Posted on 08/11/2009 6:04:12 PM PDT by pissant
Add former Sen. Rick Santorum to the list of potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates.
POLITICO has learned Santorum will visit first-in-the-nation Iowa this fall for a series of appearances before the sort of conservative activists who dominate the state GOP’s key presidential caucuses.
The Pennsylvanian, who lost his 2006 re-election bid, will visit Iowa on October 1st, appearing on a Des Moines radio talk show and speaking to a luncheon and workshop of Iowa’s Right to Life group before heading east to Dubuque, where he’ll headline a fundraiser for the conservative America’s Future Fund PAC and then speak about the future of the GOP to a public audience in the Mississippi River city.
“Your voice becomes more amplified when you go to a place like Iowa or New Hampshire,” Santorum explained in an interview Tuesday about the visit.
Like other potential White House aspirants, he insisted it was too early to consider a presidential run. But he acknowledged that he was interested in taking a higher profile in the party.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Thanks pissant...
I disagree. Santorum has been a reliable supporter of conservative issues, even if Specter was not. After watching Sanford self-destruct, and Palin, I would say we need all the help we can get. Hunter has no chance. DeMint and Pence, maybe, but they will or will not throw their hats in, and they may or may not be able to get anywhere. Right now, it’s Romney’s to lose. Santorum is welcome to give him a run for his money.
Me too. I also believe he decide to follow the lead of President Bush and the GOP to support Specter, to his later regret.
I will always admire and respect his heroic leadership in passing the ban on partial birth abortion.
Then, Senator Rick Santorum spoke, calmly yet passionately, with the authority that comes from the truth and needs no emotional manipulation to persuade those who are listening: “The senator …said she hears the cries of women outside this chamber. We would be deafened by the cries of the children who are not here to cry because of this procedure”. He then turned to his colleague on the Senate floor and cried out with a prophetic urgency: “Where do we draw the line? Some people have likened this procedure to an appendectomy. That’s not an appendix!” He pointed to a diagram he was using to make his appeal which showed a child being partially delivered. “That is not a blob of tissue. It is a baby. It’s a baby!”
At that moment- and we all heard it - a baby cried. That cry filled the chamber and changed the environment.
IMHO, Rick Santorum still has a place in the conservative movement.
Santorum is NOT a RINO. Not even close. His support for Schfincter in the primaries was inevitable as a Jr. Senator with W. in the White House. You will not find anyone more passionate about the radical Islamic threat we still face. He got screwed in the last election but he isn’t finished in politics. Actually, Palin/Santorum is my dream ticket.
Arlen Specter was endorsed in 1996 by Santorum for President when Arlen went to Iowa himself.
Then Santorum endorsed Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey in 2004 during the US Senate.
But later that year Santorum who is a darling of National Right To Life, a GOP establishment group, went to Alaska.
His mission was to twist the arms of Alaska Right To Life so they would support “pro-choice” Lisa Murkowski for US Senate.
Santorum pushed for them to endorse Murkowski over pro-life Mike Miller. Miller was supported by the then mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin.
They must be putting Santorum in to try to pry votes away from Palin on behalf of Willard M. Romney.
That’s how desperate the GOP Washington Beltway Establishment is.
I posted a true story about Santorum going up to Alaska in 2004 to push Alaska Right To Life to endorse “pro-choice” Lisa Murkowski in the primary.
The blog of the pro-life candidate in that race, State Senator Mike Miller, reported that Santorum twisted the arms of the pro-life group to support Murkowski.
Miller was supported by Sarah Palin, then mayor of Wasilla.
I think Santorum is in the fray as a splinter candidate like Fred Thompson in 2008.
Thompson split votes in South Carolina so McCain could win.
The objective of Santorum is to split off pro-life conservative votes so Romney can win.
See Post #45.....
Rick gave a sop to the animal rights crowd by proposing “puppy mill” legislation as well.
And, if I remember correctly, he was hailed as a social conservative until the election, and all of a sudden he is a RINO. That is the dumbest term, because it is now thrown at anyone who is not “your” candidate.
On the other hand, I dont think we should be so vocally wanting for a political “Moses” to lead us out of the desert. The Palin, Hunter, Demint, Huckabee, Romney, Giuliani people are just propping up politicians on a pedestal. But all men are fallen, sinners, and just like Sanford, can do something to wreck their chances. And then the people who desperately want them will have to explain the egg on their face.
could you please knock off on the Hunter thing?? He is history, just not Presidential material, by the way where has he been since he dropped out?
I liked Hunter, send him donation and to his son as well, but he is just not ‘up to snuff’
Support whatever RINO you like. I’ll support Hunter
There is a distinct difference between not speaking ill of a fellow republican (I don't agree that Specter ever really was one) and endorsing a liberal in the primary election when the opponent was a conservative.
I'm one of those people who think that the national party shouldn't be endorsing anyone in the primary. We're supposed to tell them who we want instead of them telling us who they want. If the incumbent is in trouble because of his voting record, let him fail. If nothing else, this would tend to make the politicians more responsive to their constituency.
This snarky comment reveals much about your politics. National Right to Life, a GOP establishment group?!
Your post had no link and just didn't seem to fit Rick Santorum, so I searched for this. Here's a Juneau Empire story on this matter. IMO, Nextrush makes fast and loose with the facts. Note that Chris Smith also appealed on behalf of Murkowski. The real race was between Murkowski and Tony Knowles(D) with Jerry Sanders trying to be a spoiler as an independent. [Whoever Mike Miller is, he never had a prayer]. Santorum was trying to keep the GOP represented in the Senate (unlike how well we're doing now). Here is the statement of Alaska Right to Life President Ed Wassell on Santorum's endorsement of Murkowski (from the article):
Wassell said Santorum's basic message was that Murkowski may not be the best candidate, but was worthy of support.
There’s also bits of petty corruption such as his attempts to restrict the publication of National Weather Service data so that his buddies at AccuWeather could repackage and sell it at a markup.
I think I have it right.
Santorum came out against the pro-life conservative candidate supported by Sarah Palin in 2004 during the GOP
Senate primary.
The Mike Miller Blog reported it at the time and I remember the details. Santorum flew out and the story was reported from those inside the meeting with him (the board of the Alaska right to life group).
That right to life dinner in Indiana earlier this year where Sarah Palin spoke to a packed crowd was used to give RNC Chairman Michael Steele a chance to redeem himself.
Steele had spoken in favor of Roe vs. Wade as the law of the land. Here Steele spoke about how pro-life he is.
James Bopp from Indiana is the General Counsel of National Right To Life and Deputy Chairman of the RNC.
I know NRL as if I have personally spoken to Mr. David O’Steen myself. O’Steen is the longtime executive director.
In the name of “pro-life” wins politically support of conservatives in elections is thrown over the side by NRL.
Mr. Bopp has wedded the NRL to the RNC.
Case closed.
Oh, great googely moogely.
We need him running like a hole in the head
Exactly.
He voted against the “protection of lawful commerce in arms act” at a time when I had an 01 FFL. He will never get my vote.
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