Anyone but McCain, Santorum Says
By: Carrie Budoff
March 1, 2007 10:39 PM EST
Former Sen. Rick Santorum (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Former Sen. Rick Santorum has drawn at least one conclusion about the Republican presidential primary field: Anybody but John McCain.
The Pennsylvania Republican, who signed a contract Thursday as a Fox News contributor, said that he has spoken with every GOP candidate except the senator from Arizona but that it’s still too early for him to endorse.
“The only one I wouldn’t support is McCain,” Santorum said during an interview in his office at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, where he is a senior fellow.
“I don’t agree with him on hardly any issues,’’ Santorum said. “I don’t think he has the temperament and leadership ability to move the country in the right direction.”
Responding, McCain spokesman Danny Diaz said McCain was a “well-known and respected conservative.”
Santorum lost his Senate seat last fall in a landslide to Democrat Bob Casey but remains a prominent voice in the conservative movement – a voting bloc in search of a presidential candidate.
Santorum’s critical appraisal of McCain contradicts a seemingly cordial relationship, at least in the last year. McCain had headlined a fundraiser for Santorum, and they co-authored an ethics overhaul proposal.
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Over the years, however, Santorum said they have clashed on campaign finance reform, environmental policy, tax cuts, immigration and other issues.
Santorum suggested that McCain also wasn’t as solidly anti-abortion as he would like. “He may be pro-life, but I served with him for 12 years, and I know how pro-life he is,” Santorum said.
Diaz said McCain favors overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion, and has picked up support from other conservative senators.
“He has been a lonely voice for fiscal discipline in the nation’s capital,” Diaz said, “and has fought to protect life and build a strong defense.”
Santorum has spent the last two months building a new life outside of Congress, where he served for 16 years in the House and Senate.
He will begin appearing soon on Fox News shows. He also is writing a book and producing a documentary on a theme he began pressing in the final months of his campaign: the threat of radical Islam on the nation’s security.
He said he’s weighing an offer from The Philadelphia Inquirer to write an op-ed column,and will start his own communications consulting business – but do no lobbying.
“That’s not me,” Santorum said.
Besides, he added, “I want to keep my political options open.”
Good post, and timely. I miss Santorum’s voice in the political arena.