Free Republic

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum dismissed Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s 2016 presidential ambitions, claiming “the Republican Party is not a libertarian party” and suggesting few GOP voters would be swayed by Paul’s small government message. Santorum swiped at the senator Monday during an appearance on CNN’s “Crossfire,” where he told left-wing host Van Jones that Republicans “need a positive agenda” to win in 2014 and 2016. “So positive agenda,” Jones replied. “Rand Paul, who now seems to be everywhere. He’s the frontrunner in your party. Do you agree with his ideas, are you going to support Rand Paul?”...

Former Sen. Rick Santorum gave Mitt Romney a run for his money during the Republican primaries. In return, Santorum will get a major speaking role at the Republican National Convention, organizers will announce Tuesday. Convention organizers will also announce they are giving major speaking roles to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and Sen. Rand Paul, the son of Rep. Ron Paul, another of Romney's more dogged rivals. Handing Santorum a prime speaking slot is a hat tip to his underdog presidential campaign. The under-funded, little-known former senator notched a surprising upset in Iowa, where his brand...

Last time Rick Santorum tweeted about eating at Chick-fil-A, vile progressives suggested he had a gay, incestuous relationship with his own children. Today Santorum thumbed his nose at the hateful Left by stopping at Chick-fil-A on his way to a Ted Cruz rally. Predictably, the oh-so-tolerant Left couldn’t wait to insinuate that Rick Santorum is a vocal supporter of Chick-fil-A because he’s secretly gay. How original. As always, leave it to Left to use “gay” as a slur...

On the “Tonight Show” Jay Leno told Rick Santorum that his endorsement (that‘s what we’re calling it) of Mitt Romney seemed “kind of tepid,” given that it was sent out in an email at 11 p.m. Monday. “I think we just needed some time,” Santorum said. “It was a rough and tumble campaign. I can‘t say that it would have been an easy thing the next day to turn around and say ’oh you know, lets just go forward.’ It was tough. So I wanted an opportunity to sort of think about it a little bit… Over the weekend I...

WASHINGTON –  Former presidential hopeful Rick Santorum urged his supporters to back fellow Republican Mitt Romney's campaign Monday in a late-night email that ignored that Santorum once calling Romney the "worst Republican in the country" during their bitter contest. He added: "Above all else, we both agree that President Obama must be defeated. The task will not be easy. It will require all hands on deck if our nominee is to be victorious. Gov. Romney will be that nominee and he has my endorsement and support to win this the most critical election of our lifetime."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Santorum is endorsing his one-time bitter rival Mitt Romney in a late-night e-mail to his supporters. Santorum on Monday urged his supporters to join him in working with the effective Republican nominee to deny President Barack Obama a second term.

WASHINGTON — Rick Santorum wants to ensure the GOP's policy platform represents conservatives' interests. Newt Gingrich wants help retiring his campaign debt and repairing his reputation.Both Republicans are expected to endorse their former rival Mitt Romney — and signal to their backers to fall in line behind the party's presumptive nominee — but each wants assurances that Romney will deliver for them. Neither is rushing toward the task.Meanwhile, it doesn't appear that Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is going to go that way. Paul is still in the race and hasn't yet recognized Romney as the party's nominee. The tea...

On good-bye tour, Gingrich touts ability to be Romney surrogate By NBC's Andrew Rafferty MOORESVILLE, NC -- Even though his presidential campaign "will go bye-bye," Newt Gingrich on Thursday said he and his wife plan to campaign through the fall to help presumptive nominee Mitt Romney. "I'm going to look at how I can be helpful, because I suspect people will still show up to hear me," Gingrich told voters at luncheon here. "Callista and I are going to campaign through October." Though today, just 25 people attended the midday event here, leaving a roomful of empty chairs. Some of...

Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is yet to clinch all the 1,144 delegates he needs to officially be declared the winner of the race, and all but one of his previous campaign rivals have given him their support – with Rick Santorum being the only apparent holdout. It was revealed Wednesday that both Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race in January, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, have decided to endorse Romney. "So today I join the many conservative Republicans across the nation in endorsing Mitt Romney for president and...

Rick Santorum, the winner of Alabama's Republican presidential primary, hasn't released his 22 Alabama delegates to support another candidate, but delegates said they expect to unite behind Mitt Romney if he locks up the GOP nomination. ....Santorum won Alabama's GOP primary March 13, picking up 22 delegates, compared with 13 for Newt Gingrich and 12 for Romney. Even though Santorum has suspended his campaign, the rules of the Alabama Republican Party bind his delegates to him until he releases them. Dean participated in a conference call with Santorum on Monday, during which the former Pennsylvania senator told delegates he has...

If and when Barack Obama wins another four years in the White House, one of the first people he should invite over is Rick Santorum. That's because when the scholars chronicle the history of his 2012 race, it will be Mr. Santorum who will get credit for handing the victory to the Democrats. And if you don't believe it, just ask Mitt Romney. Without his buddy Santorum in the contest, Mr. Romney could have taken a more moderate path to the nomination and would not have been dragged so far to the right in order to compete for the ultra-conservatives...

Rick Santorum had been the last best hope of Christian conservatives who opposed Mitt Romney, derided by many as a “Massachusetts moderate.” Now, facing the abrupt end of Mr. Santorum’s presidential bid, some evangelical leaders have begun to rally behind Mr. Romney, saying their shared hostility toward President Obama will be a powerful force for uniting the party in November. In one sign of coalescing support from Christian conservatives, the National Organization for Marriage, a leading opponent of same-sex marriage, endorsed Mr. Romney on Wednesday morning. The group called Mr. Romney a “true champion” and said that President Obama “has...

That didn’t take long: Newt Gingrich has “humbly” asked Rick Santorum supporters to channel their support (read: money) to his campaign. The Gingrich camp, deeply in debt after dismal performances in recent primary races, released a statement minutes after Mr. Santorum’s exit from the Republican primary this afternoon, saying, “Rick has waged a remarkable campaign. His success is a testament to his tenacity and the power of conservative principles.” “I humbly ask Senator Santorum’s supporters to visit Newt.org to review my conservative record and join us as we bring these values to Tampa,” Mr. Gingrich’s statement continued. The former House...

Mitt Romney’s campaign issued the following statement congratulating Rick Santorum: “Senator Santorum is an able and worthy competitor, and I congratulate him on the campaign he ran. He has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation. We both recognize that what is most important is putting the failures of the last three years behind us and setting America back on the path to prosperity.”

Awaiting press conference. "FOX NEWS CONFIRMS RICK SANTORUM TO SUSPEND CAMPAIGN"

I just heard on Fox News that Rick Santorum is suspending his race for President. He will be giving a news conference

Fox Confirms: Rick Santorum to suspend Presidential Campaign. Will post link and source when it hits Fox News Website.

Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum holds a four-point lead in his home state in Rasmussen Reports’ first look at the upcoming Pennsylvania Republican Primary. A new statewide telephone survey finds that 42% of Likely GOP Primary Voters support Santorum, while former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney picks up 38% of the vote. Texas Congressman Ron Paul earns seven percent (7%), and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is at six percent (6%). Two percent (2%) like some other candidate in the race, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

.....We viewed it was a courtesy visit,” Perry’s spokesman Ray Sullivan told CNN. While Sullivan did not discuss specifics of the conversation, he confirmed that Perry remains a supporter of Newt Gingrich. After dropping out of the race in January, Perry endorsed the former speaker, largely supporting his emphasis of states’ rights. Since then, the Texas Governor has worked as a Gingrich campaign surrogate.

(CNN) – Rick Santorum went to the tee Thursday evening, weighing in on a golf controversy that earlier attracted the attention of the White House and other GOP presidential hopefuls.