However, although this is the case, it's very difficult to believe that Santorum misread what Kennedy said. No reasonably educated person could be that far off. He was simply being disingenuous, and pandering during a campaign. Santorum is trying to consolidate the Evangelical base, and he is saying extreme things to do it. It's really not that difficult to understand the intended limits upon interaction of government and religion from a constitutional perspective. Most high school students could give you a better read of Kennedy's speech than Santorum's. But that isn't what the national dialog is typically about. The national dialog typically regards cynical ploys to use people's religious beliefs for political gains.Behind all the self-interested tergiversations of the politicians, however, is a genuine enigma.