Did the writer of this piece read FR? I didn't read the Perry threads, but I have since read some of his supporters saying he was bashed. As a Santorum supporter, I saw Santorum bashed relentlessly by a group of posters on this site using the same lines that could be read in the liberal media and the liberal blogs like Huffington and DU. One of the biggest complaints among this group was that Santorum was a social conservative who truly meant it and wasn't giving it lip service, and he was given nicknames like "Saint Rick".
Probably Libertarians who wish for morally devoid anarchy as much as leftists wish for morally devoid tyranny. To the extreme right anarchists ANY social order is to be avoided. To the extreme left socialists ONLY their social order is allowed. To both, a man like Santorum and all he represents is their enemy.