Rick Santorum: It Is Our Time, I'm Ready
[UPDATE] 6/6 1:00 p.m.
Rick Santorum officially announced Monday that he will be running for president.
Addressing crowds in Pennsylvania, he said: "In 2008, a wearied public ... from a financial crisis looked to elect a president who they could believe in and that president, President Obama, took that faith that the American public gave him and wrecked our economy and centralized power in Washington, D.C., and robbed people of their freedom.
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"I believe now that Americans are not looking for someone that they can believe in. They're looking for a president who believes in them.
"It is our time for all of us to step up and do what America requires us to do. I'm ready to lead. I'm ready. I'm ready to do what has to be done for the next generation with the courage to fight for freedom, with the courage to fight for America. That’s why I’m announcing today that I’m running for president of the United States. Join the fight!"
[This is a breaking news update. Check CP's earlier story below.]
Rick Santorum is launching his bid for the Republican presidential nomination Monday morning. And as Santorum told ABC News early Monday, he is "in it to win."
The former Pennsylvania senator will officially make the announcement from the Somerset County Courthouse in Somerset, Penn.
He's entering what seems to be a crowded GOP field with some momentum. He won the New Hampshire Conservative Future PAC's presidential straw poll, released Sunday, with 37 percent. Santorum was found to be way ahead of the pack with the second place winners, Ron Paul and Tim Pawlenty, nabbing 11.7 percent of the vote.
"As I travel the country, it is evident that voters are looking for a candidate who believes in them and not the power of government, and who wants to move our country forward based on our Founders' vision," he said in a statement.
Touting a consistent record, Santorum told ABC, "What people are looking for is someone who has stood by their principles in good times and in bad."
He noted that he didn't back down on reforming Social Security even though that meant losing to Democrat Robert Casey in the Senate race in 2006.
The 53-year-old Catholic appeared before evangelical voters at the Faith and Freedom Conference this past weekend, alongside other GOP contenders. Like the other candidates, he emphasized his conservative stances on social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.
Though a favorite among social conservatives, Santorum still has a long way to go to win the nomination. A Gallup poll last month found him to be near the bottom of the pack. Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin, who has yet to announce her bid, led the Gallup poll as the preferred GOP nominee.
