Rick Santorum enters the presidential race
Will run the ‘working family’ campaign
Former Senator Rick Santorum formally launched his presidential bid in Pennsylvania this afternoon.
Making his announcement to a sizable crowd of enthusiastic supporters, Santorum made a tall order. “I’ll offer a bold vision for America, the one that’s clear and conservative, that has plans for reform and that has a proven track record.”
His multi-faceted platform included “scrapping the corrupt federal tax code and the IRS that goes with it.” In exchange for the current tax code, Santorum proposed implementing a flat tax. Reviving industry, shrinking government, reducing spending, and revoking every executive order and regulation that “cost American jobs” were also priorities outlined by Pennsylvania’s former Senator.
“From day one, we will work to bring back America and put Americans back to work,” Santorum promised. In a populist appeal, Santorum lumped Hillary Clinton and Big Business into one category claiming, “their priority is profits and power, my priority is you, the American worker.”
“It’s time we have a president who sees the struggle of working families in America not as an opportunity to divide us along race or class, but as a chance to unite us,” Santorum said, referring to American families as “the first economy.”
While Santorum will be one of many in a tightly packed Republican primary, he has one presidential run under his belt. Managing to come in second place in the 2012 primary and winning a total of eleven states, does he have what it takes to draw that kind of attention in the 2016 field?
Real Clear Politics has Santorum polling 10th in the prospective GOP primary field. Unlike some of those polling ahead of him, Santorum has the advantage of presidential campaign experience and name recognition. Republican voters have seen him on the national stage, know he’s ardently pro-life, watched the former Senator debate the likes of Gingrich and Ron Paul, and either love or hate his preferred uniform, the sweater vest.
Even though Santorum hasn’t held an elected office in several years, he brings with him a deep resume of Republican experience. Fox News recounts:
Santorum claims his experience could pay dividends the second time around. Most of the GOP’s recent presidential nominees, Mitt Romney and President Ronald Reagan among them, needed more than one campaign to find success in the nomination race.
“This is a long process,” Santorum told reporters recently. “One of the things that I feel very comfortable with — I’ve been through this process before.” He said it’s a “completely wide open race.”
Santorum served in the Senate from 1995 to 2007.
He began his political career in 1990 as a long-shot candidate for a House seat. In that race, he knocked seven-term Democratic incumbent Doug Walgren out of office. Santorum would go on to become part of the “Gang of Seven” in Congress made up of a new breed of GOP lawmakers. The group, which included now-House Speaker John Boehner, made headlines by going after House Democrats as well as focusing on the House banking scandal.
Santorum won election to the U.S. Senate in 1994. He was 36.
Six years later, he won re-election to a second term and would go on to chair the Senate Republican Conference — the third highest-ranking party leadership position in the Senate.
Santorum is the first “Rick” to enter the race. Former Governor of Texas Rick Perry is scheduled to announce his candidacy June 4.
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Comments
Please make it stop. Can wecplease, stop these fringe candidates from entering? All this does is prevent viable candidates from getting the media exposure they need to be successful and we end up with some tired old establishment retread that no one will vote for (Jeb).
A man who won 10 or 11 primaries is hardly “fringe.”
But I agree, the field is too crowded.
“…does he have what it takes to draw that kind of attention in the 2016 field?”
Nooooopa. Not for my money. I consider him in the same clump as Hucksterbeee. A BIG GOVERNMENT populist making “conservative” noises, some of which are great. I just don’t believe him.
He’s totally different than Huckabee. Maybe looks the same, insofar as both are Christian, but that’s where the similarity ends for me.
Santorum is a good man and a so-so candidate. But he’s a Big Government guy, which is the last thing we need – now or ever. He’s also too much of a Dudley-Do-Right with that deer-in the-headlights thing going on. Hillary and the media will obliterate him and he will pull his punches just like McPain and Romney did. He’s weak. He will not go for the jugular because he doesn’t have the killer instinct needed to beat the ‘rats.
I like the man, but I’d like for him to go away with regard to the next presidential election. If he was really smart, he’d gather his supporters and get behind a solid candidate that he has a good relationship with. Then he might be considered for a cabinet position of head of an important agency if a ‘pub wins in ’16.
He is running the “I have no chance of winning” campaign. Personally I think this is planned by the establishment so that they can drop out of the race later and throw their backing behind Jeb. Which means we will have Madame President’e Clinton.
It’s not planned by the establishment. It’s an open seat and we have a deep bench. However, the establishment will be happy to take advantage of the situation. Jeb will need all the help he can get; he’s Mr. Flubbermouth.
Right now Jeb isn’t faring very well and, while he’ll have little comebacks here and there, I really don’t think he’s going to pull it out.
Although it’s not my choice, I see Rubio emerging as FL’s gift to the melee, not Jeb. It may come down to Walker v. Rubio. My guys are Perry and Walker, but I don’t think Perry has the backing he needs to pull it off and, although much improved, his presentation isn’t great. He’s a doer. not a talker, and will be left behind in the crush of candidates.
The number of candidates is getting out of control and we are beginning to look silly. It’s time to get down to it. I hope to see the field narrow to six by January, four by March, and three by June.
Pro-life. Human rights throughout human evolution. How refreshing.
As for his other proposals, repealing rationing (e.g. Obamacare), displacement (e.g. migratory), replacement (e.g. immigration), outsourcing (e.g. inequitable trade agreements), redistributive (e.g. welfare), and, of course, abortion (i.e. sacrificial rites) policies is novel and welcome.
The fringe candidates support pro-choice or selective policies, including: sacrificial rites (i.e. elective abortion or “planning”), selective exclusion (e.g. narrow trans equivalence), and generally DRRAT (Displacement, Replacement, [over-]Regulation (e.g. environmentalism), Abortion, and Tax policies in lieu of civil rights, conservation, human rights, and local economic development.
