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Rick Santorum Announces the Formation of a Presidential Testing the Waters Effort
Washington, DC - During an appearance on the Fox News Channel tonight, former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) announced he is taking the next step in a possible run for president in 2012: the formation of a presidential testing-the-waters effort.
"In 2008 Americans wanted a president who they could believe in, but after two years they realized that what they needed is a president who believes in them," said Senator Santorum. "It's time for America to be America again -- an America that rewards innovation and hard work, that stands by our allies instead of our enemies, that protects even the most vulnerable of our society, and an America that says every life is to be cherished. That is what I believe in, and that's why I'm taking this next step in a possible run for president."
Senator Santorum has visited Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina nearly 40 times, and he heads back to New Hampshire tomorrow. He has hired staff in both Iowa and New Hampshire and won the presidential straw poll in Greenville County, SC last weekend with 31% of the vote.
This testing-the-waters account, which is named the Rick Santorum Exploratory Committee, has been established to allow Senator Santorum to raise funds for the purpose of determining if he will formally become a candidate.
To learn more about former Senator Rick Santorum, please visit www.RickSantorum.com.
The Battle (email to supporters)
Dear Supporter
As you may have seen, last night on Fox News I took a major step toward potentially challenging Barack Obama in 2012 by announcing a Presidential Testing the Waters Effort.
The battle is just beginning, and I will need your help to emphasize that we are the best positioned team to take on President Obama!
Your contribution would go a long way to helping us build the war chest we need to fight the lies and demagoguery of the liberal Left.
Are you with me?
You have always been there when I’ve asked for your support, and I am confident this time will be no different.
It was through your support that we were able to enact the most sweeping reform of a government entitlement when we tackled the welfare system.
It was through your support that we were able to ban heinous partial birth abortions.
And it was through your support that we were able to reduce the tax burden on each and every American.
I need your help again. So please donate today to our new journey & fight for 2012!
President Obama and his Hollywood pals have committed to raising $1 billion to get him re-elected. We need to be able to fight to make America America again – An America that rewards hard work, stands by her allies, and protects the most vulnerable in our society.
Join me in the fight for the country we love!
Join me in the fight for the values we cherish!
Join me in the fight for future generations!
God Bless!
Rick Santorum
Source: Rick Santorum 2012 Exploratory Committee Website
Santorum Establishes Presidential Exploratory Committee with FEC
Will Participate in Fox News-SCGOP Debate on Thursday
Verona, PA - Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) announced today during an appearance on Sean Hannity's radio show that he has established a presidential exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission, and has met all criteria required to participate in the debate sponsored by Fox News and the South Carolina Republican Party scheduled for this Thursday.
"I am pleased that we have taken this important next step in the process to potentially become a candidate for President of the United States. The debate this Thursday is a unique opportunity to put forth ideas and solutions to bring our economy back on track, and with Osama bin Laden's death, I look forward to also discussing in depth ways to tackle our many national security challenges," said Senator Santorum.
In addition to the debate on Thursday night, Senator Santorum will have several open press events while in South Carolina. Details of those events will be released Wednesday morning.
Now the next step (email to supporters)
Dear Supporter,
Today, I released the following press release announcing our next step in this exciting 2012 Presidential race:
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Santorum Establishes Presidential Exploratory Committee with FEC
Will Participate in Fox News-SCGOP Debate on Thursday
Verona, PA - Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) announced today during an appearance on Sean Hannity's radio show that he has established a presidential exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission, and has met all criteria required to participate in the debate sponsored by Fox News and the South Carolina Republican Party scheduled for this Thursday.
"I am pleased that we have taken this important next step in the process to potentially become a candidate for President of the United States. The debate this Thursday is a unique opportunity to put forth ideas and solutions to bring our economy back on track, and with Osama bin Laden's death, I look forward to also discussing in depth ways to tackle our many national security challenges," said Senator Santorum.
In addition to the debate on Thursday night, Senator Santorum will have several open press events while in South Carolina. Details of those events will be released Wednesday morning.
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We've taken the next step in our possible race for the White House by filing our official Rick Santorum Exploratory Committee with the FEC.
Thousands of supporters have pledged their support to our efforts and we feel confident that the debate on Thursday will demonstrate our seriousness to make America America again.
God Bless!
Rick Santorum
P.S. Please consider making a donation today to our exploratory committee and watch the debate on Thursday!
Source: Rick Santorum 2012 Exploratory Committee Website
Rick Santorum Launches Campaign for President of the United States in 2012
Somerset, PA - From the steps of the Somerset County Courthouse not far from where his grandfather worked in the coal mines after coming here from Fascist Italy, former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) formally launched his campaign for President of the United States.
