Santorum Airs New Ad Anticipating Desperate Romney Smears

Because he doesn't have a record he can run on, at least not in a Republican primary, Mitt Romney and his Super PACs have spent over $20 million attacking and smearing his opponents.  Now that he is trailing in his home state of Michigan, the mud is flying again.  But Rick Santorum anticipated "moderate" Mitt's desperate tactics with this ad:

Santorum Moves Ahead in Michigan

This is the best and most astonishing news yet in the GOP presidential primary season.  Our friends who insist that the liberal Massachusetts Governor is "inevitable" and "electable" will get quite a shock when the chameleon candidate is defeated in one of his home states, a state in which his father served as Governor.  This demonstrates once again, that Republicans and Americans as a whole want a "choice, not an echo."  Nominating an Obama-Lite, yet another in the long string of losing "moderates" - Wilkie, Dewey, Ford, Dole and McCain - is not an answer; it is a proven prescription for defeat.

Our country is in grave crisis and the words of Ronald Reagan are as true as when he uttered them in 1975:

"Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors, which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?"

From Public Policy Polling

Rick Santorum's taken a large lead in Michigan's upcoming Republican primary. He's at 39% to 24% for Mitt Romney, 12% for Ron Paul, and 11% for Newt Gingrich.

Santorum's rise is attributable to two major factors: his own personal popularity (a stellar 67/23 favorability) and GOP voters increasingly souring on Gingrich. Santorum's becoming something closer and closer to a consensus conservative candidate as Gingrich bleeds support.

Rick Santorum's Speech to CPAC 2012

10 Advantages Rick Santorum Has Over Mitt Romney

From The Daily Mail

By Toby Harnden

So how do we make sense of what happened last night? No one but no one (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) predicted that Rick Santorum might win all three states on what turned out to be Loopy Tuesday. Mitt Romney remains the frontrunner but the former US Senator for Pennsylvania is clearly a force to be reckoned with.

Here are 10 things to understand about Santorum's second surge and what it means for Romney, Republicans - and President Barack Obama.

1. Santorum is not Romney

It may seem tough to start off with a negative but Santorum's success perhaps says more about Romney than Tuesday night's victor himself. Indisputably, Romney is a hard candidate for grassroots Republicans to love and his conservative bona fides will always be open to question.

Though many Republicans respect Romney or can tolerate him or can calculate in their heads that he should be their nominee, they can't fall in love with him. Ultimately, they may not need to. But this makes the road to the nomination a rocky one for Romney, involving a series of candidates in the ABM (Anyone But Mitt) slot, the latest of whom is Santorum.

Rick Santorum campaigns in Nashua, New Hampshire. Photo: Toby Harnden

 

Santorum Sweeps Heartland Trifecta

Conservatives have found their candidate, unite to stop Massachusetts liberal

Rick Santorum’s wife, Karen, looks on as he speaks at a primary night watch party in St. Charles, Mo. (Jeff Roberson, AP / February 7, 2012)

Republican long shot Rick Santorum poked holes in Mitt Romney's aura of inevitability Tuesday night with a trio of upset victories that shifted the dynamic of the 2012 presidential contest.

The former Pennsylvania senator's wins in the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and Missouri primary were setbacks for Romney, the national front-runner, who had been expected to cruise easily through a series of relatively minor February voter tests. He must now wait three weeks to regroup, when Arizona and Michigan hold what suddenly are shaping up as unexpectedly important primaries.

In remarks to delirious supporters in St. Charles, Mo., Santorum took a swipe at Romney's big advantage in money and the negative ads he's used to defeat his opponents in previous states. He also lashed out at President Obama, describing him as someone "who thinks he knows better" and doesn't listen to the American people.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I don't stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama," Santorum said, setting off chants of "We pick Rick!"

Read the rest of this entry >>

Dr. James Dobson Endorses Rick Santorum

Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, spoke with Rick Santorum at the American Heartland: A Conversation on Faith, Freedom and the American Family in Columbia Missouri. Dr. Dobson has endorsed Rick Santorum for President.

"Deal"

Rick Santorum Turns Heat on Newt Gingrich in Florida

Rick Santorum kicks off his Florida campaign with a critique of Newt Gingrich. | AP Photo

Rick Santorum kicked off his Florida campaign here Sunday by aiming directly at Newt Gingrich.

