-
Laying Down My Pen
May 24, 2013 | 0 comments
-
Laying Down My Pen
May 23, 2013 | 70 comments
-
Despite the WaPost, Benghazi Is a Major Scandal
May 21, 2013 | 46 comments
-
Putting Heritage in DeMint Condition
May 10, 2013 | 57 comments
-
Military Might, Out of the Wilderness
May 8, 2013 | 115 comments
Streetcar Line
Exclusive: Santorum Hears Patriot Voices
Pennsylvanian announces new mission today.
(Page 2 of 2)
As for how he sees things going now, he pronounced himself “optimistic”: “I think that what Governor Romney is doing is articulating a pretty strong, principled-conservative message, and I am encouraged that he will continue to do that. I hope he will be encouraged, from what happened in Wisconsin this week, to be bold.”
Finally, Santorum spent a little time looking back at the remarkable past year that began with him utterly discounted by the purveyors of conventional wisdom, only to see him rise to within a few thousand Ohio voters of becoming an even-money favorite for the Republican nomination.
“I am thinking of writing a book,” he said. “It would be a reflection, a sort of thank-you letter to our friends and supporters, and a little inspirational. I mean I feel really good about what happened and where America is and what our potential is. On the campaign trail, it was almost spiritual; I got a real sense of God’s providence in this country. It was an amazing journey. The American people are wonderful. I can’t tell you the number of people who say the same thing: ‘I don’t agree with you, but I really appreciate the campaign you ran, I appreciate that you made me think.’ I heard it over and over; people really care…. This is the heart and soul of America; this is our watch; this is our job to maintain it. It was good stuff.”
Santorum didn’t say it, but I will: Mitt Romney still needs to find a way to connect emotionally with this American heart and soul. Polling cross-tabs continue to show that while Mitt Romney enjoys the support of large percentages of Evangelical voters and of pluralities of manufacturing workers, that support is tepid rather than enthusiastic. Romney needs them not just to say they prefer him, but to get out and vote for him and, more importantly, to volunteer for him, make phone calls for him, encourage their neighbors to vote for him, and even drive neighbors to the polls.
Mitt Romney can’t pretend to be Rick Santorum. But he can learn something from Santorum’s empathy — empathy, not sympathy — with (not “for” but “with”) the middle-American strivers who provided millions of votes for Santorum this year.
Meanwhile, if Patriot Voices helps rally those middle Americans into civic participation this fall, in a conservative direction, the entire country could look like Wisconsin writ large: active, enthused, dedicated to our republic. After all, as Santorum said, “This is our watch; this is our job to maintain it.”
About the Author
Quin Hillyer is a senior editor of The American Spectator and a senior fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom. Follow him on Twitter @QuinHillyer.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (45) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Quin Hillyer
More Articles From Streetcar Line
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/06/08/exclusive-santorum-hears-patri
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
H/T to National Review Online
ADVERTISEMENT
Appleby| 6.8.12 @ 7:10AM
In other words, he's adding more talk to the cacophony of people who are willing to talk all day long and do nothing substantial about anything.
Rah.
Dai Alanye | 6.8.12 @ 10:27AM
Appleby misses the mark here. Santorum has always been willing to back talk with action, to a far greater extent than most politicians. He is laying out the moral justification for rational policies, and it strikes me that he's right on target.
Al Adab| 6.8.12 @ 11:23AM
I do not know what if any other contributions or actions Appleby takes, but he sure talks (posts) a lot, as do I. However any time we can back up talk with action we should. Santorum and others put much on the line. We need to support every Conservative voice we can find. Read Charles Murray: Coming Apart, to understand what we are up against.
CJW| 6.8.12 @ 2:14PM
Al Adab
Santorum is an intelligent committed pro-life conservative whose views will help the conservative movement, and to keep the pressure on President Romney to stick to a conservative agenda. Appleby is a Canadian whiner who votes for third parties instead of Republicans thus helping to elect Dems, and therefore irrelevant.
Have a pleasant weekend.
"W"
Appleby| 6.8.12 @ 3:28PM
I'm not in fact a Canadian; I'm an American. And some people here are incensed that I vote my convictions, not those of My Betters...and I do not support Mitt Romney and will not vote for him. (That's the meaning of the snotty comment about "third parties" ... this character apparently believes that one should be forced to vote for the party of HIS choice.)
CJW| 6.8.12 @ 5:10PM
You live in Toronto, which is in Canada. Your'e the genius that bragged she voted for some third party clown when it was Carter v. Ford. We got Carter who gave us the Dept of Energy and Dept of Education. And again, you too good to vote for Romney, so you might as well vote for Obama.
