Santorum dips toes in 2012 Iowa waters

Politico ^ | 8/11/09 | Jon Martin

[pissant]

Add former Sen. Rick Santorum to the list of potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates.

POLITICO has learned Santorum will visit first-in-the-nation Iowa this fall for a series of appearances before the sort of conservative activists who dominate the state GOP’s key presidential caucuses.

The Pennsylvanian, who lost his 2006 re-election bid, will visit Iowa on October 1st, appearing on a Des Moines radio talk show and speaking to a luncheon and workshop of Iowa’s Right to Life group before heading east to Dubuque, where he’ll headline a fundraiser for the conservative America’s Future Fund PAC and then speak about the future of the GOP to a public audience in the Mississippi River city.

“Your voice becomes more amplified when you go to a place like Iowa or New Hampshire,” Santorum explained in an interview Tuesday about the visit.

Like other potential White House aspirants, he insisted it was too early to consider a presidential run. But he acknowledged that he was interested in taking a higher profile in the party.

[ellery]

There’s also bits of petty corruption such as his attempts to restrict the publication of National Weather Service data so that his buddies at AccuWeather could repackage and sell it at a markup.

Yep, and the debacle here in Western Pa. with Santorum's house. Santorum criticized others for getting elected and moving to DC. Then he got elected as Senator and moved to Virginia...but claimed that he, his wife and their six kids were still living primarily in a little three bedroom house in Pennsylvania.

Petty lies and corruption indeed, plus support of establishment candidates over principled ones -- IMO Santorum caught beltway fever just like most of our other "public servants."

[iowamark]

Thompson split votes in South Carolina so McCain could win.

What a steaming load! Fred Thompson did finish third in SC behind neo-liberals McCain and Huckabee but he certainly did not split votes with either of those two.

[Nextrush]

I watched National Right To Life annoint Bush early and trash McCain in 2000. They saw Bush as the “electable” man.

In 2008 the NRL strategy was not to annoint McCain because people had become wise to them and they didn’t want to admit McCain was their man after trashing him over Campaign Finance Reform.

So they came out for Fred Thompson helping conservative votes to be split in favor of the “electable” McCain.

Then some state affiliates in certain southern states endorsed Huckabee again as a means of splitting up votes in the primaries as Thompson’s campaign faltered.

The endgame was to split Huckabee and Romney support so McCain would win.

Now I suspect NRL’s game plan is Romney in 2012.

Santorum is being sent out to Iowa early to help create a conservative vote split away from Palin so Romney comes out ahead.

It is conceivable that NRL may endorse Santorum like they did Thompson as part of the scheme.

National Right To Life cannot openly endorse the flip flopping Willard M. Romney although they want him to win the nomination as the most “electable” candidate.

[Servant of the Cross]

Thanks for the information. I am aware of Bopp's allegiance to Romney, which is a cause for much concern. You've opened my eyes and placed doubt about behind the scenes politicking and motives of some executives at NRL. I have met and liked Santorum, but any allegiance to Romney bears watching. There seems to be an attempt to drive a wedge between Santorum and Palin which I don't believe actually exists.

On another note, your story about Palin's appearance at the Indiana RTL event would seem to implicate her as a part of the 'GOP establishment' in your mind. As you infer, it would be Bopp (from Indiana) who got her to do it. You also suggest it was to 'redeem' Steele (who I have little regard for). Are you also suggesting that Sarah wanted to help in this endeavor and is as much a patsy to the 'GOP establishment' as you suggest Santorum is?

[Nextrush]

Sarah Palin did it out of sincerity, but I believe she was used by the organizers to give Steele a platform to redeem himself after his Roe comments and Rush comments.