Here is what I have come up with over a few days research. I have become stronger in my convictions that Santorum is indeed the best hope for renewing our country and bringing conservative morals and family values back to our country, along with respect for faith, freedom and our founding documents.
Newt Gingrich has been very bold in his ideas and outspoken against the media and his other opponents. However, it is time for Grandpa Newt to step down, deflate his ego and hand the 'Reagan torch' to Santorum, a man of strong faith, conviction, principles,&family.
While I can forgive the sins and mistakes of Newt's personal past, I do not forgive the sin and the damage to his core character. Not only is Newt's character damaged,but his principles are not core conservative beliefs. Newt has admitted he is a 'conservative futurist'; his support of globalist ideas makes him untrustworthy for President of the United States.[POTUS]
In 1995 Newt made a formal appeal to the House of Representatives to "increase the power of President Clinton" by repealing the War Powers Act. He praised Clinton's unconstitutional use of the U.S. military to inflict a communist regime on Haiti in 1994, the same year he voted for an extra $1.2 billion for United Nations "peacekeeping" missions.
He also urged the President to expand U.S. military presence in Bosnia the following year. In 1994, Gingrich described himself as "a conservative futurist." He said that those who were trying to define him should look no further than The Third Wave, a 1980 book written by Alvin Toffler. The book describes our society as entering a post-industrial phase in which abortion, homosexuality, promiscuity, and divorce are perfectly normal, even virtuous.
Gingrich's liberal voting record is that he has been a member, since 1990, of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a group founded in 1921 as a think tank of influential politicians and policymakers dedicated to sacrificing national independence to create a global government. He showed his fidelity to internationalism in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Affairs in July of 1995 when he brazenly admitted his disdain for our founding document.
"The American challenge in leading the world is compounded by our Constitution," he said. "Under our [constitutional system] - either we're going to have to rethink our Constitution, or we're going to have to rethink our process of decision-making." He went on to profess an oxymoronic belief in "very strong but limited federal government," and pledged, "I am for the United Nations."
As discussed, “The strategy of [the]Progressive Establishment has always been to get the two most liberal candidates, one from each political Party nominated in their respected primaries, and then to promote the most progressive of those two candidates in the general election!”
In result, I can't 'marry'/entrust Gingrich to our country because I wouldn't marry someone with his character flaws. I can forgive the sinner,but not the sin. However, forgiveness does not equate to voting for someone with such great moral character flaws, who also supports a globalist agenda, which endangers US sovereignty and leads us away from the principles this country was founded on: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
In contrast, Rick Santorum supports defunding the UN,which would be a great step in the right direction for the US. Santorum also has strong morals and values which this country was founded on. He has been faithfully married to his wife and raised seven children together, while serving his state of Pennsylvania as a Congressman and Senator. Santorum best represents faith, family and freedom and recognizes that our Creator is the reason we have unalienable rights, not the government. Santorum recently stated,“Our rights come not from government, but from a higher authority". I wrote further about these character traits and his convictions here.
Character Matters,Along W/Faith,Family&Freedom-Support Santorum in 2012... disloyalty or disunity&bickering and the media influence is why I believe Cain,Palin,Bachmann and Perry were thrown under the bus;conservatives&[the] teaparty didn't stand by the true conservatives from the beginning.
Excerpt:
As of February 15, 2012, Obama runs slightly ahead of Mitt Romney and dead even with Rick Santorum in Rasmussen Reports’at the key battleground state of Ohio.
In addition, according to recent Public Policy Polling, if Gingrich dropped out 58% of his supporters say they would move to Santorum, while 22% would go to Romney and 17% to Paul.
A recent Fox News poll also indicates a Santorum surge:
Santorum: 33%
Romney: 23%
Gingrich: 22%
Paul: 15%
Also, Public Policy Polling, a left leaning polling agency, finds Santorum gets a majority of Tea Party voters as well at 51% to 24% for Gingrich and 12% for Romney. And with Evangelicals Santorum falls just short of a majority with 45% to 21% for Gingrich and 18% for Romney. Part of the reason for Santorum’s surge is his own high level of popularity. 64% of voters see him favorably to only 22% with a negative one. But the other, and maybe more important, reason is that Republicans are significantly souring on both Romney and Gingrich. While Gingrich only holds 44% favorability with a plurality of GOP voters. As explained in this article at National Review Online:
At the moment Rick Santorum appears to be overtaking Newt Gingrich as the principal challenger to Mitt Romney. Santorum has won more contests than Gingrich (who has won only one), has more delegates, and leads him in the polls. In at least one poll, he also leads Romney. It isn’t yet a Romney–Santorum contest, but it could be headed that way.
