2012 Watch: Santorum stumping, an opponent for Casey

In politics, it’s never too  early to start thinking about the future. And so, former Senator Rick Santorum has been on the 2012 presidential circuit, with appearances in Iowa, New Hampshire and, of course, the Conservative Political Action Conference last weekend.

“Against the advice of my wife,” Santorum said during his address to the conference Saturday, “I endorsed Arlen Specter.”

He responded to the boos with a folksy “My sentiments exactly!”

“How…

February 22, 2010 at 9:15 am | Comments (8)

Report: Santorum also backing Corbett

Former Senator Rick Santorum is throwing his support behind state Attorney General Tom Corbett’s gubernatorial bid, giving the early GOP front-runner the backing of one of the state’s most prominent conservatives.

In a letter obtained and published Tuesday by GrassrootsPA, Santorum asks friends “for your help to elect my good friend, Tom Corbett, the next Governor of Pennsylvania.

“With public confidence in our Democratic Governor Ed Rendell and legislature near historic lows,…

November 17, 2009 at 2:30 pm | Comments (2)

Rick Santorum for President?

Rick Santorum for President.

One more time… Did I hear you right? What?

Rick Santorum for President.

Look, Rick Santorum wasn’t a horrible Senator. He did do his part bringing back money to the state and was our state’s voice in the majority party at the time. However, I don’t think he understands what he is saying.

The fact is, Rick Santorum doesn’t like Obama and will go after him. But, that is far different…

September 21, 2009 at 8:31 pm | Comments (3)

Smerconish, Specter and Santorum, oh my!

My pa2010.com colleague Laura Vecsey has written, somewhat critically, about Rick Santorum’s comments on his former colleague Arlen Specter’s reelection campaign.  Other commenters have praised Specter’s moderate credentials in an increasingly polarized country.

The problem is that Specter, his new pal Michael Smerconish and folks like them are not “moderates” in any meaningful sense of the term. A moderate is someone who takes principled centrist positions, not someone who jumps around with popular…

September 18, 2009 at 1:15 pm | Comments (16)

Santorum thinks Meehan should bow out, run for Congress instead

Joining a growing chorus of Republican leaders, former Senator Rick Santorum says that Pat Meehan should abandon his gubernatorial aspirations in favor of a Congressional run.

In a recent interview with pa2010.com, Santorum said he got the sense that Meehan, a former U.S. Attorney, was now beginning to look at other options, including running for the 7th District seat that Joe Sestak is expected to vacate.

“There’s a tremendous opportunity for him to…

July 21, 2009 at 1:35 pm | Comments (9)

Santorum denies rumors of involvement in Senate recruiting

Rumors have been swirling this week that former Senator Rick Santorum was the key player in bringing state Senator Jane Orie down to Washington to meet with the National Republican Senatorial Committee and trying to convince her to run against Pat Toomey. Several Republicans have asked me to look into this. Conservatives who back Toomey are convinced that Santorum has an axe to grind and that he’s driving efforts to find an alternative…

July 14, 2009 at 12:42 pm | Comments (2)

Ridge out; who’s in?

Well we certainly picked a good month to start a new Web site didn’t we? Just as the Specter-is-hot-Specter-is cold-Specter-is-hot-again story was beginning to peter out Tom Ridge decides to run . . . and then not to. What will be next, a replay of Casey-Scranton, with one of the original Casey’s granddaughters standing in? What is Richard Thornburgh doing these days, anyway?

The most entertaining aspect of all this is that—for a party that…

May 8, 2009 at 9:49 am | Comments (0)

Santorum calls Specter’s defection ‘a huge blow’

Former Senator Rick Santorum today said Arlen Specter’s decision to switch to the Democratic party would hamper the GOP’s ability to act as a check on the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress.

“I spoke with Arlen this morning and he explained his reasoning to me,” Santorum said in a statement. “I told him I was deeply disappointed that he felt he had to do it. His decision is a huge blow to the Republican’s…

April 28, 2009 at 3:14 pm | Comments (0)

Specter’s Santorum Syndrome

By TOM FERRICK

Is Arlen Specter suffering from the Rick Santorum Syndrome?

That’s my name for the malady that inflicts an incumbent whose negatives are so deep and fixed among voters that he cannot convince them to support him—no matter how much time, money and effort he puts into changing their minds.

Naturally, it’s named in honor of the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania—that irrepressible conservative, Rick Santorum. By the time his re-election rolled around…

April 21, 2009 at 12:23 pm | Comments (3)