'Stop Romney' Christian conservatives give nod to Santorum ahead of S.C. balloting

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS ^ | 1/14/2012 | WILLIAM DOUGLAS AND ADAM BEAM

[TBBT]

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- With the South Carolina Republican presidential primary a week away, former Sen. Rick Santorum on Saturday received the endorsement of 150 influential Christian conservative leaders who are hoping to prevent former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney from becoming the GOP nominee.

The group, suspicious that Romney's commitment to social conservative causes such as ending legalized abortion is weak, met at a ranch outside of Houston, Texas, in hopes of rallying around one candidate rather than split their votes among three - Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

The endorsement came as the Republican presidential field converged on scenic Charleston, S.C., for a televised town hall meeting for undecided voters hosted by Rep. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said in a telephone news conference after the meeting that the conservatives had begun their deliberations with "not a lot of hope that we could reach consensus around one candidate."

But in the end "there emerged a strong consensus around Rick Santorum," Perkins said, after three rounds of balloting.

Santorum, a staunch anti-abortion social conservative, was considered a long-shot candidate before surprising many by losing to Romney in Iowa caucuses Jan. 3 by only eight votes.

Support fluctuated between Santorum and Gingrich, Perkins said, before more than two-thirds voted for the former Pennsylvania senator. In the end, Santorum received 85 votes out of 114 - a smaller total because Perkins said some participants had left to catch flights.

[fortheDeclaration]

Yes, you are not going to vote for the handpicked candidate as the ‘lesser of the two evils’, I can agree with that.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”Newt didn't start with the attacks, he was the one who wanted to stay positive.
Obama is always calling for higher taxes on the rich. “

Well he should have attacked Romney much earlier, just not use leftist principles that help support Obama’s politics of envy positions.

[sickoflibs]

RE :"People can change their minds as well."

Yep, Romney keeps saying he changed his. I dont believe him either.
Believing anyones 'election campaign conversions' is being very gullable.

[fortheDeclaration]

Once again, we aren’t left with many options are we?

[fortheDeclaration]

Newt was trying to adhere to the 11th commandment, don't attack fellow Republicans.

And attacking crony capitalism is not supporting Obama's politics, it is supporting TRUE Capitalism, the kind that Adam Smith wrote about AGAINST Mercantilism

[sickoflibs]

RE :"Newt was trying to adhere to the 11th commandment, don't attack fellow Republicans."

You can see how long that principle lasted with him, as long as it benefited him. That's Newt!

I just caught a few minutes of A Sharpton playing a clip of Newt and himself in front of a black audience in 2009. Naturally rather than say black kids need to take any available job like he did in front of Republicans, Newt told them that is OUR responsibility to make sure their kids get an education.

It all depends on his situation with Newt, just like Romney.