Tom Plamer of the Cato Institute dug up a quote by Sen. Santorum (R-PA):

“this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do, government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulations low, that we shouldn’t get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn’t get involved in cultural issues. You know, people should do whatever they want. Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world and I think most conservatives understand that individuals can’t go it alone. That there is no such society that I am aware of, where we’ve had radical individualism and that it succeeds as a culture.”

I’m not sure what traditional conservatives Mr. Santorum is referring to. One of the fathers of modern conservatism, President Ronald Reagan believed that “the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism” and the very heart and soul of libertarianism is the individual. Reagan also said “The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom…”

But lets not take Reagan’s word for it, what do other prominent conservatives think about the individual and liberty?

“From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave.” - President George W. Bush

Of course we’ve heard similar comments against the individual from other Senators.
“We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society.” - Hillary Clinton, 1993

Santorum has done more damage to the image of the Republican Party than Michael Moore could ever hope to accomplish. I really do hope the people on Pennsylvania decide that he does not represent what America is about and find someone else to represent them in the Senate.