Rick Santorum presidential campaign, 2012
Encyclopedia
Former Senator Rick Santorum
of Pennsylvania
began a campaign for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for president of the United States
in April 2011. He had been preparing for a run since shortly after the 2008 presidential election
.
Santorum filed for an exploratory committee
with Federal Elections Commission, and announced the organization on the Fox News program On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren on April 13, 2011. He formally announced his run for the Republican presidential nomination on ABC's Good Morning America on Monday, June 6, 2011.
Santorum has been criticized for using a similar slogan to that of Massachusetts
Sen. John Kerry
in his Democratic
challenge to George W. Bush
in 2004
. Kerry used the catchphrase "Let's Make America America Again", inspired by the title of the poetry collection by Langston Hughes
, Let America be America Again
. Santorum's slogan is "Fighting to Make America America Again", also inspired by Hughes' poem. Some commentators pointed out the irony of the socially conservative Santorum using a slogan from Langston Hughes, who is widely believed to have been gay.
Early into the campaign, Santorum changed his catchphrase from "Fighting to make America America Again" to "The Courage to Fight for America".
poll from March to July, everybody else who’s even in the race or a prospective in the race their name identification increase except me. And so you just sort of wonder why is the national media not talking about me when they’re talking about people like Jon Huntsman
who are way below me in the national polls yet he gets press every single day. Nobody seems to want to pay any attention to me."
He suffered from poor fund-raising and weak ground operations, and the viability of his campaign was in doubt during the Ames Poll. Santorum finished fourth in the Iowa Straw Poll on August 13, 2011, with 9.8% of the vote. The finish was seen as a surprising and successful one; he finished just behind Tim Pawlenty
, who had significantly more money. Santorum focused on an off-the-beaten-path strategy, going to dozens of small towns generally ignored by the other candidates. Although he was considered a "joke" candidate and panned as unelectable in some quarters, his solid consistency with his fellow pro-life
Catholic
s kept him in the race.
Santorum was one of the few non-Mormon candidates to directly take on the accusations of Mormonism being a cult.
During the presidential debate held August 11, 2011, in Ames
, Iowa
, Santorum stated that the Iranian regime "tramples the rights of gays", suggesting that he opposes bias against gays as part of his general support for past U.S.-backed intervention in domestic Iranian politics.
During the presidential debate held September 21, 2011, in Orlando, Florida
, a gay soldier deployed in Iraq asked the candidates if they would "circumvent" the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell
" if elected president. Santorum, who answered the question, called the repeal of DADT "social experimentation" and "tragic." He said: "any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military....And the fact that they're making a point to include it as a provision within the military that we are going to recognize a group of people and give them a special privilege to – and removing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' I think tries to inject social policy into the military. And the military's job is to do one thing, and that is to defend our country."
. He has established a solid ground operation in Iowa and has visited the state the most of any of the candidates, having visited all 99 counties in the state at least once.
Santorum's candidacy has been compared to that of Mike Huckabee, who surprisingly won Iowa despite similarly poor performance in the polls. Several Republican strategists in Iowa have described Santorum as a "natural fit" for 2008 Huckabee supporters in Iowa. The Washington Times
reported in November 2011 that conservatives have gone on a "carousel" of supporting different candidates against Mitt Romney
, from Michele Bachmann
to Rick Perry
to Herman Cain
to Newt Gingrich
. As such, Santorum would be next on the "carousel".
Rick Santorum
Richard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and a former United States Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference -making him the third-ranking Senate Republican from 2001 until his leave in 2007. Santorum is considered both a social...
of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
began a campaign for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for president of the United States
Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2012
The 2012 Republican presidential primaries are the selection processes in which voters of the Republican Party will choose their nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 presidential election. The primary contest began with a fairly wide field, and is the first presidential primary...
in April 2011. He had been preparing for a run since shortly after the 2008 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
.
Background and campaign announcement
Although he was frequently mentioned as a possible candidate, Santorum stopped short of a full-fledged candidacy before the beginning of 2011. Prior to that, he had indicated that he was merely considering running for president.Santorum filed for an exploratory committee
Exploratory Committee
In the election politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to United States Presidential hopefuls, prior to the primaries.Exploratory...
with Federal Elections Commission, and announced the organization on the Fox News program On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren on April 13, 2011. He formally announced his run for the Republican presidential nomination on ABC's Good Morning America on Monday, June 6, 2011.
Santorum has been criticized for using a similar slogan to that of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
Sen. John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
in his Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
challenge to George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
in 2004
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
. Kerry used the catchphrase "Let's Make America America Again", inspired by the title of the poetry collection by Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
, Let America be America Again
Let America be America again
"Let America Be America Again" is a poem written in 1935 by Langston Hughes. It was originally published in the July 1936 issue of Esquire Magazine. It was later republished in the 1937 issue of Kansas Magazine and was revised and included in a small collection of Langston Hughes poems titled A New...
. Santorum's slogan is "Fighting to Make America America Again", also inspired by Hughes' poem. Some commentators pointed out the irony of the socially conservative Santorum using a slogan from Langston Hughes, who is widely believed to have been gay.
