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Rick Santorum Taking the Lead

Matthew Knight, Staff Writer
March 9, 2012
Filed under News

Conservative Republican candidate Rick Santorum kept a low profile for the first few months of this presidential race, but the caucus results since this January tell a different story than we’d previously come to expect. In Iowa, Santorum and Mitt Romney were separated by only eight votes, the closest caucus in U.S. history. Though Romney went on to win in New Hampshire, Santorum won out in Nevada, where Romney had spent considerable time and money on his campaign. It’s too early to tell who will win the eventual nomination, but Rick has already won the hearts of many conservative Americans who want a change from the GOP establishment.

Santorum stands in stark contrast to his fellow presidential candidate Mitt Romney, an establishment Republican cut from the Bush and McCain cloth, and the moderate-by-comparison Newt Gingrich. A devout Roman Catholic, Santorum is extremely pro-life and supports traditional Christian values, focusing on these and other social issues over economic concerns. “We always need a Jesus candidate,” Santorum said in response to recent questions regarding his campaign efforts. “We need someone who believes in something more than themselves and not just the economy. When we say ‘God bless America,’ do we mean it or do we just say it?”

The Republican primaries have moved on to Washington this weekend, where Santorum and Romney will continue campaigning against one another for the GOP nomination. The Pacific Northwest is much more liberal than the south, and Washington is especially well-known for its Democratic stance on social justice issues. “They said we don’t talk about faith here,” Santorum joked at a Faith and Freedom Coalition two months ago in equally liberal New Hampshire. Whether Santorum’s ultraconservatism will win the state remains to be seen, but the eyes of the nation are upon him.

The candidate who wins the GOP nomination will be campaigning directly against Barack Obama, who hopes to be reelected this fall. The state of the economy is expected to be the major issue of the 2012 presidential race, as well as the war in Iran and tensions in the Middle East.