Campfield dumps Gingrich for Santorum

Knoxville News Sentinel ^ | March 3, 2012 | Tom Humphrey

[Elvina]

State Sen. Stacey Campfield, co-chairman of Newt Gingrich’s campaign in Tennessee, announced today he is quitting that position to support Rick Santorum in the Republican presidential race.

The Knoxville Republican made his announcement in a post on his blog. In an interview, Campfield said he believes that conservatives need to unite behind a single candidate and that Santorum is best positioned to defeat “establishment Republican” candidate Mitt Romney.

Campfield’s decision comes after a conversation with Santorum earlier this week.

In his blog post, Campfield said he was “twisted inside because of my loyalty to Newt, my loyalty must first lie with my country and getting a country with a conservative leader must take precedence to my own personal whims of fancy.

[Utmost Certainty]

Here's some more relevant factual ammo for you guys on Ricky "SOPA" Santorum, the collectivist big government nanny-statist:

"This whole idea of personal autonomy, well I don’t think most conservatives hold that point of view. Some do. They have this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do, government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulations low, that we shouldn’t get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn’t get involved in cultural issues. You know, people should do whatever they want. Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world and I think most conservatives understand that individuals can’t go it alone." [source]

"What was my vision? I came to the uncomfortable realization that conservatives were not only reluctant to spend government dollars on the poor, they hadn’t even thought much about what might work better. I often describe my conservative colleagues during this time as simply ‘cheap liberals.’ My own economically modest personal background and my faith had taught me to care for those who are less fortunate, but I too had not yet given much thought to the proper role of government in this mission." –Rick Santorum, p. IX It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good (2005)

"I suspect some will dismiss my ideas as just an extended version of ‘compassionate conservatism.’ Some will reject what I have said as a kind of ‘Big Government Conservatism.’ Some will say that what I’ve tried to argue isn’t conservatism at all. But I believe what I’ve been presenting is the genuine conservatism our Founders envisioned. One that fosters the opportunity for all Americans to live as we are called to live, in selfless families that contribute to the general welfare, the common good." –Rick Santorum, p. 421 It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good (2005)

"If you're a conservative, there really is only one place to go right now. I would even argue farther than that. If you're a Republican, if you're a Republican in the broadest sense, there is only one place to go right now and that's Mitt Romney." –Rick Santorum, 02/1/2008 [source]

Check out his brochure, 50 Things You Didn't Know About Rick Santorum, where he proudly defends food stamps, increasing minimum wage, stem cell harvesting, college tuition subsidies, bloated school funding, working with Bono to fight world poverty, etc.

Also see his disturbing voting record for more doozies.

[true believer forever]

Oh, please. Santorum and Kennedy actively intervened to push the sale to Catholic University. It was a sweetheart deal. And, of course, you do what all Santorum supporters do, pull out the name calling — “ant-catholic”. What is wrong with you people?

FYI, I was educated by nuns, have an Aunt who is a nun, and I am not anti-catholic. You are demeaning and absurd.

[houeto]

Why, if Gingrich is ascending, did his Tennessee Co-Chair, and several other prominent supporters, choose to announce NOW that they were switching to Santorum?

Damn good question! There is money and or power behind it. I'd go to the bank on that.

It $eem$ to me that televi$ion ha$ de$troyed thi$ nation.

BTW, who's on first on American Idol?

[houeto]

(and I’ve had a ton of frowns).

Same here FRiend.

Glad you liked it.

[GracieOMalley]

Your spam post (if it comes from the Newt campaign) is just another booby prize from the bag of dirty tricks.

I found the operative sentence that shows there may be more than a bit of anti-Catholic bias:

“Marci A. Hamilton....Benjamin A Cardozo School of Law...at YESHIVA UNIVERSITY...”

Yeshiva University, a Jewish institution, would hardly approve the cause of a Catholic University’s expansion

Yes, there is bias.

[GracieOMalley]

Don’t diss my work, ‘Kay?

(What are you—12 years old?)

[true believer forever]

You may have just sighted the North Star for all us weary travelers... I plan to steal this very much, and if you say No, I’ll just do it any way... lightning in a bottle. thank you... oh thank you. And you know, newt has said good things about West... and vice versa.

[freedomfiter2]

Newt is the churchill we need to chew him up and spit him out

Maybe Newt should start chewing on Obama for practice. The more he attacks Santorum while ignoring Mitt and Obama, the less I think he’s fit to be President.

[Girlene]

Bingo.

[Girlene]

Regarding his evolving on LIFE?

No, I think it was purely political, when he started out, and then once elected, he came back to the Church.

Well, I don't. I take the man at his word. Looking at the way he lives his life, it should be obvious he walks the walk.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I have no opinion on what you posted, because it was a very long off-topic post to a thread, and I had already seen it in three other places, and I didn’t read it because it’s all funny fonts and clearly a manufactured piece, and I’m here at FR because we write our own text messages and read them.

I’m sure some people like that processed stuff.

And i have no idea why you are asking me to justify something I didn’t say, or explain something that I didn’t mention.

Why don’t you answer a question about the actual thread — why do YOU think a guy that Newt Gingrich thought was good enough to make a co-chair of his Tennessee campaign now has abandoned Newt, when it looks like Newt is making a comeback?

What is your theory on the actual topic of the thread?

[Girlene]

Regarding his evolving on LIFE?

No, I think it was purely political, when he started out, and then once elected, he came back to the Church.

