Posted on 01/14/2012 11:17:25 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
In an effort to avoid a repeat of 2008, when social conservatives failed to rally behind a single Republican presidential candidate, a group of more than 100 religious leaders who gathered in Texas this week reached a consensus to support former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, said the decision was reached after three rounds of balloting, with Santorum winning 85 votes in the final round, to Newt Gingrich’s 29. Texas Gov. Rick Perry had strong support at the beginning of the process, but was eliminated after the first round of balloting, Perkins said.
“The focus here was on people putting aside their preferences, putting aside the candidate they had signed up with, trying to reach a consensus,” Perkins said.
“Rick Santorum has consistently articulated the issues that are of concern to conservatives, both the economic and the social, and has woven those into a very solid platform,” Perkins said. “And he has a record of stability…He’s reliable.”
Three major issues guided the group: Repeal of the healthcare law that was passed in 2010, the national debt and government spending, and social conservative values.
“There were passionate speeches made on behalf of the various candidates, but there was this underlying desire to come to a consensus,” Perkins told reporters on a conference call after the event.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Well, they’re going to find out. I think they had to but didn’t want that question answered.
That’s why the caveats, we’re not dissing Romney and we’re not asking the other candidates to drop out.
We’re just pinning the tail on Santorum.
I guess the bitter Newtie nitwits will equally dismiss every conservative who endorses Santorum over their “golden boy”.
Former Perry S.C. Supporter Switches Endorsement to Santorum (South Carolina GOP leader)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2833047/posts
Rick’s numbers are dropping in South Carolina, which is a state that has far more bearing on who our nominee is than Iowa or New Hampshire. Iowa has always been iffy and New Hampshire was Romney’s from the start.
If Willard takes SC and FL, we may as well concede the nomination to him. If you think the drive-by media’s Romney lovefest is suffocating, just wait ‘till you see how they blanket the airwaves with flowery portrayals of their golden boy after he takes the “deciding” states.
You know what? Rick Santorum is the better conservative. There, I said it. Look at the Iowa results thread and see how excited I was to see him doing so well. The problem is that he’s failed to capitalize on his victory. He’s too timid and comes across as somewhat bland.
If he was the frontrunner, I’d be supporting him instead. I’d be glad to dump Newt for someone who really cares about America’s moral decline.
Isn’t South Carolina another “open” primary state? I expect the JACKASSES to cross-over vote for Romney & Paul as they have done in New Hampshire and Iowa.
That’s correct, which is why it’s all the more important for conservatives to rally around a single candidate.
Which is why I think Newt should drop out after floundering with his ad “mistake”.
“ROBERT STACY MCCAIN”
Is that you RasterMaster?
What A Big Government Conservative Looks Like
NEA
Voted for taxpayer funding of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Voted against a 10% cut in the budget for National Endowment for the Arts.
Bankruptcy
Voted for a Schumer amendment to make the debts of pro-life demonstrators not dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Defense and Foreign Policy
Voted for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
Voted against requiring the President to certify that the CWC is effectively verifiable.
Voted against requiring the President to certify that that Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, North Korea, China, and all other countries determined to be state sponsors of terror have joined CWC prior to submitting the instrument of ratification.
Voted for the START II Treaty.
Voted to allow the sale of supercomputers to China.
Voted to ban anti-personnel landmines.
Voted against increasing defense spending offset by equivalent cuts in non-defense spending.
Voted to require that Federal bureaucrats get the same pay raises as uniformed military.
Voted to allow food and medicine sales to state sponsors of terror and tyrannical regimes such as Libya and Cuba.
Voted to limit the President’s authority to impose sanctions on nations for reasons of national security unless the sanctions were approved by a multilateral regime.
Voted against requiring Congressional authorization for military action in Bosnia.
Voted to give $25 million in foreign aid to North Korea.
Voted to weaken alien terrorist deportation provisions. If the Court determines that the evidence must be withheld for national security reasons, the Justice Department must still provide a summary of the evidence sufficient for the alien terrorist to mount a defense against deportation.
Voted against delaying the India Nuclear until the President certified that India had agreed to suspend military-to-military exchanges with Iran.
Voted against the Conventional Trident Missile Program.
Nominations
Voted for Richard Paez to the 9th Curcuit (cloture).
Voted for Sonia Sotomayor, Circuit Judge.
Voted for Richard Holbrooke to be Ambassador to the UN.
Voted for Margaret Morrow to be District Judge.
Voted twice for Marsha Berzon to the 9thg Circuit.
Voted for Mary McLaughlin to be District Judge.
Voted for Tim Dyk to be District Judge.
Voted for James Brady to be District Judge.
Labor
Voted against National Right to Work Act.
Voted against repeal of Davis-Bacon Prevailing union wages.
Voted for Alexis Herman to be Secretary of Labor.
Voted for mandatory Federal child care funding.
Voted for Trade Adjustment Assistance.
Voted for Job Corps funding.
Voted twice in support of Fedex Unionization.
