Free Republic

DENVER — Rick Santorum had a breakthrough night on Tuesday by winning the Missouri primary and the Minnesota caucuses, breathing life into his struggling campaign and slowing Mitt Romney’s march to the Republican presidential nomination. Early returns had Santorum running two-to-one over Romney in Missouri, and the Associated Press projected he would win the state’s “beauty contest” primary, which awards no delegates but provides fresh momentum to the former Pennsylvania senator’s campaign. Romney was hoping to extend his winning streak as he tried to strengthen his claim to the mantle of the presumptive nominee, but he was bracing for a...

[BIG snip] Santorum's ad and his Op-Ed, meant to mock Gingrich, in reality can only distinctly not help Santorum's struggling campaign. Gingrich will surely make the inevitable -- and correct -- connection between Santorum's ad and a serious attack on the Reagan space legacy -- and the dreams of America itself. "We'll continue our quest in space…. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue," said President Reagan that tragic January night. Well, no they won't. Not if Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney have anything to say about it. "I promise," says Santorum. Worse, whether Santorum's staff understands it...

Pat Boone is rooting for Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, the singer announced over the weekend. "I am excited to endorse Rick Santorum for President. I've known Rick for many years and Rick has been a consistent defender of conservatism and the values our great nation was founded upon,” Boone said in a statement provided by the Santorum campaign on Sunday. Comparing the former senator to Ronald Reagan, the 77-year-old singer said Santorum is “experienced, honest, and deeply principled.” Happy about the nod, Santorum said in the release, "I am proud to receive Pat's endorsement today. Pat has been a...

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has picked up an endorsement from former Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo (tan-KRAY-doh). The failed gubernatorial and presidential candidate is a tea party favorite. Santorum was campaigning in Colorado on Wednesday ahead of next week's GOP caucuses there in hopes of building some momentum for his White House bid. Santorum also was endorsed Wednesday by former congressman Bob Shaffer and former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton.

Sir, I believe that none of the other GOP candidates are as solid as you are on the life issue.The problem is that, as huge as the abortion problem is in our country, there are many other issues that predominate in our country in this election cycle -- the economy, creeping fascism in our government, to name just two -- issues that could potentially affect the very existence of our nation and culture as we know it.To be honest, you are not the man who is giving the best voice to the concerns of those who truly care about the...

Fresh on the heels of announcing January fundraising numbers in excess of $4 million, Rick Santorum's presidential campaign announced a new television ad that will begin airing Tuesday in Colorado and Nevada. The ad attacks Newt Gingrich as being too liberal for the GOP nomination by arguing that he shares many policy positions with President Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "All three supported radical cap and trade legislation that would destroy American jobs and drive up energy costs. All three supported giving illegal aliens some form of amnesty. All three sported the government health mandates which take...

Rick Santorum opposed TARP. He didn’t cave when Chicken Littles in Washington invoked a manufactured crisis in 2008. He didn’t follow the pro-bailout GOP crowd — including Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich — and he didn’t have to obfuscate or rationalize his position then or now, like Rick Perry and Herman Cain did. He also opposed the auto bailout, Freddie and Fannie bailout, and porkulus bills. Santorum opposed individual health care mandates — clearly and forcefully — as far back as his 1994 U.S. Senate run. He has launched the most cogent, forceful fusillade against both Romney and Gingrich for...

Newt Gingrich has effectively called on Rick Santorum to drop out of the presidential race, yet the former Pennsylvania senator continues to poll in the double digits and shows no sign of quitting. Why are so many conservatives dissatisfied with a choice between Gingrich and Mitt Romney? Michelle Malkin's Santorum endorsement is a good primer.... [Santorum] didn't cave when Chicken Littles in Washington invoked a manufactured crisis in 2008. He didn't follow the pro-bailout GOP crowd - including Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich - and he didn't have to obfuscate or rationalize his position then or now... Santorum opposed individual...

The guy who apologized for criticizing Paul Ryan's Entitlement Reform Plan as right-wing social engineering is now heavily supporting Medicare in the Sunshine State, which is home for many seniors. Voters across the country who wonder about Newt's questionable past have received replies from Newt and his supporters to look past those negatives since they have already been repented for, apologized for, or flipped on. Focus should therefore be given only to his current conservative talk and the cherry-picked positive aspects of his past. www.americanthinker.com

"It's no mystery. I'd vote for Rick Santorum," David Limbaugh tweeted to his brother Rush Limbaugh on Friday...

