Rick Santorum has a new TV ad running statewide in Michigan, which promotes an eyebrow raising claim from right wing pundit Glenn Beck: “Santorum is the next George Washington.”

Video of the ad is below, courtesy of Talking Points Memo:

Putting aside the many differences the man who warned that “few men have virtue enough to withstand the highest bidder” and the man who was ranked as one of the 3 most corrupt U.S. senators in 2006, it isn’t surprising to hear Beck invoke George Washington’s name.

Beck is frequently hoping to find a reincarnation of America’s first president; before he settled on Santorum he dispatched his followers to search for the next Washington, and he has suggested that an 8 year old future Washington may be lurking in the crowd at one of his speeches. He has also written a book “about the struggle to be [Washington] every single day of our lives.”

Beck describes Washington as “a real-life superhero who wore no cape and possessed no special powers.” Apparently, he just wears a sweater vest and possesses a special love of Arby’s.