Voted against allowing a waiver of Davis-Bacon in emergency situations.
Voted for minimum wage increases six times here here here here here and here.
Voted to require a union representative on an IRS oversight board.
Voted to exempt IRS union representatives from criminal ethics laws.
Voted against creating independent Board of Governors to investigate IRS abuses.
Guns
Voted to require pawn shops to do background checks on people who pawn a gun.
Voted twice to make it illegal to sell a gun without a secure storage or safety device.
Voted for a Federal ban on possession of “assault weapons” by those under 18.
Voted for Federal funding for anti-gun education programs in schools.
Voted for anti-gun juvenile justice bill.
Reform
Voted for funding for the legal services corporation.
Voted twice for a Congressional pay raise.
Voted to impose a uniform Federal mandate on states to force them to allow convicted rapists, arsonists, drug kingpins, and all other ex-convicts to vote in Federal elections.
Voted for the Specter “backup plan” to allow campaign finance reform to survive if portions of the bill were found unconstitutional.
Voted to mandate discounted broadcast times for politicians.
Voted for a McCain amendment to require state and local campaign committees to report all campaign contributions to the FEC and to require all campaign contributions to be reported to the FEC within 24 hours within 90 days of an election.
Immigration
Voted against increasing the number of immigration investigators.
Voted to allow illegal immigrants to receive the earned income credit before becoming citizens.
Voted to give SSI benefits to legal aliens.
Voted to give welfare benefits to naturalized citizens without regard to the earnings of their sponsors.
Voted against hiring an additional 1,000 border partrol agents, paid for by reductions in state grants.
Taxes
Voted against a flat tax.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for Medicare prescription drugs.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to fund health insurance subsidies for small businesses.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for an $8 billion increase in child healh insurance.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for an increase in NIH funding.
Voted twice for internet taxes.
Voted to allow gas tax revenues to be used to subsidize Amtrak.
Voted to strike marriage penalty tax relief and instead provide fines on tobacco companies.
Voted against repealing the Clinton 4.3 cent gas tax increase.
Voted to increase taxes by $2.3 billion to pay for an Amtrak trust fund.
Voted to allow welfare to a minor who had a child out of wedlock and who resided with an adult who was on welfare within the previous two years.
Voted to increase taxes by $9.4 billion to pay for a $9.4 billion increase in student loans.
Voted to say that AMT patch is more important than capital gains and dividend relief.
Welfare
Voted against food stamp reform.
Voted against Medicaid reform.
Voted against TANF reform.
Voted to increase the Social Services Block Grant from $1 billion to $2 billion.
Voted to increase the FHA loan from $170,000 to $197,000. Also opposed increasing GNMA guaranty from 6 basis points to 12.
Voted for $2 billion for low income heating assistance.
Waste
Sponsored an amendment to increase Amtrak funds by $550 million.
Voted to use HUD funds for the Joslyn Art Museum (NE), the Stand Up for Animals project (RI) and the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Project (WA).
Voted to increase spending on social programs by $7 billion.
Voted to increase NIH funding by $1.6 billion.
Voted to increase NIHnding by $700 million.
Voted to for a $2 million earmark to renovate the Vulcan Monument (AL).
Voted for a $1 billion bailout for the steel industry.
Voted against requiring that highway earmarks would come out of a state’s highway allocation.
Voted to allow Market Access Program funds to go to foreign companies.
Voted to allow OPIC to increase its administrative costs by 50%.
Voted against transferring $20 million from AmeriCorps to veterans.
Voted for the $140 billion asbestos compensation bill.
Voted against requiring a uniform medical criteria to ensure asbestos claims were legitimate.
Voted to increase community development programs by $2 billion.
Spending and Entitlements
Voted to make Medicare part B premium subsidies a new entitlement.
Voted against paying off the debt ($5.6 trillion at the time) within 30 years.
Voted to give $18 billion to the IMF.
Voted to raid Social Security instead of using surpluses to pay down the debt.
Health Care
Voted to allow states to impose health care mandates that are stricter than proposed new Federal mandates, but not weaker.
Voted twice for Federal mental health parity mandates in health insurance.
Voted against allowing consumers the option to purchase a plan outside the parity mandate.
Education
Voted to increase Federal funding for teacher testing.
Voted to increase spending for the Department of Education by $3.1 billion.
Voted against requiring courts to consider the impact of IDEA awards on a local school district.
Energy
Voted to allow the President to designate certain sites as interim nuclear waste storage sites in the event that he determines that Yucca Mountain is not a suitable site for a permanent waste repository. Those sites are as follows: the nuclear waste site in Hanford, Washington; the Savannah River Site in South Carolina; Barnwell County, South Carolina; and the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee.
Voted to make fuel price gouging a Federal crime.
That’s unfair. I have never attacked you or called you names.
I’m just saying that Santorum has NOT been properly vetted.
Before we all get on his band wagon, we need to know what his voting record is.
