote for things like automatic ultrasounds…”
What do you think? Do you think Santorum's positions on gay marriage and birth control go too far? Or do his opinions accurately reflect how you feel on social issues?