"Today, people are looking for a leader who is optimistic and ready to meet our challenges, not with big government but with free people. In 2008, Americans were eager to find a president who they could believe in, but what they realized was that they needed a president who believed in them," said Senator Santorum. "It's our watch. It's our time. I'm ready to lead with the courage to fight for our freedom and the courage to fight for America. That is why today I am announcing I am running for President of the United States."
Rick Santorum to Make Major Announcement on June 6
Verona, PA - Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) will visit Somerset, Pennsylvania on Monday, June 6 at 11:00 AM ET for a major announcement regarding the 2012 campaign for President of the United States. The location of Somerset County is significant because it was where Senator Santorum's grandfather settled in America after leaving Fascist Italy to work in the Pennsylvania coal mines until he was 72 years old. He chose America for the freedom our nation offered him.
Details of the event are below:
Who: Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA)
What: Major announcement regarding the 2012 campaign for President of the United States
Where:
Somerset County Courthouse
111 East Union Street
Somerset, PA 15501
(located less than 1/2 mile off of the PA Turnpike)
When: Monday, June 6, 2011, 11:00 AM ET
Source: Rick Santorum For President 2012 Website
Rick Santorum New Website "The Road To Ames"
To all our friends and supporters in Iowa, please check out my new website www.roadtoames.com to sign up and learn how you can help us this August at the big Straw Poll in Ames! Join the Fight!
Source: Rick Santorum For President 2012 Website
Rick Santorum e-mail "Join The Fight"
Last night we made a statement, a statement for the restoration of the founding values that made our country the greatest nation in the world. Our founders understood that without strong faith and strong families, we could never truly be free. That without the belief in the value of each and every individual, we cannot have the liberties that epitomize the American experience.
In 2008, America was strained by international and domestic crisis, and voters were looking for a leader they could believe in. Today, after three years of the Obama Administration, Americans are yearning for a president that believes in them – and I believe in America and her people.
We have campaigned from Council Bluffs to Dubuque, Burlington to Sioux City, unapologetically standing tall for the vision of America that our founders intended.
We spoke directly with the people of Iowa, in coffee shops and living rooms. We held over 370 town hall meetings, in all 99 counties. We did not speed date our way through Iowa, we courted her votes and tonight were rewarded. But this is just the beginning, a beginning of a long journey to a brighter future for all Americans.
Stand with me, join the fight for faith, join the fight for strong families, join the fight for the freedoms that made our nation a revolutionary ideal.
Join the Fight!
Rick Santorum
Source: Rick Santorum For President 2012 Website
SANTORUM LAUNCHES NEW REVAMPED RICKSANTORUM.COM
New Campaign Website Creates improved Interactive Experience For Voters
Verona, PA - The Rick Santorum for President campaign is proud to announce the launch of the new www.RickSantorum.com.
Hogan Gidley, National Communications Director, said: "Ever since the Senator's victory in Iowa, we have had difficulty keeping up with the dramatic increase in web-traffic and small dollar donations that have flooded our campaign. When you raise $2 million in two days, it was clear that the time had come to increase our website's capabilities. We hope that our new campaign site is more interactive and user-friendly for voters, so they can be up-to-date on the Senator's activities and vision for America."
To visit the new Rick Santorum for President online headquarters, please go to: www.RickSantorum.com.
Source: Rick Santorum For President 2012 Website
A Message from Rick and Karen: Thank You
Thank you. For your support, for your encouragement, and for your prayers for our family, especially Bella. You may have heard that we were able to bring her home from the hospital last night.
She has pneumonia, but like her Dad, she's a fighter. It's in the blood.
Today I announced that I am suspending my campaign for the President of the United States. This has been one of the hardest decisions Karen and I have ever had to face together. And it has been hard in large measure because of you. I know that my candidacy has offered you a way to fight for your convictions, and I do not want to let you down.
Since I first ran for Congress in a Democrat-majority district in Pittsburgh, I have fought for struggling families. I have fought for the unborn. I have fought for those losing hope in the American Dream.
And during this Presidential race we have fought hard. Together. You have been with me every step of the way. Every volunteer, donor, friend and family has given sacrificially of their time and their treasure. We are humbled and thankful.
We literally started this campaign in our kitchen with family and a few friends. The way that you make decisions. We believe America is the land of opportunity, and decided to do what we can to protect the hope that our forefathers sacrificed to give us a future for our children. A future of freedom secured through our sacrifices today.
Over 160,000 of you contributed to the campaign. Like you have for your children, we have sacrificed almost everything we have to ensure that this hope and dream is not lost with another four years under Barack Obama. Our average donation has been only $73.10. Few races in history have so many people give so modestly to preserve liberty.
We have been outspent in most states 5-1 or even 10-1. And we still won, or we've come incredibly close. Iowa and the three-state sweep. An over 20-point win in Louisiana. Only a few votes short of victory in Michigan and Ohio. We have made history. There has been no other Presidential comeback race like ours.
