Santorum wants to be seduced
Former Sen. Rick Santorum has not yet endorsed Mitt Romney more than a week after he suspended his own campaign, seeking to leverage progress for conservative cause.
Santorum wants to be seduced
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer
Rick Santorum is not going to give it up easily. He’s looking for at least a little sweet talk and some kind of commitment first.
Eight days after suspending his own campaign for president, Santorum has yet to endorse the certain Republican nominee, Mitt Romney. It had seemed there was a perfect opportunity for a party unity event on Tuesday morning, when Romney visited a Pittsburgh suburb, but Santorum was not there.
Indeed, the former U.S. senator from Pittsburgh had told 4,000 supporters on a conference call just hours before that event that he was fine if they wanted to vote for him in next Tuesday’s Pennsylvania GOP primary, or in any upcoming contest, for that matter. He declined to endorse Romney and did not even mention him.
“As far as how you vote, that's up to you," Santorum said in response to question. “I haven’t supported any candidate at this point, so that's really up to you.”
Santorum did say he’d be “all in” on the GOP effort to defeat President Obama. He also allowed as how he’d be putting forward an organization to promote the conservative values he espoused during the nomination race. Of course any such PAC or foundation could easily serve as the proto-campaign for his next presidential run.
Why the delay in endorsing? For one thing, Santorum has a campaign debt of at least $900,000, and he is busy reaching out to supporters, through the conference call and email among other things, to donate money to retire the debt. He also apparently is intent on leveraging a role at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, such as influence on the party platform, and respect for conservatives in a Romney administration.
“They are going to just sit down and talk about a few things on the agenda. One of the things that will be discussed is a potential endorsement,” Santorum senior strategist John Brabender told Shushanna Walshe of ABC News on Wednesday. Brabender said the men would meet to talk within the next two to three weeks.
“The Senator takes his endorsement very seriously and he will want to get some assurance that some of the issues that are very important to him will be important in a Romney administration. That’s why I think they need to have a conversation,” Brabender said in the interview.
On the Monday conference call, Santorum was asked if he might ever “un-suspend” his campaign.
“I would just say…stay tuned, and we really are serious about making sure that the issues that we brought up during this campaign are continued going forward,” Santorum said. “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.”
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Pretty sure Romney could care less about getting Ricky's endorsement.— jimmymack- Ricky ain't giving up NOTHING without the benefit of a reach-around.— CiceroSpuriousDeodatus
- Santorum lost and the quicker he hops on his horse and rides into the sunset the better the chance that he'll be quickly forgotten. When he lost the Senate race he showed that the moderate to conservative voters of PA rejected his ultra right wing agenda. Had Santorum won the GOP nomination I would have easily voted for a president that I don't really think deserves to be re-elected.— fischman
- One has to wonder if the headline was written to invite vulgar comments from the sodomites. (It's also interesting that the homosexual radicals have gotten away with their hate speech play on the former Senator's name.)
Let's hope that Santorum has the courage to REFUSE to endorse RINO Romney.— Manny2011 - Despite what his opponents may continue to say, Santorum has a proven record of telling the truth no matter what. He is going to lead a movement to bring conservatives (Republicans, Democrats, and independents) to victory at all levels. He has the majority of conservatives support unlike Mitt Romney. He is the only candidate with a national security & foreign policy experiences. He helped the manufacturing companies in PA. He exposed the scandals in Congress. I hope PA would honor its own come April 24, 2012.— Penn2012
- Santorum has now won 11 primaries and Caucuses against all odds. He won for 4 consecutive terms in a 70% democratic district until 2006, the year in which a Republican brand was hated. If the ratio of registered Democrats to Republicans were 2:1, why blame him for something beyond his control in a bad year for his party? To be fair to both Santorum & Mitt Romney, how about Romney's loss to Ted Kennedy in 1994, the year which was very much favorable to Republicans? Romney left office at 30% ratings. He was the 48th popular governor in USA.— Penn2012
- Santorum still has my vote in NY! And, there are many more like me out there. He is the only true conservative on the ballot that's not willing to sell his soul for the right price. Our Constitutional rights are slowly being whited out and penned over by the current administration, and Romney won't be any better because we still don't know what's really going on in that mind of his. I will not let the media tell me who to vote for! Dare to Vote Rick Santorum in 2012!— MomforSantorum
- Unless voters are well informed and challenge a candidate to keep his/her promises made during a campaign, a candiadte can say anything and forget about it after an election. That is why a candiadte's character & integrity matters most. Whether you agree with him or not, we know where Santorum consitently stands on various issues. Having this standard, make an informed decision on April 24, 2012.— Penn2012
- Ron Paul is hosting a Rally on Independence Mall on Sunday 4/23 at 1pm. Why isn't this getting any press?
- Santorum is the single biggest liar out of all of them. Thank God he is gone . Too bad the people in Pa didn't get a chance to kick him to the curb again. He knew he was gonna lose big, so he quit instead. Good riddance to Cybergate Ricky.— IBINUBU
You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
