Social Conservatives Officially Unite on Rick Santorum As Romney Alternative

[cal04]

Moments ago, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins announced on a conference call that social conservatives had officially settled on Rick Santorum as their preferred candidate for the Republican nomination. The decision was made today after three rounds of balloting at a meeting of more than 150 social conservative leaders and political activists held over the last two days in Brenham, Texas. Though the meeting was widely seen as an effort to settle on a candidate to stop Mitt Romney, Romney’s own campaign sent a representative to make an appeal to the group and Perkins said it was “not a bash Romney weekend” and “not a lot of time” was spent discussing him. Jon Huntsman’s campaign was the only campaign not to participate in the meeting.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/01/14/404546/breaking-social-conservatives-officially-unite-on-rick-santorum-as-romney-alternative/

Perkins: Evangelicals Chose Santorum
The Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins announced that evangelical conservatives who met in Texas recently endorsed Rick Santorum, CNN’s Sam Feist reports.

Perkins said there was “strong consensus” in the room for Santorum, according to Dave Weigel. Perkins said Santorum got support from over two-thirds of the 150 conservative leaders present, according to Felicia Sonmez.

“It’s not news that there’s not strong support among conservatives for Mitt Romney,” Perkins said, according to Sonmez.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/4067
https://twitter.com/SamFeistCNN/statuses/158239498189275136

[tularetom]

1. Big mistake on their part IMO

The guy may be even a little too creepy for a lot of religious nuts.

He's Catholic which won't go over well in certain parts of Jesusland, his wife's boyfriend before she married Santorum was an abortionist, and then there's the whole fetus-in-a-jar episode which may well be enough to make the most rabid fundamentalist puke.

I guess they really didn't have a lot of choice - Bachmann is gone, Perry may as well be, Gingrich is phony and Huntsman is a (gasp) Mormon. But the fact that they had to settle for Santorum shows that right wing religious fanatics may not have the power they are often credited with in the republican party. Apparently it is still the party of Wall Street, the country club member, and the corporate fat cats.

[LonePirate]

2. We should be applauding their selection. I would love to see Ricky claim the R nomination.

Obama would mop the floor with him and win around 40 or more states, not to mention the huge coattails he would have in securing more Democrats in Congress.

[Hampton Jones]

8. We should do more than applaud them.

We should all go out and vote for their pick. Santorum is a joke as a candidate and getting him nominated is Obama's best chance of re-election.

[City Lights]

3. In this case, what's bad for them is good for us.

Anything to drag out their primary. It would be great if their nominee is so worn out from the primary fights he has to crawl across the finish line.

[jwirr]

9. I think the biggest problem will be his stance on birth control. Most churches do not reject the

idea of birth control. And would never vote to end availability. In fact I suspect many Catholics will not go for this. Unless he thinks he can win with just the votes of the preists.

[sofa king]

4. This is going to leave a bad taste in their mouths.

[spanone]

5. they're just drawn to the sleazy self-righteous ricky boy..

[julian09]

6. Is he running for Pope?

[Archae]

7. A "Family Research Council's" preacher pines for the "good old days."

When only Christians could hold elected office.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2012/1/12/17427/7140