Rick Santorum Joins Republican 2016 Presidential Race

[Valin]

NY Times:

TRIP GABRIEL

MAY 27, 2015

 

CABOT, Pa. — Rick Santorum, who was the runner-up in the Republican primary race four years ago but has never been considered his party’s heir apparent, announced his second presidential bid on Wednesday.

 

A former senator from Pennsylvania, who with his wife home-schooled several of their seven children, Mr. Santorum appeals primarily to social conservatives. He is facing heavy competition for those voters this year from rivals like Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and the retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

 

Mr. Santorum, 57, was the surprise winner of the Iowa caucuses in 2012, thanks to evangelical Christian voters, and he went on to win 10 other states, dragging out Mitt Romney’s quest for the nomination. This time he hopes to catch a second wave with a strategy of broadening his message beyond social issues to an economic populism he calls “blue-collar conservatism.”

 

(Snip)

 

 

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Flub #1 His speech is not online.

[Casino67]

I agree with Lori:

 

Lori @loripalminteri · 4h 4 hours ago
In the last primary, we learned that #RickSantorum has zero charisma. Today, we learned that Rick Santorum had no idea he has zero charisma.

[Valin]

I agree with Lori:

 

Lori @loripalminteri · 4h 4 hours ago

In the last primary, we learned that #RickSantorum has zero charisma. Today, we learned that Rick Santorum had no idea he has zero charisma.

 

 

 

I have to say, I don't know why he's running. IMO he's got no shot.

[Valin]

Senator Rick Santorum On His 2016 Campaign

Friday, May 29, 2015 | posted by Hugh Hewitt

 

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum joined me to open today’s program and discuss his announcement this week:

 

Audio

 

(Snip)

 

HH: now I am curious about Iowa, because you won Iowa four years ago. Many people inside the Beltway are treating your campaign derisively, even though you won Iowa four years ago. And typically, that means you do well the next time in Iowa history. Why is the Beltway so dismissive of Rick Santorum?

 

RS: I don’t know. I mean, why don’t you ask the media, Hugh. I’m sure, you have your share of pundits on this show. Why don’t you ask them? I don’t know. I would say they were dismissive four years ago. I wasn’t featured in any of the early primaries. In fact, the early primary polls four years ago, my name wasn’t even on the list until, most of the time, until the fall. So I just, I can’t worry about that. I have a very strong message about how to get this country going again economically. We’re going to be proposing it in a couple of weeks. We’re working on the final details with our economists, a very simple fair flat tax that’s going to be very pro-growth but can also really stimulate the manufacturing sector of this economy in particular, and create all sorts of opportunities. You know, I’ve taken a very strong position to be pro-worker on everything from, as you know, immigration, the minimum wage. This is a campaign that’s really going to aim at the heart of America and where the problems are in our economy.

 

(Snip)