Santorum Surges to Front In Iowa

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Searching for a true conservative it appears that the Iowa caucasus will produce an unexpected result as Rick Santorum, a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania, has surged, maybe to the front of the polls, according to the widely respected Des Moines Register.  http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2011/12/dmr-verdict-santorumentum-109215.html Santorum’s consistently conservative message has been lightly reported by the mainstream (read liberal) press who has misread the public because of their own bias.  Mr. Santorum has been helped, not hurt, but dismissive and stories emerging from quarters disagreeing with his position through mockery.  http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2011/12/please-join-me-in-my-fcc-complaint-msnbc-cnn-fox-and-others-continue-to-use-the-word-santorum-at-all-hours-of-the-day/

Mr. Santorum’s conservative positions have been hiding in plain site.  He is a genuine social conservative, for instance, without Michelle Bachmann’s tendency for erratic statements. The grandson of a coal miner and Italian immigrant, with a record of winning blue-collar support in his home state, Santorum has a better claim to be the populist alternative to Romney’s establishment-powered campaign than either Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry (OK, NOW is the rightful time to mock my prior pronouncement that Rick Perry WILL be the next President).

At every stop on the Iowa trail, with an itinerary heavy on small towns, Santorum talks about his plan to revitalize manufacturing. He also reminds Iowans that the general election will be fought in places like Ohio and Michigan, and that he’s the candidate in the race with a record of winning over such voters.  “Has anybody in this race ever run as a conservative and won an area like the states we need to win?” Santorum said in Pella Saturday, adding of his opponents: “None of them have run as a conservative and had to get Democratic votes.”

Iowa operative Nick Ryan, a onetime Santorum adviser who now heads a super PAC supporting his campaign, said that he’d seen as early as 2009 that Santorum had the capacity to come across as a “principled, full-spectrum conservative that was eloquent when speaking about all three legs of conservatism.”

“Once he decided to run for president — he did it the Iowa way. Rick was not the flavor of the month, not the flash in the pan. He was the guy that was going to have to go out there and do the hard work,” Ryan said. “His retail politicking skill has gained immensely — and you see it in these final days leading up the caucus. He is calm, principled and driven. He is a solid conservative that people feel comfortable that they can rally around and trust.”

Kickoff today is going to be interesting . . ..


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