Posted on 04/16/2012 10:39:08 PM PDT by svxdave
Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Monday sounded no closer to endorsing Mitt Romney than when he dropped out of the race last week, telling supporters on a conference call that he hasn’t even had a chance to speak to his onetime rival.
Santorum said he has talked with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. “I haven't had a chance yet to talk to Governor Romney, but we'll be talking to both of them and we’re going to go out and do what we believe is in the best interest of our country,” Santorum said in the call, which had at least 4,000 participants at its peak, according to host and Santorum aide Mark Rodgers.
To crystallize the point that he isn’t going to make an endorsement in the immediate future, Santorum told his supporters that it was entirely up to them whom to vote for in next week’s Pennsylvania primary. “I haven’t supported any candidate at this point,” he said.
When Rodgers, acting as the call's host, asked him in jest whether he would un-suspend his campaign if enough people voted for him in Pennsylvania, Santorum offered little in the way of advice.
“I would just say this: The best thing that they can do is stay tuned, and we really are serious about making sure that the issues that we brought up during this campaign are continued going forward,” he said.
Throughout the call, the former senator from Pennsylvania alluded to having plans to build a conservative movement outside of the framework of the presidential election in order to make sure his message is still heard. He said he was working through ideas for a “structure to promote these ideas” and promised an announcement in the next week or two. As for delegates, those may not be released even if he does back another GOP candidate.
“We still have delegates, many of them committed, and we want to make sure that our delegates get a chance to go to the convention and have a say,” Santorum said.
Reflecting once again on the reasons he exited the race, Santorum tried to downplay the importance of his financial troubles -- a “very, very small piece of the story,” he said -- but suggested for the first time that his campaign had actively, and unsuccessfully, tried to convince other candidates to drop out and support him.
“We sought to get a coalition of the rest of the conservatives in the race to join in, the other candidates who were still in the race; we solicited them to see whether they might be willing to join our team and help us be successful in a coalition of conservatives,” Santorum said. It was almost certainly a reference to Gingrich, the other candidate considered to be a more conservative alternative to Romney.
Santorum’s comments come amid warnings from the likes of Iowa conservative leader Bob Vander Plaats, who recently told the Sioux City Journal that the base of the Republican Party may stay home on Election Day.
But that doesn’t seem to worry Santorum. In the meantime, he’s been spending time with his family. He was joined on the call by his wife, Karen, and his three-year-old daughter Bella -- who was hospitalized shortly before he dropped out -- could be heard in the background as she ate dinner. And like so many Americans, Santorum said he spent the weekend finishing his taxes.
I will not take the time to list all of the reasons and examples as to why, it would serve no purpose, but here is just one very telling moment about the pretender. The constitution and the rule of law should be important to real conservatives.
THIS, a conservative does not make.
http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/25/santorum-zimmerman-has-a-very-sick-mind-motive-a-malicious-one/
GO NEWT....all the way to Tampa.
THIS, a conservative does not make.
http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/25/santorum-zimmerman-has-a-very-sick-mind-motive-a-malicious-one/
the interesting thing about that, and I didn't know when Santorum made his illustrious comments, is that having a depraved or vicious mind is part of the description for 2nd degree murder. In other words, rick knew what he was saying, by specifically using that word "mind" - I never heard anyone else use it, and today, several legal eagles talking about the charge, used that phrase regarding "mind"set.
GO NEWT....all the way to Tampa. Music to My Ears!!
He is still on the ballots, if he endorses anyone that is the same as saying don't waste your vote on me and I think he is curious how many delegates the work he has done til now will get him from now on—maybe setting things up for 2016 when he may have to primary Mitt out of the White House during his reelection campaign.
Clever—he doesn't owe Newt nor Romney anything cuz both spent millions running despicably mendacious and disingenuous ads against him.
Go Rick!
Romney will pay off Santorum’s campaign debt in exchange for his endorsement.
Newt sits on a couch with Pelosi. Newt believes in global warming. Newt has been an adulterer. Newt broke his marriage vows. Newt supported an individual mandate. Newt supported cap and trade. Newt said he would have voted for TARP.
Some conservative.
Maybe you’re not a conservative, based on Newt’s track record and your criticism of Santorum. Maybe you are a raving liberal.
-———Newt has been an adulterer.-——
Citation please.
Santorum didn’t mind endorsing Spectre.
The heck with Santorum, he was a loser from start to finish.
His campaign only hurt America by splitting the vote and letting Romney sneak in the back door.
Now what have we got? A nothing running against Obama.
Romney will pay off Santorum’s campaign debt in exchange for his endorsement.
__________________________________________________________
What? With 30 pieces of silver and then try to justify his actions by building a conservative coalition?
History reminds us that you can’t have it both ways. The lives of the innocent are counting on him.
Choose wisely Mr. Santorum, this is not the time to take one for the team.
We still have Newt who is pro-life and against the homosexual agenda in this race.
Pray for America!
Well, you can’t blame us for for suspecting the Santormites fell for something like that.
As much as we all love the state, if republican quakerstaters keep falling for “leaders” like Spector and some others, the rest of the country might get the idea they’ll fall for anything.
Votes are breaking away from Newt?
There hasn’t been a primary since Santorum dropped out.
It’s one thing to be a noob, but to be a noob AND stupid is really no way to go through life.
“Which minor cabinet post or ambassadorship is he negotiating for in exchange for his delegates and endorsement?”
Not only is that kind of harsh, it’s counterproductive. I think this is the time for conservatives to reach out to Santorum and offer him something ourselves, instead of tearing at him. That is just how the game of politics is played.
Here is what Santorum actually said:
“We sought to get a coalition of the rest of the conservatives in the race to join in, the other candidates who were still in the race; we solicited them to see whether they might be willing to join our team and help us be successful in a coalition of conservatives,” Santorum said.
Then, Rebecca Kaplan chimes in with her two-cents worth, trying to change the meaning of what was said, by opining “It was almost certainly a reference to Gingrich, the other candidate considered to be a more conservative alternative to Romney.”
As Sarah Palin has expressed, ALL the other-than-Romney delegates and supporters need to unite, and Romney could be stopped. I think you know what I mean, although this is a dangerous idea to put forward on this forum.
LOL. Yeah right. I see you are so proud of where you are from, you won’t even set up a profile page. Generally, it is very telling not doing so.
“Santorum could endorse Newt but he won’t.”
What in the world do you base that on? I used to think that, but things have changed. Before this is all over, I bet Santorum WILL endorse Newt.
The campaign “suspension”, not immediately endorsing Romney, and the contents of this article give me hope Santorum will stay within the conservative movement at least through the convention.
Bookmarking your post in my Santorum folder. Good job!
I think Rick is brilliant.
I think Rick is brilliant.
Absolutely, the votes are breaking away from Newt. Feel free to call me stupid, doesn’t change the reality of the situation.
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