Politics & Government

Santorum Turns Focus Back on Social Issues

The former U.S. senator from Pa. is campaigning to be the Republican nominee for U.S. president in 2012.

By Lynn Campbell  |  IowaPolitics.com

After several days of Iowa getting a heavy dose of fiscal conservatives emphasizing the need for the next president to reduce the national debt, former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum last week turned the focus back to social issues.

During his 19th campaign visit to Iowa, Santorum released a new web ad criticizing former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who has announced that he is running for president, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for not signing the Susan B. Anthony List’s anti-abortion pledge.

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“Here you have a situation where you have two candidates, both of whom want to be the Republican nominee and neither of which are signing really sort of basic pledges,” Santorum told reporters at the Iowa Capitol. “These are not tough pledges. In this case, the Susan B. Anthony Pledge. It’s not a tough pledge. This is not getting into rape and incest. This is not getting into a personhood amendment to the Constitution. This is talking about fairly routine bills…that have broad support.”

The pledge calls on the presidential candidates to support judicial nominees who are against abortion, to select anti-abortion cabinet members, stop taxpayer funding of abortions, and support a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Five candidates have signed the pledge including Santorum, Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

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“To me, it shows that there are differences between the candidates here and those differences matter to voters,” Santorum said. “For so long, social conservative voters have elected Republicans to Washington, D.C., who have promised to be good social conservatives, then they sort of go there and forget about it. They tend not to highlight them. They tend to, when push comes to shove, concede ground on these issues.”

Santorum spoke with reporters before meeting with Iowa Senate Republicans in a private, closed-door caucus. During the past few months, the caucus has had several presidential candidates speak with them.

Iowa Sen. Merlin Bartz, R-Grafton, said he doesn’t believe that being socially conservative and fiscally conservative are mutually exclusive. He said there’s definitely a connection between economic freedoms and moral values.

“Certainly, I suspect that Senator Santorum is trying to differentiate himself from the other presidential candidates,” Bartz said of the focus on social issues. “I don’t think it necessarily says that a candidate should go after social issues only or economic issues only. I think they’re very inclusive in defining who the party is and defining the American electorate.”

Santorum said he sees himself as “a solid conservative across the board” on economics, fiscal, national security, moral and cultural issues. He said it’s important to talk about all the issues, but talking about the pro-life pledge was simply a way to call attention to one of the differences among the candidates.

Santorum, meanwhile, said he wasn’t discouraged by the entry of yet another candidate--Huntsman--in the race for the 2012 Republican nomination for president. Huntsman earlier announced that he won’t compete in Iowa.

“I think there’s a lot of people looking at this race and saying, ‘You know, if I can win the Republican primary, I can be president of the United States.’ I think that’s what it says,” Santorum said. “This president is weaker and weaker and weaker as the days go on.”

Romney is widely perceived as the national front-runner for the 2012 Republican nomination for president, although some political analysts and polls suggest the field still lacks a front-runner. Santorum said the addition of another candidate is more of a comment on those perceived to be leading the pack.

“I don’t think anyone’s looking at me and saying I’m ‘the guy.’ I’ve never run before. This is a first time for me. I think it’s more of a comment on the ‘front-runners’ than those of us out in the vineyards,” Santorum said. “This is my 19th trip to Iowa, my 20th trip last week to New Hampshire. I don’t think it’s a reflection on me at all. I think it shows that there is a concern whether the perceived front-runners are strong enough to carry this through.”

Bartz, who hasn’t decided on which candidate to support, said the growing field bodes well for the 2012 presidential election.

“I think it’s really interesting that in a national big-picture perspective, that there are so many Republican candidates that are wanting to get in and challenge President (Barack) Obama, because it’s always tough to take out an incumbent president, particularly an incumbent president who they say is going to have a billion dollars in his campaign fund,” Bartz said. “The fact that you have people stepping up to the plate, including Sen. Santorum, I think is a positive premonition that there’s going to be a competitive presidential race next year.”

Watch Santorum’s new ad here.


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