Well, I don't. I take the man at his word. Looking at the way he lives his life, it should be obvious he walks the walk.

[darrellmaurina]

93 posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 6:02:36 PM by Utmost Certainty: “The hypocrisy of the Santorumites never ceases to amuse. Back when Newt was leading Romney by a significant margin, with Santorum visibly splitting the conservative vote, you guys defended that there was no justification for Santorum to drop out and that he should press on regardless of the electoral consequences. Oh, but now that Romney is wiping the floor with Santorum, you insist that Newt should drop out. Lol. If this thing had whittled down to a 2-man race between Romney and Newt back in late January, we probably wouldn't be in this mess right now.”

Hold it.

Steelfish speaks for himself and he has every right to do so, but he doesn't speak for Santorum or all Santorum supporters. I, for one, do not believe either Santorum or Gingrich should drop out now.

Here's why.

I read the polls on people's second choices back when Gingrich was ahead, and they showed pretty clearly that if Santorum pulled out, a number of Santorum voters would go to Romney, and the same was true for a number of Gingrich voters. Let's look at the situation after Super Tuesday, and then look **VERY** carefully at the polling data. We don't want to see the pullout by one candidate have the unintended effect of boosting Romney.

The simple facts are that Gingrich and Santorum appeal to different but overlapping parts of the Republican Party.

We've seen right here on Free Republic that there's some pretty serious Christian bashing going on, stuff that's as bad as what I saw in the 1980s when Christian conservatives were just beginning to have strong influence in the Republican Party. There are people in the conservative movement who passionately hate the issues that are closest to Santorum's heart, and they're taking out that anger on Santorum.

Likewise, there are many people in the Christian conservative movement who will have major problems voting for Gingrich because of his personal background. I don't like that, and I have personally made a number of arguments advocating the idea that evangelical Christians can cast a vote for Gingrich in good conscience, but the main thing I've gotten for my work is getting blasted by too many fellow evangelicals as a compromiser who doesn't vote my conscience. That's laughable to those who know me and know how much I personally sacrificed when I threw away years of work for mainstream moderate Republicans after my conversion, but it is a reality we have to face on our side of the religious divide in the GOP.

The problem is that we need the votes from **BOTH** groups of conservatives to defeat Romney, and we need all of them plus moderate Republicans and socially or economically conservative Democrats and independents to defeat President Obama this fall.

I realize nearly all Freepers who support Gingrich won't vote for Romney, and if Gingrich dropped out today a lot of people backing him would reluctantly vote for Santorum to stop Romney. (BTW, voters today in Washington, and voters in Super Tuesday states where Gingrich has no chance, should be voting for Santorum to stop Romney, just as I would vote for Gingrich to stop Romney if the tables were reversed.)

While most Freepers won't vote for Romney under any circumstances in the primary, the polls show that there are secular conservatives out there who, if confronted with the choice between a moderate Mormon who has waffled on social issues and a right-wing Roman Catholic whose convictions are hard-right on religious matters, will vote for Romney out of a belief that he's less dangerous to their personal freedoms.

For now, keeping both candidates in the race and having each focus on states where they have the greatest chance is best. Romney is the short-term enemy, and Obama is the one we need to defeat this fall. Neither Gingrich nor Santorum are the enemy, and we need to remember that.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Other than sit on the sidelines and make snide nasty comments about others promoting theirs?

If your spam did nothing but "promote" Newt Gingrich, I'd probably abstain from mentioning it. But that is a disingenous description of your spam post, and in fact sells your efforts short, because it's a first-class snide, snarky, nasty attack on Rick Santorum that you have put together there.

Which would be fine as its' own post, or in a thread where we were discussing the topics mentioned in your spam....

But has nothing to do with the topic of this guy quitting the Gingrich campaign.

[Girlene]

Yeah and he campaigned for PRO ABORTION, ANTI Traditional MARRIAGE Romney in '08. We see how he 'thinks'.

WELL, OKAY...THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT!

[darrellmaurina]

Steefish wrote: “Well said. Some of us stood up and cheered when Gingrich won S. Carolina. That was then, this is now.”

Thank you for your compliments, Steelfish... while I disagree with you on calling for a Gingrich pullout, I do appreciate your note.

To all: I know politics is a blood sport, but the blood on the floor does not need to be that of fellow conservatives. Let's keep our political targets in mind — first Romney, then Obama, not ourselves.

[kindred]

I pray the Lord Jesus to have mercy on Americans sins piled up to the heavens and not punish and chastise us for our offenses against Him but rather help us and overcome the great satanic forces arrayed against us.
Obama will have one of the worst parts of hell for all the evil he has done to America after raising his evil hand to God and swearing the oath to keep and defend our US Constitution from all enemies, by foreign and domestic.
All liars shall have their part in the lake of fire and Obama is a monster.

[true believer forever]

it's a first-class snide, snarky, nasty attack on Rick Santorum that you have put together there.

It is nothing of the sort. It is footnoted, contains Santorum's amendment, down to the committee transcripts, and amendment language. It is filled with nothing but facts, facts, facts. and that is what you can't handle about it. All the facts. You still haven't answered my question. And the reason you can't answer my question says something about you at a very deep level. You and I have gone round and round before. I thought maybe black and white facts would penetrate the fog of self-righteousness you live in... I can see it hasn't. But, happily, some people are impacted - and changed - by facts.

[American Constitutionalist]

Storming William Tecumseh Sherman Tornado.

[American Constitutionalist]

Yeah and General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Southern forces at Appomattox..