We hope so. Gingrich’s verbal and intellectual talents should make him a resource for any future Republican president. But it would be a grave mistake for the party to make someone with such poor judgment and persistent unpopularity its presidential nominee. It is not clear whether Gingrich remains in the race because he still believes he could become president next year or because he wants to avenge his wounded pride: an ambiguity that suggests the problem with him as a leader.
When he led Santorum in the polls, he urged the Pennsylvanian to leave the race. On his own arguments the proper course for him now is to endorse Santorum and exit.
Santorum has been conducting himself rather impressively in his moments of triumph and avoiding characteristic temptations. He is doing his best to keep the press from dismissing him as merely a “social-issues candidate.” His recent remark that losing his Senate seat in 2006 taught him the importance of humility suggests an appealing self-awareness.As for those who criticize Santorum on his fiscal conservatism and voting record, he has been known to oppose the banking bailouts,stimulus and he opposed TARP. In 2008 Santorum said this about TARP:
"Among critics of the bill was Mr. Casey’s predecessor, Republican Rick Santorum, who expressed doubt about the government’s suitability as a market stabilizer. He wanted to see a hybrid of both limited government purchase of the troubled investments, and a series of loan guarantees that would let the private market do the work."
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08276/916765-28.stm#ixzz1mJhw8LQp
In addition to being critical of President Obama and his administration, in 2009 Santorum was also pretty tough on his former Republican colleagues. He chastised Republicans for passing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). He said that he prayed that Sen. John McCain would suspend his campaign to go back to Washington to blow up the idea, something Santorum admitted McCain was good at. Yet McCain supported it, which Santorum believes lead to his defeat.
http://theiowarepublican.com/2009/don%E2%80%99t-underestimate-rick-santorum/In addition to opposing TARP,Santorum wanted to reign in Fannie&Freddie to avoid the credit crisis and recession we are in now, which would have prevented TARP and the bailouts becoming a last resort:
In 2005 Santorum along with Crapo and Bunning were on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and had voted in favor of sending a Fannie&Freddie regulatory overhaul bill, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb to the Senate.At CPAC in 2009, Santorum admits conservatives made mistakes and this lead to his defeat in Pennsylvania in 2006, along with McCain's in 2008. The Iraq war was becoming unpopular, in addition to President Bush. However, in February 2009, at a time when many “conservatives” couldn’t find the moxy to unequivocally condemn TARP….Santorum did exactly that at CPAC 2009. see video at 3:05 – 4:10.
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee sent Hagel's bill to the then GOP-run Senate on July 28, 2005. All GOP members of the committee supported it; all Democrats opposed it.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,440681,00.html#ixzz1mNigcrLg
Finally, the Club for Growth states Santorum has a strong record on cutting taxes, and that his leadership on welfare reform and Social Security was exemplary.
Santorum has consistently supported broad-based tax cuts&opposed tax increases with a Club for Growth rating 77% above average.
Club for Growth:Santorum opposed TARP,the stimulus ,the auto bailout,&the Fannie-Freddie bailout.
Club for Growth-Santorum:voted for a balanced budget amendment and a line-item veto in 1995.
Santorum endorsed Conservative Tea Party candidate Doug Hoffman over liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava.[while Newt supported Dede]
In regards to those who criticize Rick Santorum for supporting Arlen Specter against Toomey in 2008, here is his motive behind that:
Santorum-helped keep senate majority in 2004, because Pat Toomey was likely to lose the general election for Senate if he beat Specter in the primary;&because President Bush lost in PA,Santorum strategically backed the candidate most likely to win, Arlen Specter, by agreeing to a deal to elect Conservative Justices Alito&Roberts to the Supreme Court.
