Posted on 03/09/2012 7:06:50 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Saying he'd look for a "strong and principled conservative" as a running mate should he win the Republican presidential nomination, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum tells Newsmax that he certainly would consider rival Newt Gingrich for that vital role.
When asked if he would consider the former House Speaker as number two on his ticket, Santorum said Gingrich had been "tested" by the bruising GOP race and that makes him an attractive vice presidential candidate.
Santorum tells Newsmax that his choice would be a core conservative who is willing to stand up and fight for the things that I believe in.
My principal and only criterion for vice president is to make sure that I have someone that I have confidence that if something should happen to me that they could carry on and do what I promised the people of America I would try to do, he said.
Gingrich would seem to fit the bill more than any of the other candidates. He and Santorum have been battling for the same voters on the right of the party as they try to defeat front-runner Mitt Romney.
Santorum said the GOP only has to look to history to see that conservative candidates do better in general elections that do moderates.
If we have another moderate Republican we are going to end up with the same situation we had four years ago, he said, referring to John McCains loss to Barack Obama. Well have the same situation we had with Bob Dole and the same situation we had with Gerry Ford.
You go back. If we nominate conservatives we win. If we nominate moderates we lose. We cant afford to lose this one.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Percentages in recent elections don’t prove that.
Are reports going back to 1976 through 2000 available? I found information that put Evangelicals voting for Gore in 2000 @ 42%, Clinton in 1996 @ 43%, Clinton/Perot in 1992 @ 34%/19%. Those numbers weren’t from a source as reputable as Pew.
Who was to the right of them? PEW puts the 2000 election as 68% Evangelical for Bush, 30% for Gore.
Here is how PEW breaks down the 2000 election.
Please don’t generalize about Catholics. There are Catholics and there are CINOs.
This is a political site, it is impossible to not discuss the Catholic vote, the female vote, the Southern vote, the black vote, the Mormon vote, etc.
Catholics don’t like Santorum, even in his senate reelection he only got 39% of their vote.
I just saw this.
Rick is lying through his teeth.
Santorum will not win the nomination and if by some miracle he did, he would be instructed by the Establishment to pick Marco Rubio.
RE: Rick is lying through his teeth.
He said he would CONSIDER. How could considering be a promise? And if he does not promise, how could it be a lie?
Allen West would be perfect!
It really is an INDICTMENT on the GOP when the best VP candidates conservatives would consider are those who are newbies in the political world — Allen West, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, etc.
Personally, the most consistent conservative for me has been the honorable Senator from South Carolina — Jim DeMint.
I would LOVE to see him as VP. The only problem is the VP does not produce any legislation (and is mostly there to break a tie ) and we need him in the Senate to write such common sense legislation that is good for the country as — THE SOUND MONEY ACT.
I would really want him to be President, the problem is, HE ISN’T RUNNING.
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