“This was probably the worst delivered speech I’ve heard Donald Trump give. He ran over his lines, he mixed up, he didn’t deliver his punch lines, he would deliver a line and go to the next issue, and I don’t think he even realized he was moving on to the next issue.”
— Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), discussing President Trump’s State of the Union address on CNN.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) told CNN that he would decline if President Trump asked him to serve as the next White House chief of staff.
Said Santorum: “Look, it’s an honor even to be considered.”
Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) told CNN that students protesting for gun control legislation would be better served by taking CPR classes and preparing for active shooter scenarios.
Said Santorum: “How about kids instead of looking to someone else to solve their problem, do something about maybe taking CPR classes or trying to deal with situations that when there is a violent shooter that you can actually respond to that.”
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Gov. Chris Christie quickly turned Rick Santorum’s endorsement of Marco Rubio into a negative with a cringe-worthy one minute video.
Despite endorsing him for president, Rick Santorum struggled in a Morning Joe interview to list any of Marco Rubio’s accomplishments.
Said Santorum: “Well, I know he included something that went after the insurance companies in the most recent omnibus. He fought for that, to stop bailing out insurance companies. That’s one thing I’m familiar that I just saw recently. But — and again, he was on the campaign trail and accomplished that.”
He added: “The bottom line is there isn’t a lot of accomplishments, Joe, and I just don’t think it’s a fair question to say — over the last four years where nothing has happened and then blame one person because he didn’t get accomplishments done. Neither did President Obama.”
Gov. Chris Christie piled on in a later interview: “Rubio has not accomplished anything of note in his career in the United States Senate or in his time as speaker of the house in Florida. So it’s time for the boy in the bubble to come out of the bubble and answer these questions and tell us things rather than just continue to give the same speech he’s been giving for the last 6 years.”
Rick Santorum “is expected to announce Wednesday that he will suspend his latest and long-struggling run for the presidency,” the Washington Post reports.
“Santorum is scheduled to appear Wednesday evening on Fox News Channel, where an aide said he will make ‘two major announcements.’ According to several national Republicans familiar with his plans, he will discuss his decision to end his 2016 campaign and he will likely make an endorsement of one of his GOP rivals.”
First Read: “Late last night, Rick Santorum’s campaign released a press advisory announcing that Santorum was delaying his South Carolina kickoff events and is participating in ‘media activities’ in DC. Having both Huckabee and Santorum out of the GOP race benefits Ted Cruz, big time.”
In case you missed it, MSNBC interviewed a Santorum precinct captain Monday night — wearing a Santorum sweater vest — who admitted that even he didn’t vote for the former Pennsylvania senator.
Sen. Rick Santorum says the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants would be a “blessing” to impoverished Latin American countries that would benefit from skills they have learned in the United States, the Des Moines Register reports.
Said Santorum: “You are talking about folks who are going to be the leaders of their countries.”
Rick Santorum said Ted Cruz falls short on immigration, the Quad City Times reports.
Said Santorum: “It’s not just the Democrats. It’s Democrats and Republicans. It’s Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and, yes, it’s Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz wants to take the H-1B program and increase it by 500 percent. He wants to go from 65,000 to 330,000. Again, ‘Mr. Conservative.’ Everybody (says) how conservative he is. He wants to increase it by five times.”
“Santorum recalls campaign when dog peed on him”
— Cincinnati Enquirer, September 29, 2015.
“I don’t see any real opportunities for us over the next six months to break out.”
— Rick Santorum, quoted by the Washington Post, suggesting he’s “the tortoise-and-the-hare kind” of presidential candidate.
Rick Santorum warned that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s dissonance with his wife on same-sex marriage could cause him to be less “active” in his opposition, The Hill reports.
Said Santorum: “Spouses matter. When your spouse is not in-sync with you — particularly on cultural issues, moral issues — you tend not to be as active on those issues.”
Rick Santorum called the church shooting in Charleston — which left nine people dead — a “crime of hate” and connected the event to a broader “assault on our religious liberty,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Santorum: “This is one of those situations where you just have to take a step back and say we — you know, you talk about the importance of prayer in this time and we’re now seeing assaults on our religious liberty we’ve never seen before. It’s a time for deeper reflection beyond this horrible situation.”
Rick Santorum may participate in the Iowa Straw Poll, he told the Des Moines Register, but he won’t spend any money on it.
Said Santorum: “My donors don’t have a lot of money. And when they give me money, I’m going to spend it on winning, not on straw polls.”
“When just one Iowan showed up to Rick Santorum’s 2 p.m. campaign stop at a restaurant here Monday, the winner of the 2012 Iowa caucuses made a quick decision: Might as well order lunch,” the Des Moines Register reports.
In a previous stop he drew just 10 people.
Said Santorum: “It’s not glamorous, and you’re not out there raising money, but you’re doing what the money is ultimately supposed to do — getting votes. This is a lot more fun than being on the phone raising money.”
NBC News reports that none of Rick Santorum’s 2012 Iowa staff is currently working for his campaign.
“Two of the three main architects of his successful caucus game plan — Deputy Campaign Manager Jill Latham Ryan and Nick Ryan, who ran the pro-Santorum super PAC — are now working for Mike Huckabee. The other, former Iowa State Director Cody Brown, is running a consulting firm in Austin, Texas.”
Harry Enten: “So why doesn’t Santorum have a chance this time around? Much of his success in 2012 was thanks to a historically weak field.”
Rick Santorum (R), “who fell short in his 2012 presidential bid, launched another run for the White House on Wednesday with a promise to restore the economic power of middle-class American workers,” Reuters reports.
Washington Post: “The step forward by Santorum, 57, is the latest in a wave of entries by hard-right contenders who believe that after losing two straight presidential elections behind more moderate nominees, GOP voters will turn to a candidate unflinching in their ideology who can enthuse the party’s base.”
Politico: “Polls reflect his predicament: It’s not even clear he’ll make the cut for the first debates this year.”
Rick Klein: “He comes to the race as last time’s runner-up, the guy who outlasted the Cain-Bachmann-Gingrich-and-company primary to be the last man standing against Mitt Romney. That might be Rick Santorum’s advantage, but it will also be his burden. Yes, the party’s moved on so much – and the field is so much better – that Santorum is in danger of not even getting one of the 10 invites to the first GOP debate, in August. He won Iowa (belatedly) last time, but still lost the nomination; next year’s caucus field will include another former winner, Mike Huckabee, plus Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, and Rand Paul, just to name a few who’ll be competitive.”
“His path back needs to include his same small handful of wealthy friends – Foster Friess is on board again – and a revitalized message. As he makes his big announcement Wednesday at a manufacturing plant in the working-class Pennsylvania town he grew up in, we’ll begin to see how and if a second Santorum run can expand his social-conservative message to include economic empowerment. Pizza Ranches, the “Chuck Truck,” and maybe even sweater vests await.”
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Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.