...I was concerned the event would degenerate into a petulant verbal battle between Gingrich and Romney. However, Rick Santorum drew applause - both from the live audience and probably from viewers around the country - when he called on both of the candidates to stop their petty personal politics. "The bigger issue here is, these two gentlemen, who are out distracting from the most important issues -- we have been playing petty personal politics, can we set aside that Newt was a member of Congress and used the skills that he developed as a member of Congress to go out...

Sen. Rick Santorum has no viable path to victory and brings no new issues or ideas to the table. He no longer serves a purpose, or has a justification to remain in the race. Santorum has no viable claim that he is more conservative or more electable than Gingrich. He has no viable claim that he will be better in raising money, in organization, or would do a better job as president. There is simply no path for him. Further — despite winning Iowa, Santorum lost badly in NH and SC, and has no means to complete in FL. It...

Mitt Romney made a "polite" phone call Thursday to rival Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum to "concede victory" in Iowa, according to Santorum's spokesman Hogan Gidley. But Romney's team objected, saying his campaign didn't concede. “He just called him. They talked, and he recognized his efforts," a top campaign aide told CNN. Santorum finished the Iowa Republican caucuses 34 votes ahead of Mitt Romney, but results from several precincts are missing and the full actual results may never be known, according to a final certified tally released Thursday by the Iowa GOP. The new numbers show 29,839 votes for Santorum...

The Iowa Republican Party will certify this month's presidential caucuses as a split decision between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, citing missing data from eight precincts, the Des Moines Register reported on Thursday. The party had previously awarded the contest to Romney, with an eight vote margin. The official certified caucus results are due out Thursday at 8:15 a.m. local time (1415 GMT). The Register said the new count put Santorum ahead by 34 votes. However, results from any one of the eight precincts with "missing data" could hold an advantage for Romney, the...

[snip] "Here’s the quotation that’s getting the most attention: “Rick Santorum is a good man. He is a good father. He is a good Catholic. But he hasn’t always been a good conservative. And I make exceptions with his vote for Sonya Sotomayor as a for instance. That is a really liberal jurist that he helped put on track to become a Supreme Court jurist back when he voted to allow her to be on the Appellate Court. I mean, she is pro-abortion, would be my estimation of that. I mean, Obama is a very liberal president and she is...

In one of the first endorsements for former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum following this weekend’s meeting of evangelical and social conservative leaders that had them supporting his campaign, the head of a pro-life women’s group has backed the GOP presidential hopeful. Penny Nance, President and CEO of Concerned Women for America, issued an endorsement for Santorum in her personal capacity, not speaking on behalf of the organization that represents hundreds of thousands of pro-life women.

Will the Brenham Ranch, owned by former Judge Paul Pressler, be looked back upon as the place where the plans for a Republican coronation were upset? Will it mark the beginning of a surge of support for the candidacy of former Senator Rick Santorum for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination? It was at that ranch that 150 evangelical Protestant Christian leaders met to choose a candidate whom they could all unite behind. Speculation over the meeting, who attended it, and who would receive the nod of support from among former Governor Rick Perry, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich...

"After a two day meeting at a ranch outside of Houston a group of 150 Christian leaders, business leaders and conservative activists have coalesced behind Rick Santorum."

Long video of Rick Santorum campaigning in Amherst and Hollis, NH on January 7, 2012 prior to the debate. No editing out, no commentary. Just the candidate and questions from the folks.

Just as the conservative movement finally has the first real chance since Ronald Reagan to see one of its own — a “full-spectrum conservative,” as Rick Santorum now calls himself, picking up the phrase from Rep. Steve King (R., Iowa) — win the Republican presidential nomination, the purists emerge to say he’s somehow not conservative enough. The attempt to attach a “big-government conservative” label to Rick Santorum for some rare wanderings from the conservative reservation makes about as much sense as arguing that record-breaking Drew Brees of the Saints is a poor quarterback because he threw 14 interceptions this season....