Santorum to Receive the Thrash Metal Vote?

“You take a mortal man

And put him in control

Watch him become a god

Watch peoples’ heads a ‘roll”

Those are the lyrics of Megadeth’s front man Dave Mustaine, who also happens to be Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s latest fan.

Mustaine wants to put Santorum in control.

The Megadeth front man endorsed Santorum to MusicRadar.com a little over a week ago. Social and traditional media has finally picked up on Mustaine’s endorsement and has been having a field day, another case study of the PR ramifications of a questionable endorsement.

@TheTweetOfGod, a popular spoof account, tweeted yesterday, “Dave Mustaine Endorses Rick Santorum. Pro-life, meet Megadeath.”

@HuffPostHill tweeted, “The Gwar endorsement is really going to tip the scales http://bit.ly/zvADSD”

Campaigns are no stranger to these negative endorsements. Opponents of the Obama campaign tried to associate him with some of the more radical teachings of his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, in 2008. Obama’s campaign was forced to go on the defensive and deny contemporary connections between him and Wright.

Mustaine’s endorsement of Santorum shouldn’t rise to the level of the Wright endorsement. If it does, Santorum’s staff should release a statement thanking Mustaine for his endorsement but making it very clear that Santorum does not share the same values as the Megadeth front man.

Whatever Santorum does, he probably shouldn’t publicly lay claim to the thrash metal vote. I’m not sure if that would go over well with his religious conservative base.