“It’s great to be glib, but it’s better to be principled,” the former Pennsylvania senator told a crowd of more than 200 standing in a hot parking lot of a strip mall in this town outside Fort Lauderdale.

Santorum dismissed the idea that the South Carolina primary reshaped the race into a Gingrich-Mitt Romney face-off. Saturday’s results could very quickly be overshadowed by the Jan. 31 Florida primary, in which he’s hoping to reemerge as a factor.

Read the rest of this entry at Politico >>

South Carolina Speaks

While not our first choice, tonight's outcome in South Carolina is an indicator that the Republican mainstream rejects the "next-in-line" establishment choice for our party and wants radical change.

One cannot argue that Mitt Romney is an outsider when he not only received the support of Governor Haley and Treasurer Loftis, but the endorsement of others of the Republican establishment like the Bush family and our last failed nominee, John McCain. Indeed, those endorsements probably cost Romney votes.

In good times, the South Carolina electorate will put social issues to the fore and might have been expected to support Rick Santorum; but the results tonight suggest that the economic crisis and defeat of Barack Hussein Obama are first and foremost in the minds of the Republican electorate. Over the course of several debates Gingrich convinced voters that he is well prepared to fiercely debate a president who needs a teleprompter to make routine welcoming remarks at small diplomatic and social events in the White House. While Santorum often sounded like he was debating policy details on the floor of the Senate, Romney played it safe and appeared to be marking time until Inauguration Day. He exuded all the vision and passion of Gerald Ford, George Herbert Walker Bush and Bob Dole. Gingrich, on the other hand, lashed out at the media everyone loves to hate and gave America a vision of what may be in store for a failed President.

Each of the three principal contenders has won one primary. When all is said and done, we believe Rick Santorum has the experience, commitment, principles and constancy to make the better President. But the lesson tonight is that Republican voters want bold, aggressive leadership and conservative solutions, even if to get them, they have to hold their nose and send a serial adulterer and his mistress of eight years to the White House.

Key Leaders of Faith, Family, Back Santorum

Senator Rick Santorum has been the conservative’s conservative in the race for the 2012 GOP nomination for president, stating biblical perspectives on homosexuality, marriage and other key social issues.

For that, he’s earned the support of dozens of key conservative leaders around the nation, from Family Talk radio founder James Dobson to Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Preparedness.

Christian Leaders Vote to Support Rick Santorum as Republican Nominee

An influential bloc of Christian conservative leaders have backed Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, as their choice in the Republican presidential race. 

Rick Santorum could now surge as he did in Iowa.   Photo: REUTERS

From The Telegraph

By Philip Sherwell

The support of the group of 150 evangelical power-brokers is a major boost for the prospects of Mr Santorum, who nearly snatched a surprise victory in the Iowa caucus.

The decision is also a setback for the prospects of a quick victory in the nomination battle for Mitt Romney, who has emerged as the Republican frontrunner after his narrow win in Iowa and comfortable victory in the New Hampshire primary.

Rick Santorum, Conservative Stalwart

From National Review Online

By Quin Hillyer

Rick Santorum gives a thumbs up following an event in Keene, N.H., Jan. 6, 2012.

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.

The reality is that Rick Santorum’s instincts and intellectual choices consistently tend toward freedom.

South Carolina Primary: Romney 27%, Santorum 24%, Gingrich 18%

From Rasmussen Reports

 

What a difference a caucus makes. Rick Santorum who two months ago had one percent (1%) support among likely South Carolina Republican Primary voters now is running a close second there with 24% of the vote.  

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the Palmetto State finds former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney still in the lead, earning 27% support from likely GOP Primary Voters, up from 23% in early November. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is in third with 18% of the vote, followed by Texas Congressman Ron Paul at 11%.

British Blogger Urges Prayers for Rick Santorum's Election

British blogger Dylan Parry, author of A Reluctant Sinner blog, explains why he wants Rick Santorum to be the next Catholic president of the United States.