This is just some of the worst of it:
RICK SANTORUM
VOTED AGAINST INCREASING THE NUMBER OF IMMIGRATION INVESTIGATORS
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00201
VOTED TO ALLOW ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO RECEIVE THE EARNED INCOME CREDIT BEFORE BECOMING CITIZENS
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00154
VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
SANTORUM: TRIM SOCIAL SECURITY NOW- EVEN IF PAINFUL.http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7O34Bpp42k-IlMMNiOLBkYF2zNw?docId=b1cff9ecefe24ca6ae1764a09761e361
VOTED TO GIVE WELFARE BENEFITS TO NATURALIZED CITIZENS without regard to to the earnings of their sponsors
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=104&session=1&vote=00427
VOTED AGAINST HIRING AN ADDITIONAL 1,000 BORDER PATROL AGENTS, paid for by reductions in state grants.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00179
VOTED AGAINST FOOD STAMP REFORM
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00353
VOTED AGAINST MEDICAID REFORM
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00352
VOTED TO INCREASE THE SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT FROM $1 BILLION to $2 BILLION
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00302
VOTED TO RAID SOCIAL SECURITY instead of using surpluses to pay down the debt.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=2&vote=00056
VOTED TO IMPOSE A UNIFORM FEDERAL MANDATE ON STATES TO FORCE THEM TO ALLOW CONVICTED RAPISTS, ARSONISTS, DRUG KINGPINS AND ALL OTHER EX-CONVICTS TO VOTE IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00031
It’s going to be Romney or Newt or by a slim chance, Santorum.
VOTED AGAINST INCREASING THE NUMBER OF IMMIGRATION INVESTIGATORS?
VOTED TO GIVE WELFARE BENEFITS TO NATURALIZED CITIZENS?
VOTED AGAINST HIRING AN ADDITIONAL 1,000 BORDER PATROL AGENTS?
VOTED AGAINST FOOD STAMP REFORM?
VOTED AGAINST MEDICAID REFORM?
People NEED to know this about Santorum’s voting record.
As I said, Newt is NOT my first choice, and I can’t say I like him that much.
I just feel it will take a man of Newt’s bravery, (yes, bravery. Newt’s right. The others are too timid to debate Obama) intellect, experience and debating skills to bring the Marxist/Muslim down.
Have you forgotten his smack-downs of his RINO opponents and the Obama butt-licking interviewers?
All agree he’s the most intelligent, experienced and the most skilled at debating- even the Obama loving Media.
Obama is going to have a billion dollars in this campaign fund, the commie MSM in his back pocket, he’ll use the same same voter fraud methods, and illegal overseas contributiions as he did in ‘08.
Do you think the rats are going to let the commie coup they pulled off slip through their finger?
The fight is going to be the hardest fought and the dirtiest in U.S history.
We have GOT to have a STRONG man with the experience, intellect and debating skills to go up against Obama- or America is doomed.
.
Let’s go ahead and examine your logic here.
You say Rick Santorum fell flat on his face because he got 9.3% of the vote, so you’re switching to someone who got the same percent of the vote despite having spent millions on TV ads.
Looks like they picked Santorum because he’s had one wife for 30 years and talks about abortion every other sentence.
NO, the real reason they picked Santorum is because he’s about 20 points higher than Perry in national polling. No other reason. Perry is every bit the social conservative that Santorum is.
I do wonder though why these religious “leaders” want to support a man that has no shot at stopping the liberal Romney. Newt is the one that can stop Romney and it’s about damn time someone tells Santorum that he will be the reason the liberal Romney gets the GOP nomination. He needs to get the hell out and get out now.
Good point...why should we expect most church goers to listen to the preachers about politics when most of them do not listen to them about moral issues...just look at the culture around you...
What we really need is a return to God...then we can really start to change things for the better. Without that we are still going to have a country in decline no matter who ends up in the White House.
I can see advantages to both of those tickets but would lean towards Santorum-Gingrich.
Considering that Newt has had to deal with an onslaught of attacks from Romney’s smear machine, I’d say he’s going pretty well for himself.
Iowa and New Hampshire are over. South Carolina has become the bellwether for who’s going to get the GOP nomination, so that’s where our focus needs to be. I’m supporting Newt because, in every poll I’ve seen, he’s closer to beating Romney than Santorum.
For as much as people around here bristle at the notion of nominating Willard Romney the open socialist, it’s difficult to understand why they would play right into the establishment’s plans by refusing to rally around a single candidate. John McCain II is on the verge of clinching momentum and everybody is arguing over ideological differences as if we still have weeks or months to find our “best” candidate.
We’re out of time. We have to take what we can get or we’ll end up with the socialist. If it’s Newt who has the most support, vote for him. If it’s Santorum, vote for him. Why is this so controversial?
Yet your willing to jump in line with a candidate who’s background and record consist of compromising with the ‘Rats and signing onto their agenda??? That’s a fools logic. We’ve already got one bull$hit artist in the White House now...we don’t need another one.
Newtie is another McLame clone....selling us out if the price is right.
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