Our good friends in Texas have been working non-stop to make sure that they have a say in the choice of our nominee, but without the state changing its delegate allocation to winner-take-all, I do not see a path forward that does not risk our shared objective of defeating Barack Obama in November. I want to thank them for their valiant efforts.
I am planning to do everything in my power to bring a change about in the White House. But our campaign has debt, and I cannot be free to focus on helping defeat him with this burden. I am asking you to consider one more contribution...
From the start of this race I have offered a unique voice in the debate. One that the party and the country needs to hear. I have been your voice. I have been positive. I have been willing to stand for issues that some believe are controversial and would prefer to sweep under the rug.
We have carried the torch. High. Together we have fought for the principles that this country was founded on; that made this country great. Without fighting for them, this country cannot continue to be great.
And we have fought fair. I am proud of the race we have run. We talked issues. We avoided character attacks. We have run almost entirely positive ads.
I want to continue to be your voice... We have had miraculous days of almost $1 million from supporters like you that allowed us to be competitive and win key states. We need you to step up again.
When I ran for the Senate in 1994 and defeated a sitting incumbent Senator, I asked the people of Pennsylvania to Join the Fight. They did.
I know you will. God bless you, and please keep us in your prayers. And know that we keep you in ours.
Working hard for America,
Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum Announcement of Suspension of Presidential Campaign Speech Transcript, April 10, 2012, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Thank you very much. It's always an honor to be here in this beautiful town of Gettysburg. It's such a historic town.
First and foremost I just want to thank everybody for the outpouring of prayers over the past weekend. We had a, a difficult weekend. We— Good Friday was a little bit of a passion for us with, a passion play for us with our daughter Bella, who is the joy of our lives, being unfortunately very sick and we ended up in the hospital all weekend, but I'm here just to report to start out things that she is a fighter and she is doing exceptionally well and is back with us in the family and we are looking forward to spending a lot of great time with her.
But it did cause us to think, and as the role that we have as parents in her life and with the rest of our family, this was a time for prayer and thought this past weekend and just like it was frankly when we decided to get into this race. Karen and I and the kids sat at the kitchen table and talked about our hopes and fears and our concerns. And we were very concerned about our role as being the best parents we possibly could to our children in making sure that they had a country that was well where the American Dream was still possible.
And I think that a lot of concerns that we had—Karen and I had particularly for our family—was that with what was going on in Washington, DC and all of the problems that you've heard me talk about on the campaign trail that the American Dream was slipping not just from the hands of average Americans, but for all Americans; that that dream was slipping away and that we had to as good parents to go out and do what we could to take on that responsibility for children across this country.
And so we started out, almost a year ago now in Somerset, Pennsylvania, and I told well my story, our story of our family and my grandfather who came to this country and worked in the coal mines and my father who served our country in World War II and as you have throughout the course of this campaign talked about my stories and stories of our families. But after a while it became less about my story and more about what kept us going were your stories, stories of people across America that we had the privilege of getting the chance to know and interact with.
You know when you travel around— one such story was a guy named Chuck who had a pickup truck and joined our team and drove us around in his Dodge RAM pickup truck for months on end and did so as a volunteer because he believed, he believed that we provided the best opportunity to turn this country around.
And I met a lot of folks in Iowa that I'll never forget, folks like Sam Clovis, who's a talk show host, and I'll never forget this fighter pilot, man of very strong convictions, welling up tearing up about what was going on with our country, and particularly with our national security, and laying out not a three-legged stool of Ronald Reagan, but a four-legged stool with the Constitution being one of those vitally important legs that we have forgotten about.
People like Wendy Jensen who was our best volunteer. Five thousand phone calls, and just a few days before the primary, because she was someone who was dealing with a disability, with an illness, she passed away shortly before the caucus, but was someone that I remember, her passion for the least of us, those who are on the margins of society as many would have looked at her.
Folks even today as because of our daughter Bella, who come to, came to our rallies one after another in wheelchairs, bringing their special needs children and holding signs up of children saying I'm for Bella's dad. Just a beautiful idea of, again not my story, but their stories was what really fueled our campaign and gave us the energy at a time when over and over again we were told forget it, you can't win. We were winning. We were winning in a very different way. We were touching hearts; we were raising issues that well frankly a lot of people didn't want to have raised.
Our best phone caller after Iowa was a young man who came to our first event in Oklahoma in a wheelchair, named Nathaniel, who had spina bifida, and wanted someone who spoke about people again that are overlooked by society or don't seem to be as valuable as others in society.
