Posted on 02/08/2012 9:43:11 PM PST by Steelfish
Buoyant Rick Santorum Stumps in North Texas
By Joe Holley, Chronicle
PLANO — Buoyed by unexpected victories in three states on Tuesday night, Rick Santorum swept into North Texas on Wednesday, where he sought to build momentum by assuring Republican primary voters that he and not Newt Gingrich was the true and reliable conservative in the presidential race.
Santorum began his day by appealing to his base, evangelical social conservatives in a part of the state that had been Rick Perry country until recently. In a church in McKinney on the morning, he told a group of Dallas-area ministers that he always had been an outspoken foe of abortion and same-sex marriage and always would be. The ministers responded with prayers on Santorum’s behalf and a ritual laying on of hands.
The former Pennsylvania senator also came to Texas — in his words, “the conservative epicenter of this country” — with his hand out. Between public events in the Dallas area, he spent a five-hour block of time raising money. His campaign reported Internet donations totaling $250,000 in the wake of his Tuesday night victories in Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota.
After meeting with supporters in Allen, Santorum in the evening spoke to a crowd of approximately 700 in Plano, who gathered at a faux-rustic barn called Fairview Farms. Some 400 stood shoulder to shoulder inside; another 300 or so stood and listened in the chill night air.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.chron.com ...
I think Paul is all over the map and I don’t think even his strong fiscal stance can save us, but I sure as heck know that making this election about Social, religious and moral matters takes our eyes of of Obama’s greatest weakness which is the ECONOMY!!
Why cant we focus on the Economy?
Anyone passingly familiar with Santorum knows he's always been passionately pro-life and Christian. He doesn't have to try to be something he already is. Southerners just have to get past the notion that he might be a puppet of the pope. ;-)
All that remains to materialize, and I don’t like the way this **** is going.
I want this debt stopped and the economy spurred, I want cheap energy and jobs.
But that DAmn Rick Perry offerd Gardasil for a reasonable price with an opt out and here we are/s
The ONLY way? Maybe you can fill me in on the positions he flip flopped on. The Rats ran a legacy that claimed to be as socially Conservative as his father. The Casey name carried as much weight in PA as Kennedy in New England. Add to that the fact Rick had the Iraq War and Bush tied around his neck, it is easy to see how a candidate running as a Solid Conservative in a Blue state lost by a large margin.
Santorum says he would talk his daughter into having the child if she was raped but somehow Perrys compassion is OUTRAGEOUS. Newt and Romney are openly for amnesty but some how Perry was OUTRAGEOUS.
I think its pretty clear to even someone with a tiny brain that the loser lawyer Santrorum is being bankrolled by Romney supporters to destroy Gingrich.
Minneapolis Star Tribune-2/8/12
“Mitt Romney and Foster Friess, a wealthy donor to conservative causes, were walking out of an event together a few months ago when Friess broke the news: After backing Romney for president four years ago, he was getting behind Rick Santorum this time around.
“He couldn’t quite figure out why Rick was even bothering to go through the effort,” Friess recalled Wednesday. “I mean, I don’t mean to fault him for saying, ‘Why take Rick seriously?’ Nobody took Rick seriously.”
Many more Republicans are taking Santorum seriously now, thanks to his victories in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado on Tuesday — and perhaps none more than Romney, for whom Santorum’s unexpected rise poses another threat from the right.
‘The chairman of my board’
Few people played a more pivotal role in Tuesday’s turn of events than Friess. An investor who made millions in mutual funds and now lives in Wyoming, he is the chief backer of a super PAC that has helped keep Santorum’s candidacy alive by running TV ads on his behalf. His role as outside funder — one that Friess indicated he will continue to play — escalates the battle among a few dozen wealthy Republicans to influence their party’s choice of a presidential nominee.
Friess’ chosen outlet — the Red, White and Blue Fund — provided critical support for Santorum as he sought to resuscitate his campaign. At a time when Santorum could not afford to pay for a single commercial of his own, the fund focused in particular on Minnesota, where the super PAC supporting Romney, Restore Our Future, broadcast a last-minute blitz of ads against him, Kantar Media/CMAG said.
But Friess’ help could prove even more vital in the weeks ahead, as Santorum tries to capitalize on his upset victories to mount a more assertive challenge to Romney and to Newt Gingrich, who has an even more deep-pocketed supporter in the billionaire casino executive Sheldon Adelson, one of nation’s the richest men.
Friess is relatively rare among the major backers of super PACs for his close association with the religious conservative movement. His website quotes Scripture, and he often says that God is “the chairman of my board.”