Early into the campaign, Santorum changed his catchphrase from "Fighting to make America America Again" to "The Courage to Fight for America".
Campaign developments
In an August 2011 interview with the The Des Moines Register’s editorial board, Santorum said “I’m the only person in this race by measuring the GallupGallup
Gallup can refer to:*Gallup, New Mexico*Gallup, South Dakota *George Gallup, American pollster*Elizabeth Wells Gallup, American educator and scholar...
poll from March to July, everybody else who’s even in the race or a prospective in the race their name identification increase except me. And so you just sort of wonder why is the national media not talking about me when they’re talking about people like Jon Huntsman
Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Jon Meade Huntsman, Jr. is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 16th Governor of Utah. He also served in the administrations of four United States presidents and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.Huntsman worked as a White House staff assistant for...
who are way below me in the national polls yet he gets press every single day. Nobody seems to want to pay any attention to me."
He suffered from poor fund-raising and weak ground operations, and the viability of his campaign was in doubt during the Ames Poll. Santorum finished fourth in the Iowa Straw Poll on August 13, 2011, with 9.8% of the vote. The finish was seen as a surprising and successful one; he finished just behind Tim Pawlenty
Tim Pawlenty presidential campaign, 2012
Former Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota began a movement for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for President of the United States shortly after the 2010 midterm elections....
, who had significantly more money. Santorum focused on an off-the-beaten-path strategy, going to dozens of small towns generally ignored by the other candidates. Although he was considered a "joke" candidate and panned as unelectable in some quarters, his solid consistency with his fellow pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
s kept him in the race.
Santorum was one of the few non-Mormon candidates to directly take on the accusations of Mormonism being a cult.
During the presidential debate held August 11, 2011, in Ames
Ames
Ames was an American chain of discount stores based in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, USA. The company was founded in 1958 with a store in Southbridge, Massachusetts, and at its peak operated 700 stores in 20 states, including the Northeast, Upper South, Midwest and the District of Columbia, making it...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, Santorum stated that the Iranian regime "tramples the rights of gays", suggesting that he opposes bias against gays as part of his general support for past U.S.-backed intervention in domestic Iranian politics.
During the presidential debate held September 21, 2011, in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, a gay soldier deployed in Iraq asked the candidates if they would "circumvent" the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Don't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while...
" if elected president. Santorum, who answered the question, called the repeal of DADT "social experimentation" and "tragic." He said: "any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military....And the fact that they're making a point to include it as a provision within the military that we are going to recognize a group of people and give them a special privilege to – and removing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' I think tries to inject social policy into the military. And the military's job is to do one thing, and that is to defend our country."
Focus on Iowa
Santorum has focused much of his efforts on the socially conservative early caucus state of IowaIowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. He has established a solid ground operation in Iowa and has visited the state the most of any of the candidates, having visited all 99 counties in the state at least once.
Santorum's candidacy has been compared to that of Mike Huckabee, who surprisingly won Iowa despite similarly poor performance in the polls. Several Republican strategists in Iowa have described Santorum as a "natural fit" for 2008 Huckabee supporters in Iowa. The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
reported in November 2011 that conservatives have gone on a "carousel" of supporting different candidates against Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2012
The Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign began informally shortly after the 2008 presidential election. Having campaigned for the Republican nomination in 2008, the former Governor of Massachusetts was frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for U.S....
, from Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann presidential campaign, 2012
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota began a campaign for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for president of the United States in June 2011. Bachmann announced she was running for president during the CNN Republican primary debate held June 13, 2011, and made her formal announcement two...
to Rick Perry
Rick Perry presidential campaign, 2012
Rick Perry, the four-term Governor of Texas, announced via a spokesman on August 11, 2011, that he will be running for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for president of the United States...
to Herman Cain
Herman Cain presidential campaign, 2012
Businessman, radio host, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and former United States Senate candidate Herman Cain of Georgia began a campaign for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for President of the United States shortly after the 2010 midterm elections.Although he was...
to Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich presidential campaign, 2012
Former U.S. Congressman and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia began preparing for a possible campaign for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for President of the United States shortly following the 2010 midterm elections. He was politically active during the midterm elections, and...
. As such, Santorum would be next on the "carousel".
Endorsements
- National Federation of Republican AssembliesNational Federation of Republican AssembliesThe National Federation of Republican Assemblies is a grassroots political organization which promotes conservative principles and candidates within the Republican Party...
- New HampshireNew HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
Rep. Jason Antosz - New Hampshire Rep. Lenette Peterson
- New Hampshire Rep. Matt Swank
- New Hampshire Rep. Jeanine Notter
- New Hampshire Rep. Wes Shuler
- South CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
Rep. Deborah Long
External links
- Rick Santorum official campaign site
- Column archives at Townhall.comTownhall.comTownhall.com is a web-based publication primarily dedicated to conservative United States politics. It was previously operated by the Heritage Foundation, but is now owned and operated by Salem Communications...