My point is, since you missed it, that I do not care who you vote for but given you pattern of voting for third parties and helping Dems win, then your opinions are irrlevant, even if well written.
Al Adab| 6.8.12 @ 5:41PM
Have a great weekend W and thanks for the heads up.
Appleby| 6.8.12 @ 7:08PM
Living in Canada does not make me Canadian, any more than the kittens born in the garage are Lamborghinis.
I have voted Libertarian ONCE in my life, and he calls this a "pattern"?
For your information, I voted for Nixon. Twice. There, does that make you feel better?
CJW| 6.8.12 @ 9:34PM
If it makes you feel better, I also have driven a Lamborghini and the air felt the same as a Chevy.
What about all the other elections after Nixon, and the big one coming up i 2012? It is not about making me feel better, it is about saving the USA.
RadicalRighty| 6.9.12 @ 2:55PM
So, living in Canada makes you an American?? CJW is right - if you help any Dem get (re)elected, you are irrevelant.
Brooksifier | 6.8.12 @ 2:59PM
"We believe in a strong national defense including a missile defense system, which give us the ability to defend ourselves and our allies."
'Missile defense' (ABM) in Poland would be an offense against the Russians, and the Russians know that-- they're no fools when it comes to foreign policy.
Dai Alanye | 6.8.12 @ 3:18PM
Brooksifier is apparently operating under the theory that self-defense is improper for free nations. He/she also lacks knowledge of semantics, since 'defense' doesn't mean the same thing as 'offense.'
Brooksifier | 6.8.12 @ 3:28PM
There is no self-defense, only offense-- international law does not exist. The ABM in Poland would be undermine Russia and to spy on them. The Russians wont let you get away with it.
Warrior| 6.8.12 @ 3:48PM
How does an ABM system spy on a country? So by your statement, the Russians will not let us get away with spying on them? I guess we don't let them get away with spying on us either. Not well thought out on your part.
Brooksifier | 6.8.12 @ 4:06PM
"One of the major difficulties from the Russian perspective was that the associated radar installation, which was to be based in the Czech Republic, would have been able to collect information about all movements in Russian airspace up to the Urals mountains, which is the whole of European Russia."
CJW| 6.8.12 @ 9:36PM
Clint, is this you with a cut and paste job? You gave yourself away calling Romney "Mittens."
Warrior| 6.8.12 @ 11:10PM
Enjoy the Russian perspective. You want everyone to believe that there is no radar other systems currently in place that do this same thing?
TLP| 6.9.12 @ 7:16AM
They're called - Satellites.
Perhaps, if the Drunks with no Sperm Counts, weren't going so Balls to the Wall, to get the Iranians a Nuke?
We wouldn't need one of these site.
Von Mises Jr| 6.8.12 @ 7:24AM
Santorum: "A big chunk of those were lower and middle income workers who don't think anybody is looking out for them." What?
It is about time something is said very clearly. It is NOT Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, Paul Krugman or any of these ignorant and pompous elites that make this country work. They only get in the way most of the time.
Joe the Plumber did not create the Subprime meltdown. It was Carter, Clinton, Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelick, Robert Rubin and triggered as a political September Surprie by Chucky Cheese Schumer with the IndyMac scare. Bob Villa didn't nationalize the banks and turn it into a money tree for the Treasury with banks borrowing at .002 and buying T-Bills with 2-3% yields. That be Ben "the Bank" Bernanke from Princeton.
The average hard working person does not necessarily have the time to read Locke, Tocqueville, Hayek or Milton Friedman; but they know how to create wealth and understand that all the aforementioned liberal intellectuals only know how to destroy wealth.
So let's make one thing very clear: it is free market capitalism and the work of everyday hard working Americans that made this country great, not FDR, LBJ, BJ Clinton or ObamMao.
wareagle| 6.8.12 @ 10:23AM
if you further distill the Santorum comment, you run into a malicious truth: he, just as much as liberal, sees govt as the salvation of certain groups of people. In his case, it's lower- and middle-income workers. How about, instead, he champion govt getting out of folks' way, doing something toward facing the debt, reducing regulation, etc etc.
Santorum and his so-con allies are merely statists of a different stripe. While they do not seek to undermine the country as does Obama, they similarly seek to use govt power to extend their influence, to promote their version of "correct" behavior.
Look at Ricky's career: what wealth he has is the sole result of having cashed in on govt insider status. That he became the darling of the hard right was more a function of default than his own attractiveness. All the other would-be anointed standard-bearers of conservatism were found lacking. No one paid him any attention till there was no one else left.
Von Mises Jr| 6.8.12 @ 10:33AM
Santorum also advanced a platform of zero taxes for manufacturing companies. But true conservatives do not believe in preferential policies, handouts or bailouts for any sector. This is how we get farm subsidies and a tax code that is like a maze.