Because of policies that promote converged migration and immigration (e.g. high-density population centers), population reduction (e.g. abortion), environmentalism (e.g. irrational restrictions, outsourcing pressure), and circumstantial exceptions (e.g. “Acts of God”), limited redistribution and subsidies are unavoidable, but should be limited to mitigate progressive corruption of individuals, government, and society.
Honestly, not sure I understood your whole post…. You kind of lost me, after “refreshing.”
Well, you keep working on it. Sooner or later, the light will go on for you. And if it never does, then you can be assured that you are one of life’s losers.
Suck it up, buttercup.
Name recognition isn’t always an advantage.
He’s been out of office for almost a decade, and hasn’t been burnishing his resume in that time.
In this, he’s a lot like Jeb Bush.
Sorry Rick… Scott Walker has a similar message along with a plethora of other considerations so do yourself a favor, your time has come and gone and my advice is for you to fade to the background gracefully…
《Crickets》
Harold Stassen ran nine times for President; Santorum is just a piker.
No.
Just … no.
I would love it if Mr. Sanctimony was caught in bed with Huckabee.
That is really uncalled for. He’s a good honest man, and deserves respect, regardless of whether he has your support.
Rude crude and we’re not in the mood.
Boehnerism.
Who is financing this fool? Hillary?
Santorum is not a fool. He’s a very fine man with a lot to offer Americans, but winning the oval office isn’t on his tray. He’s too much into the social conservative agenda, which does NOT include smaller, less intrusive government and he does not have governance on his bona fides. There are a number of other reasons why he cannot win either the primary or the general, but I won’t go into them for lack of time.
But please don’t denigrate him. There’s no need to fire on somebody that far away in the running. We shoot at each other enough. Save it for Jeb. He deserves it; Santorum does not.
“The Working Family”? Candidates always talk a good game. I’m not being critical of Mr. Santorum specifically here. Yet anyone who is elected to the Senate, House, Presidency inherits a national debt and such and when they leave office, whether it is 2 years later, 4, 8, or 35 years later, the national debt is higher than it was, the government is bigger, more intrusive, and more expensive than ever. We hear that the cronies have gotten this $billion in this subsidy or that subsidy from a grant from the DOE or the DoEd or the DOJ or the DOD. Heck, even the Clinton Mafia Foundation got $$ grants from the USG.
Why is the government giving this money out in the form of grants? When will this stop, will any candidate ever anywhere, especially for president, try and turn these spigots off? No one even tries to expose them either. It is just the elite putting money in each others pockets, taxpayer money too.
He shepherded welfare reform through Congress in the 90s. Don’t blame him.
I’m so sick and damn tired of proselytizing candidates of whatever stripe, religious or statist:D 😀 Looks like I’ll have to write-in Snoopy again. 😉
No, I think we’ll have a good candidate next year. Jeb should self-destruct. Rubio is a problem. A pretty boy beneficiary of our desire to pander to the pigment-judging types, who unfortunately speaks very well, but stabs you with the dagger as soon as he gets elected.
But other than those two, there are some really good candidates out there.
The Dems sure want Rubio to be the one.
That should tell you all you need to know.
I’m all ears 😀 😀 Who would be that “really good candidate?”
By the way, I listened to many of his speeches and most of the debates the last time. He didn’t proselytize on religion; Stephanopoulos kept bringing up those infantile questions. Yes, the Clinton “journalist.” Don’t blame Santorum or anyone else, that the GOP doesn’t understand Infomercial Marketing 101: Don’t hire a host that hates your product!!!!!!!
He did mention several times what ALL the candidates mention: to avoid poverty, the data tell you: graduate from high school, get married before having children, have children. Or something to that effect. They ALL – including Rand Paul — mention things like this.
The only reason Santorum finished second was because all the other candidates with any sense dropped out of the race making Santorum the de facto anti-Romney candidate. Meanwhile Romney had to spend way too much time debating that obnoxious suit who is more fit to be a Renaissance era Pope than president.
Poor deluded soul actually thinks he has a national base. Doesn’t realize he was just one of the last not-Romneys standing.
Santorum is no doubt a good man, a family man, with traditional American values. We are blessed with several such candidates, so this alone does not separate Santorum from the pack. He hasn’t held office for many many years. I do not know what he does for a living. I only hear about Santorum when we’re within a year or two of the next presidential cycle. He appeals to the right, particularly the religious right, on most issues, but has a bit of that big government virus, which puts many off. The GOP has already told the conservative right essentially: “Kiss of and shut up – who else you gonna vote for?” so Santorum’s would-be GOP right base, such as it is, has been marginalized by its own party. His only pathway is through leadership of a marginalized section of his party. He, like other GOP conservative candidates, is running against the Dems, of course, but also against his own party, the GOP, who will do their best to take him out should he gain any traction in the GOP primary season.
What has changed since Santorum last ran and failed? How is he now different or better? Have the 2016-specific issues changed in such a manner than Santorum is now ‘the guy’? Rhetorical questions here, but Santorum will need to answer them – and convince voters with those answers.
I don’t see Santorum as the guy to lead the GOP right wing, overpower the RINO GOP leadership with his popularity, win the GOP nomination, and then the presidency. With a bench populated by Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, Carly Fiorina, etc., I don’t see Santorum getting in the game, let alone winning.
I think he is trying to shift the Overton Window to the Right for this part of the campaign.
All you folks gnashing your teeth about Santorum should be grateful the headline didn’t read “John Boehner Announces His Candidacy for President”.
If that happens, gnash away, or gnash at Jeb, but Santorum doesn’t deserve this angst.