Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum waves Feb. 10, 2012, after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Republican Presidential Candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C., Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
A supporter listens to Republican Presidential Candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C., Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Republican Presidential Candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C., Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Left to right: Jose Herrera of Madrid, Spain, Chris Chaney of Atlanta, GA, Bruce Majors, of Washington, DC and others watch Conservative Author Ann Coulter speak via television screen from outside the full capacity main ballroom at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C., Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington on Friday, Feb. 10, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
A member of the audience listens to Republican Presidential Candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C., Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Republican Presidential Candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C., Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Republican Presidential Candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C., Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Martha A. Stamp, center, applauds for Republican Presidential Candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich as he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C., Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Republican Presidential Candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C., Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Callista Gingrich, right, listens to her husband, Republican Presidential Candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich as he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C., Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Republican Presidential Candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C., Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Republican Presidential Candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C., Friday, February 10, 2012. The annual political conference draws thousands of supporters and prominent conservative figures. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks Feb. 10, 2012, at the stage after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee leaves the stage Feb. 10, 2012, after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell speaks Feb. 10, 2012, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell speaks Feb. 10, 2012, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell speaks Feb. 10, 2012, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Karen Santorum, wife of Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, smiles Feb. 10, 2012, as her husband speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, surrounded by his family, speaks Feb. 10, 2012, after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is surrounded by his family while speaking Feb. 10, 2012, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Audience members applaud Feb. 10, 2012, as Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum as he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Audience members listen Feb. 10, 2012, to Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum as he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Audience member Joseph La Russa stands and applauds Feb. 10, 2012, during a speech by Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Members of the press listen Feb. 10, 2012, from a balcony to Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum as he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum waves Feb. 10, 2012, after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)Carrying momentum from his three recent electoral wins, Rick Santorum cast himself Friday as the reliable conservative in the GOP presidential race, arguing that he offers a bolder contrast than rival Mitt Romney on the issues that matter most to conservative and tea party voters.
The former Pennsylvania senator told those gathered here for the Conservative Political Action Conference that while he fought against government-run health care, the “facade man-made global warming” and financial bailouts, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney fought for them — positions that, he said, could undercut the excitement the party needs to oust President Obama in the fall.
“On the issue of Obamacare, who has a record of supporting health savings account, tort reform and bottom-up, consumer-driven health care for 20 years? And who has supported in fact the stepchild of Obamacare — the person in Massachusetts who built the largest government-run health care system in the United States,” Mr. Santorum said, alluding to the universal health care law that Mr. Romney signed into law in 2006 as governor of the Bay State.
He also warned the crowd that Mr. Romney supported the 2008 Wall Street bailout and “bought into global warming,” imposing what he called the “first carbon caps in the state of Massachusetts.”
“We are not going to win with money, we are going to win with contrast, we are going to win with ideas and making Barack Obama and his failed policies the issues in this race.”
The comments come three days after Mr. Santorum shook up the political narrative once again by sweeping Tuesday’s nomination contests in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado — a result that didn’t yield convention delegates, but did feed into lingering doubts about Mr. Romney’s ability to woo conservatives, who question his overall commitment to their causes.
Mr. Santorum said Friday that Mr. Obama’s national health care overhaul is the reason he jumped into the race and he joined the chorus of voices here that have railed against the administration’s controversial mandate that religious institutions pay for their workers’ birth control. Mr. Obama has scheduled an afternoon news briefing to outline a possible compromise in the wake of the political fury.
Mr. Obama “is now telling the Catholic Church that they are forced to pay for things that are against their basic tenets and teaching against their First Amendment right,” he said, arguing that the fight is not about contraception, it is about religious liberty. “It’s about freedom of speech. It’s about freedom of religion. It’s about government controlling your lives and it has got to stop.”
And he pushed back against the notion that Republicans should be focused on wooing moderate voters in the general election.
“Why would an undecided voter vote for the candidate of a party that the party is not excited about? We need conservatives now to rally for a conservative to go into November, to excite the conservative base, to pull with that excitement moderate votes and to defeat Barack Obama in the fall.”
© Copyright 2012 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
Seth McLaughlin, a reporter on the Politics Desk, can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com. Follow him on Twitter: @SethMcLaughlin1
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