Al Adab| 6.8.12 @ 11:26AM
Corporate taxes, Estate taxes, capital gain taxes and the like are all counter productive to what we should be doing. It is not a matter of better manageing the administrative, social-welfare state but one of reining it in and decreasing its size. That has ben the Conservative call- although not the GOP call- since the inception of the Movement.
wareagle| 6.8.12 @ 11:32AM
if conservatives are about reining in the welfare state, then Ricky from PA should be discounted from further discussion about anything. The man voted for every govt-expanding excess of the Bush era. He is also the reason the contraception "question" came up in the debates. I submit Ricky is not a conservative so much as he is a Repub, an establishment Repub not much different from the others who, in cahoots with lifer Dems, have contributed to our current scenario.
Al Adab| 6.8.12 @ 3:39PM
wareagle:
As in your other posts you define the difference between republicans and Conservatives. Many Conservatives, when elected, find themselves coopted by republicans in order to be included in the process. Not every hill is the one to die on, but this year first, the Obama defeat is essential and second, the replacement must commit to Conservative governance not simply to better management of the (illegitimate) administrative, social-welfare state. I fear Romney is not such a one.
Quartermaster| 6.8.12 @ 7:29PM
Romney will be going against his history if he becomes such Al. All I see when I look at him is a RINO Libtard.
Dai Alanye | 6.8.12 @ 3:30PM
When it comes to practical conservative policies Santorum was the best of the bunch running, which is why he outlasted the other serious candidates. Though his legislative record wasn't perfect from a conservative viewpoint, it was among the very best of Republican senators. His proposal to cut corporate taxes by 50% and manufacturing taxes by 100% was the next best thing to no corporate taxes.
Had it not been for the narcissism of Newt Gingrich we could well have had him as our candidate instead of Mitt Middle-roader.
In other words, wareagle is largely yodeling through his chapeau.
Oldefarte| 6.8.12 @ 2:41PM
Amen....well said!!!!!!!!!
Appleby| 6.8.12 @ 7:36AM
The Unjust Steward, Luke 16:1-8
A. Now He was also saying to the disciples, 'There was a certain rich man
who had a steward, and this steward was reported to him as squandering
his possessions.
Rich Man and Steward
B. And he called him and said to him, "What is this I hear about you?
Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward."
Problem
B. and the steward said to himself, "What shall I do, since my master is
taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to
dig; I am ashamed to beg.
Problem
C. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the
stewardship, they will receive me into their homes."
Idea
B. And he summoned each one of his master's debtors, and he began saying
to the first, "How much more do you owe my master?" And he said, "A
hundred measures of oil." And he said to him, "Take your bill, and sit
down quickly and write fifty."
Solution
B. Then he said to another, "And how much do you owe?" And he said,
"A hundred measures of wheat." He said to him, "Take your bill, and
write eighty."
Solution
A. And his master praised the unrighteous steward because he had acted shrewdly;
for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the
sons of light.
Chef Schnauzer| 6.8.12 @ 8:06AM
Oh, another list, another organizations, another donation appeal. I'm passing on all this nonsense. Reminds me of the phony 'urgent polls' from the GOP - 'cause they really, really, really care about my thoughts. Jackasses.
Casey Abell| 6.8.12 @ 9:39AM
Santorum hears patriot voices, Hillyer hears voices in his head. This is the first and last time we'll ever hear about this Patriot Whatever Thing.
cicero| 6.8.12 @ 11:16AM
Everyone has known for a long time that the working class has been conservative in this country. The only reason the Progressives have been able to run rampant is that the Republicans have convinced themselves that they have to appeal to the mythical middle. As a result, they continually compromise conservative principles on the mistaken belief (foisted on them by the the press and the Dems), that they have to appeal to everybody. That is impossible. There are only 2 choices, thee Repubs or the Dems. Those in the middle will have to vote for one or the other, or stay home. History shows that given that choice, they vote Republican. (Does anybody remenber Reagan?) Polls have shown f or years that this is a conservative nation. The problem the Republican Party has is that, once it gets to Washington, is begins to believe the press.
Who Knows?| 6.8.12 @ 11:29AM
“We will have everything," he said, "from press people to policy people to field people who can help work in ORGANIZED political efforts.”, says Rick Santorum---
Just what we need, another community organizer.
MyGirlFriday| 6.8.12 @ 11:36PM
Who Knows,
How do you think we won Wisconsin?