Rick Santorum for US President - Praying that this God-fearing candidate will become the people's choice in 2012

Rick Santorum - a man devoted to the truth

Since coming a very close second to Mitt Romney in the 2012 Iowa Republican caucuses on 3 January, Rick Santorum is now a serious contender to win that party's nomination in this year's US Presidential election campaign. Fortunes change. Only a few weeks ago, Santorum had been dismissed by the mainstream American press for supposedly being out of touch, irrelevant or a no hoper. Now we see that the American people are beginning to think otherwise. They know an honest man when they see one.

Gingrich Interested in Anti-Romney Alliance with Santorum

Ingraham: Can you see a scenario under which the two of you [Santorum and Gingrich] would align together to try to defeat the establishment candidate Mitt Romney?

Gingrich: Absolutely. Of course. I mean Rick and I have a 20 year friendship, we are both rebels, we both came into this business as reformers, we both dislike deeply the degree to which the establishment sells out the American people. We both think Washington has to be changed in very fundamental ways, and we have lots of things that fit together. And the thing that's interesting is if you take the votes, you add to that Perry and Bachmann, you begin to see the size of the conservative vote compared to Romney...if you take, you know, Santorum and Perry and Bachmann and Gingrich you get some sense of what a small minority Romney really represents.

Rick Santorum's Iowa Victory Speech

IOWA MIRACLE MAKES SANTORUM THE CONSERVATIVE ALTERNATIVE

Perry heads home to "reassess."

Santorum Momentum Rolls Into New Hampshire

Verona, PA - Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum will return to New Hampshire on Wednesday, January 4^th following the Iowa Caucus. The following events are open to the press, all times are local.

Latest Polls Document Santorum Surge

There are a couple of candidates that clearly need to exit this race fast if we are to avoid what three quarters of Republicans clearly do not want - a Romney nomination.

Wed - CNN/Time/ORC Iowa Poll
Romney 25%
Paul 22%
Santorum 16%
Newt 14%
Perry 11%
Bachmann 9%
Huntsman 1%

Thur - Rasmussen Iowa Poll
Romney 23%
Paul 22%
Santorum 16%
Gingrich 13%
Perry 13%
Bachmann 5%
Huntsman 3%

Fri - Talking Points Iowa Poll
Romney 24%
Santorum 17%
Paul 14%
Gingrich 13%
Bachmann 12%
Perry 10%

Romney Leads, Santorum Surges in New Iowa Poll

Rick Santorum speaks during a town hall meeting at the Fort Dodge GOP Headquarters in Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press)

Mitt Romney has claimed a narrow lead over Ron Paul in Iowa, according to a new CNN/Time poll. But it is Rick Santorum who may be showing the most momentum with just days left before the caucuses.

Much of the movement is driven by a collapse in support for Newt Gingrich. He led the previous CNN survey in Iowa with 33% support, well ahead of Romney at 20% and Paul at 17%.

The new results put Romney ahead of Paul 25% to 22%, with Santorum now at 16% -- a jump from just 5% earlier this month. Gingrich has slid 19 points to 14%, though he still leads Rick Perry (11%) and Michele Bachmann (9%).

Santorum has watched all year as a rotating cast of Republicans enjoyed nominal front-runner status, and the media attention that comes with it. His moment may be coming at the most opportune time.

The former Pennsylvania senator may be catching fire with the social conservative voters who also propelled Mike Huckabee to a surprise victory four years ago. Santorum has been lining up endorsements from prominent evangelical leaders, most notably former gubernatorial candidate and Huckabee backer Bob Vander Plaats.

According to the CNN/Time poll, 43% of likely caucusgoers say they can still change their mind.

Read the rest of this entry at The Los Angeles Times>>

Santorum Gaining in Iowa

From Fox News

With 45 percent of Iowa Republican voters undecided and a roller-coaster ride about to come to a screeching stop next Tuesday with the GOP caucuses, it may be Rick Santorum's turn to take the final ascent and surprise the political class by ... doing better than expected?

Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, has been touted as the sleeper candidate by none other than 2008 Iowa caucuses winner Mike Huckabee. He has relentlessly campaigned in the state, hitting all 99 counties and moving his family out there. He has held 350 campaign events in the past year.

He has received key endorsements from well-known social conservatives in the state, and has had solid performances at each of the debates. And he's running an old-school style campaign that Iowa voters expect in the retail-style politics of the Hawkeye State.