He is also rare for his willingness to speak openly about his political giving, a break from Adelson, who has not spoken publicly about his donations of $10 million, with his wife, to the super PAC supporting Gingrich.
“There are not many donors who are really willing to be out there as such an advocate,” said the founder of Red, White and Blue, Nick Ryan. “It takes a little bit of the cloak and dagger out of the whole thing.”
‘Best chance to beat Barack Obama’
Friess, 71, said that he likes Santorum for his faith but also believes he is the best candidate to compete with President Obama, whom he blamed for excessive government. He said he came to know Santorum several years ago and particularly approved of his opposition to abortion rights and his hawkish foreign policy stance. “I’m not supporting him for how I’ve known him as a friend,” Friess said. “I’m supporting him because he has the best chance to beat Barack Obama.”
Asked what compelled him to give so much, he said, “No. 1, I think of all the guys that strap a gun on their backs and head to Afghanistan and Iraq to keep us free and safe and maintain what America has stood for, if I put up a million bucks or whatever, it doesn’t’ seem like much of a sacrifice.”
Friess ranks among the nation’s leading patrons of Republican and conservative causes. He has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Republican Party and candidates in recent years. Last year, he gave $100,000 to Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin to help fend off a Democratic-led recall effort.
Asked whether he would be prompted to donate more to the super PAC if Romney and the super PAC supporting him stepped up attacks on Santorum, Friess said: “Well, I think that if he does that it is so exciting, because it finally recognizes that Rick Santorum is a threat.”
I see you love jamming that into every Santorum thread you can. Have you found any corroboration of Rogan’s account of that meeting? There were a lot of people involved in that, yet his is the only account that blames Santorum, a first term junior Senator, for derailing the impeachment. Odd, don’t you think?
Thank you for the Lone Star flag. I miss seeing that flying everywhere with the U. S. Flag. It is good.
Rush comes close to a Santorum endorsement.
He said this on Monday according to Politico:
“And they’re doing it because in Santorum’s case, as I’ve been saying the past couple of weeks, if you’re looking for a conservative who is the least corrupted, who has the least number of periods of wandering off the reservation, if you’re looking for a conservative who’s never sat down with Nancy Pelosi on the couch for any reason, you get Rick Santorum,” he said. “And people know this.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72622.html
I expect him to carry Travis, Harris, and Dallas counties. The rest, not so much.
Ive met plenty of jerks in church.
Hon, the book was published May 2011. And I guess you were not old enough in 1998-1999 time period to know who was calling the shots. Rush back when he did his own research spoke about how it was the Senate Republicans that 'killed' the trial.
And yes, indeed, it is extremely ODD that a baby in diapers of the Senate hierarchy would be given the 'job' to tell the House to 'screw' US. Every time I read something about Newt's sin against women, I am reminded of the pious self serving Rick's sin against US.
Harris county, really? I wouldn’t have guessed that.
We need to bring this debate back to the general economy.
IMHO Obama has made the debate about religious doctrine to throw us a red herring, and Santorum cant resist.
He has no idea how to Govern.
Harris county has always been rather fond of socialists.
I say let Rush fade off onto a golf course and may Trump Bohener and Obama join him.
Perhaps it is going to shift, if Gingrich and Santorum don’t spend their time fighting off Romney attacks, Romney is shifting the discussion that direction it looks like.
Romneys Nevada speech and this today:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/mitt-romney-mixes-up-solyndra-and-keystone-pipeline/2012/02/08/gIQAJuIqzQ_blog.html
I hate Romney but more discussion in this area would be nice and not just attacks on Obama but what they intend to do to achieve the plan.
I was once very young and foolish and fell for that. The only time in my whole life I ever voted for a Democrat was when I unbelievably, actually voted for Jimmy Carter because he presented himself as a staunch Christian. Fool me once "shame on you". Fool me twice "shame on me".
Can anyone, knowledgeably, fill in the blanks about him? Is he a good Conservative or not?
Yeah, I’m old enough to be engaged back then. That is why I find your argument preposterous.
Once again you refuse to back this claim up with anymore than Rogan’s unbelievable memory where he is able to quote Santorum verbatim in a meeting that happened in 1998. The article claims he took a lot of notes. Apperently he had a steno machine on hand. You also post the FR thread, but don’t post the no name blog where this whole idea is being pimped.
I on the other hand can point to the congressional record where Santorums votes on impeachment are there for all to see. How did old Rick vote on impeachment?
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