This is the type of organization that Rick Santorum is speaking of. Tonight, there are men and women across America "patriots" heading for Arizona as they did for Scott Walker and Wisconsin. Those patriots labored for over a year with like minded conservative organizations. Those who could not be on the ground gave money. We can thank the leadership of Scott Walker and patriots in Wisconsin and across America for creating a chink in the armor of public employee unions.
This coming tuesday, conservatives and patriots across this nation will once again come together to help one of our own: Jesse Kelley in Arizona who is running for Gabby Giffords seat. NANCY PELOSI and her machine is throwing everything they got at Jesse. Those patriots are covering our backs, they are doing the heavy lifting of saving this country.
What did you do for your country today?
If your answer is nothing, at least donate even a $1.00 to a conservative candidate today or at the very least stop splitting hairs over how Rick Santorum describes his vision of organizing for a 2012 "patriots" win .
Who Knows?| 6.8.12 @ 11:48AM
Santorum, he with what, seven children, is the penultimate “family man”, which has always been apparent in his own arguments.
The statistics don’t lie, of course, and it would be preferable for a child to have a mother and a father bring them up, in love.
I’ll tell you what, though. Putative “healthy” families, these days, seem to consist of very obese mothers with less fat husbands, still loving their wives, in sickness and in health.
Yes, these days, the “healthy” families are, more and more, physically “sick” as hell!
Generals always re-fight old battles, with the same old strategies. Well, in the ongoing “healthy” family war, the new tactic by the always-present forces of annihilation is overeating. Unless and until THIS suicidal “enemy” is recognized, and beat back---when the babies of Santorum-sanctified “healthy” families, with parents too stupid to eat right, grow up, and very OUT, and all the indicators of bodily well being are rapidly going south, as even early death takes its toll, where will Santorum fans be?
Probably dead, themselves, a lot of them.
First things first---right diet is de rigueur.
Dai Alanye | 6.8.12 @ 3:34PM
I hope Who Knows? is being satirical in this post, because it's right up the Bloomberg-Michelle Obama alley. In other words, it's political idiocy.
David| 6.8.12 @ 1:29PM
I simply don't understand the negativity towards Santorum. He WAS and still IS one of the most principled reps and senators that we have had in the 25 or so years that I have been following politics. Yes, he gave Bush much more support than he should have, and he readily admits that. He admits it was a mistake. How many others pols make EXCUSES rather than admit their MISTAKES?
The guy is smart and accomplished, and even though always a huge underdog, except for once, has always been a winner.
He deserves our admiration - not our derision.
And he certainly deserves to among Romney's top choices for VP.
Drunken Sailor| 6.8.12 @ 2:32PM
Don't get bent out of shape David. Just the same old Santorum bashers taking another crack at him. Some storied never change.
Appleby| 6.8.12 @ 7:09PM
Mama is going to write him in.
Obadiah Plainman| 6.8.12 @ 3:06PM
"Issued based education" huh? Well, I've long said and repeated that I think one of the Achilles' Heels of the conservative movement is that we don't TEACH our fellow citizens truly the root of the issues we face. You can't learn if the educational establishment (long hijacked by the left) as well as the leftist media complex (also having long ago abrogated its role as watchdog) are AWOL. I'm skeptical as to how Santorum would approach this frankly. I don't think he has the credibility to come at this from a position of footsoldier, which is what educational outreach is all about. He is principled, but the problem I've had with Santorum is that he's always been too much about *telling us* how principled he is instead of just quietly and eloquently going about his business. And I have enough libertarian leanings to be extremely reluctant to give credence to the social conservative that he is--not because I don't share some of those same views--but because teaching block and tackling stuff is far more crucial at this juncture and for future generations.
Occam's Tool| 6.8.12 @ 3:51PM
Hey, another Heritage Foundation type would be very useful, and I like his focus. I wish him well, and I wish Bella well.
Oldefarte| 6.8.12 @ 4:40PM
Sounds to me like the Rickster is going the way of the Paulistas.....if he comes out with a NEWSLETTER, it'll be a dead giveaway!!!!!!
Occam's Tool| 6.8.12 @ 7:19PM
Hey, a cult devoted to bashing America's enemies and making money is much more fun that the flatulent jihadist fellating cult from Galveston.
Occam's Tool| 6.8.12 @ 7:20PM
Sorry: "than the"
Quartermaster| 6.8.12 @ 7:32PM
Ahhhh. Mr. Tool at his finest once more. You had TLP fooled for a bit on another thread. He'd be proud of you once more after reading such sewage.
Marie| 6.9.12 @ 11:02PM
Personally, I'm not giving to any more 501 political charities. I am not going to pay salaries to people that do nothing for me. However, I will continue to give to charities such as Special Operations Warrior Foundation, DAV, Veterans of Foreign War. Come get me DHS.