Santorum to Mobilize 1M Conservative Voters for November Elections
Former GOP presidential front-runner and U.S. Senator Rick Santorum today announced the formation of a new organization whose objective is to mobilize one million social conservatives for the 2012 general election in November.
Santorum, who spent 16 years in Congress before seeking the 2012 GOP nod for the White House, gained a reputation as a staunch conservative and someone who fought diligently for pro-family and social values. Before he suspended his presidential campaign in April, he won 11 primary states and collected several hundred Republican delegates.
Patriot Voices will be a grassroots organization aimed at bringing social conservatives together with the objective to defeat President Obama in November.
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"It's about the issues that will connect with ordinary Americans that feel left out of the process," Santorum said Friday on Fox News.
"Patriot Voices is committed to promoting faith, family, freedom and opportunity," Santorum said in a news release. "We believe that we're one nation under God and all we do must be consistent with the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. The defeat of Barack Obama and those who support his policies will be our first priority."
Most social conservative leaders believe that in order to win in November they must motivate faith-based voters to turn out and vote in record numbers, similar to past election cycles in 1994 and 2000. And just as President Obama's announcement in support of same-sex marriage has engaged the homosexual community and those who support its goal to redefine marriage, Santorum and others such as Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America believe it's critical to rally social conservatives in order to defend life and marriage.
"All conservatives believe this is the most important of our life time," Nance told The Christian Post.
Concerned Women for American is also set to announce early next week the formation of She Votes 2012 – a formal effort to encourage women of faith to vote in November.
"There is not a war against women but there is a war for women," Nance said. "We're the largest single voting block in almost every election. Therefore, it is essentially for conservative women to turn out in record numbers if we are serious about protecting the future of our children and grandchildren."
Ralph Reed, founder of Faith and Freedom Coalition and who shares a similar goal of engaging Christian conservatives, was excited about Santorum's efforts.
"Rick Santorum was one of the most important conservative, pro-family voices in the country even before his remarkable Presidential campaign," Reed said in an email to CP. "I expect Rick's new venture to be a positive and highly effective addition to the existing infrastructure of the conservative movement. Rick's role will be vital and important for many years to come."
The former Pennsylvania senator has been out of the limelight since suspending his campaign, but did announce last month that he was endorsing his former opponent and the presumed GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, after the two met in Pittsburgh. There was some speculation that the meeting did not go well because he did not immediately endorse Romney, but Santorum said the opposite was true.
"We had a great discussion about exactly the issues that we will be talking about wit patriotvoices.com," Santorum told Fox News. It's about the issues that we are going to connect with ordinary Americans who are feeling left out of the political process."
In addition to mobilizing voters, Santorum also said he would use his Red White and Blue PAC to support candidates and organizations that will "stand up for conservative values."