Others criticize Santorum for voting against a national right to work law. However, Rick Santorum voted in favor of letting states decide on right-to-work laws; since PA was a non-right to work state at the time, indicating his respect for the 10th amendment in such matters.
In conclusion, as Gingrich struggles,Santorum's campaign is gaining Gingrich supporters who are switching to Santorum’s team as volunteers.
Recently, the casino billionaire who has donated to Gingrich has cut support. Which indicates Gingrich is also losing support among donors and conservatives. His votes will likely go to Santorum,while the funding could go to Romney? As poll trends indicate, if Gingrich dropped out 58% of his supporters say they would move to Santorum, while 22% would go to Romney and 17% to Paul. But, as Santorum proved in CO, where Romney campaigned a lot and spent much more on ads, money doesn't always buy voters, but substance and character counts.
Recent polling trends also show Santorum's wins in CO, MO and MINN are the beginning of a rising momentum. According to Public Policy Polling: Santorum leads 1st night polling in Michigan! http://t.co/rkNdEmIy and Santorum leads in Tennessee http://t.co/wX1RzFKm
PPP:64% of voters favorably view Santorum over Gingrich and other candidates.
PPP recently tweeted:a consensus conservative candidate finally seems to be emerging and it's Santorum.
Additionally, regarding electability Santorum Can Also Beat Romney: polls show Santorum has a better chance than Gingrich at winning against current front runner Romney. The latest Rasmussen Poll shows Santorum now trounces Romney 55% to 34% in a one-on-one matchup nationally among likely GOP primary voters;proving he has electability along with a growing consensus of conservative support.
And as of February 15, 2012,
Santorum is actually the strongest Republican in Michigan, trailing Obama by just 11 at 50-39: publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/02/o…
— PublicPolicyPolling (@ppppolls) February 15, 2012
Conservatives are recognizing Gingrich's personal failings and negative favorability ratings among conservatives are not enough to make him the anti-Romney candidate. In result, Santorum has less baggage&is much better liked.
Santorum is now completely dominating with several key segments of the electorate, especially the most right leaning parts of the party. With those describing themselves as 'very conservative,' he's now winning a majority of voters at 53% to 20% for Gingrich and 15% for Romney.
Santorum gets a majority with Tea Party voters as well at 51% to 24% for Gingrich and 12% for Romney. And with Evangelicals he falls just short of a majority with 45% to 21% for Gingrich and 18% for Romney.
@RickSantorum storms into national poll lead by 15% http://t.co/sKHcXdVC
Santorum Surges as He Talks Faith in Bible Belt: A Gallup poll shows 20 percent of Republicans now... http://dlvr.it/1BSPj6In the most recent polls, Santorum is gaining on Romney and Gingrich is falling. While polls can be up and down like the stock market, it is becoming more clear who the majority of conservatives are leaning towards, and that is Santorum. I have found this true in reading conservative blogs, tweets and other news commentary online.
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Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum arrives on stage and is greeted by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney before a Republican presidential candidates debate in Charleston, S.C. (ERIC THAYER - REUTERS)
Among Republicans -- and independents -- Santorum now rivals former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on this most basic measure of popularity. Santorum now has the lead among those who consider themselves to be “very conservative.”
The latest CBS Poll indicates:
Santorum is also seen as the candidate most likely to help the middle class: Thirty-two percent of GOP primary voters say Santorum would be most likely to help middle class Americans, while 19 percent cite Romney, 18 percent cite Gingrich and 18 percent cite Paul. Twenty-seven percent are "very" confident Santorum could manage the economy, compared to 25 percent for Romney, 24 percent for Gingrich and 17 percent for Paul.
Endorsements:
Conservative Headquarters, Richard Viguerie, also endorsed Rick Santorum last month. He gives his strong endorsement in this article, entitled: "I urge you to join me in supporting Rick Santorum for President."
While other well known conservative pundits and talk radio hosts have officially endorsed Rick Santorum, others like Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh have said positive remarks about him. Including, conservative talk show host, Mark Levine,who recently made the case for Rick Santorum as GOP nominee.
Lastly, Santorum's fiscal conservative credentials are not as bad as some like to make him out to be, as he has received an A- from the National Taxpayers Union, an independent, non-partisan organization that has been rating members of Congress for the past 20yrs.
Cross posted at Little Bytes News
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