Folks like the Duggars, the Duggar family, who travelled around with us in their bus and gave their time and energy because again they believed in the basic importance of having strong families as part of a strong country; that we can't have a strong economy as you've heard me say over and over again, without strong families and a strong moral fiber that makes us the moral enterprise that is America.
Even fun things like the sweater vest, amazing thing that sweater vest. It happened on a night I was doing an event for Mike Huckabee in Des Moines and showed up and everybody was in suits and ties and I showed up in a sweater vest, and turned out I gave a pretty good speech that night and all of the sudden the Twitterverse went wild saying it must be the sweater vest and from that point on the sweater vest became the official wardrobe of the Santorum campaign. And the cool thing was we, obviously we have a big part of our campaign is the manufacturing base of the economy, and so we of course sourced that sweater vest in a company that was making them here in the United States, and so we ended up going to that little company up in Bemidji, MN in the middle of winter. It was a beautiful day, and got a chance to see that little plant that had been around for almost a hundred years, and turned out we're the best customer that Bemidji Woolen Mills has ever had in their entire history.
So it's been a wonderful story after story of people who have come forward. Two girls who put together a song in Tulsa, Oklahoma called "Game On," who have traveled and followed us around and over a million hits on YouTube of that catchy little tune that they were inspired to give.
And even today we have folks working for us in Texas to make it a winner-take-all primary because they want to make sure that we have the best opportunity to, for Texas and for conservatives to have a voice throughout the course of this primary. It has been inspiring to me the story after stories that we've been engaged with.
It turns out that it really wasn't my voice that I was out communicating; it was your voice. The voice that you gave me from the stories and experience I had. And that's what people say, how did this happen? How were we able to come to from nowhere? It's because I was smart enough to figure out that if I understood and felt at a very deep level what you were experiencing across America and tried to be a witness to that, tried to be in a sense an interpreter of that, that your voice could be heard and miracles could happen and so it did.
Miracle after miracle, this race was as improbable as any race that you will ever see for president.
I want to thank God for that and I want to thank all of you, thank all of you across this country for what you have given, well, hopefully not just me and our family, but, what you’ve given which is a voice to those who are in many cases voiceless. And we have tried to be a witness not just for your stories and your voice, but to provide a positive and hopeful vision, not a negative campaign.
We traveled around and did 385 town hall meetings in Iowa. We weren’t out there trashing anybody. We went out in our campaigns from that point on and painted a hopeful and positive vision for our country. One that was based on how we could get this country turned around not just economically, not just economically but reflecting the hopes of Americans, not just the fears of Americans—the hopes of Americans. What we could do to confront the violent radical Islam and particularly the scourge of Iran. And what we could do to take on the problems of a sluggish economy and a Washington that's grown so big.
We put forth concrete solid plans that many of which came from the people that I had an opportunity to interact with throughout the course and time of this campaign. We did focus a lot, yes on the families, on the dignity of human life, and on the moral enterprise that is America. And I know Joe Klein will be upset about this, but one of my favorite articles was the one that he wrote, where his headline was “Rick Santorum’s Inconvenient Truths,” and talked about things that maybe we should talk about a little more, but somehow get shoved aside in the public discourse.
We talked about how we were going to build a great country from the bottom up and we carried around our copy of the Constitution. Of course it was that Constitution that got the Tea Party folks excited, legitimately so, about the operator’s manual of America being discarded by those in Washington, and I think what I tried to bring to the battle was what Abraham Lincoln brought to this battlefield back in 1863 on November 19th, when he talked about this country being conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. He was quoting of course the Declaration of Independence, conceived in that Declaration. We talked about that Declaration as the heart of American exceptionalism as to who we are.
Because we will never be a country that can go forward as a great and powerful country again unless we remember who we are, and what makes us Americans.
That’s what our campaign was about. About what made us Americans. How we built this country from the bottom up and how if we are going to be successful in the future, how we must believe in ourselves and believe in that ability to go forward and do the same thing.
Against all odds we won eleven states, millions of voters, millions of votes. We won more counties than all the other people in this race combined. We were able to spread that message far and wide across this country, and what we found is that, well we found that support, I found a deeper love for this country. Every state I went to, and those of you that followed me around, I would say I really love this state. It was a love affair for me, going from state to state and seeing the differences, but seeing the wonderful, wonderful people of this country, who care deeply about where this country is going in the future, who care deeply about those who out there paddling alone, who are feeling left behind and in some respects feeling hopeless, and want to do something.
Well, ladies and gentleman we made the decision to get in to this race at our kitchen table against all the odds and we made a decision over the weekend, that while this Presidential race for us is over, for me and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting. We are going to continue to fight for those voices, we are going to continue to fight for those that stood up and gave us that, that air under our wings that allowed us to accomplish things that no political expert would have ever expected.
There’s a lot of greatness, a lot of greatness in this country and we just need leaders that believe in that., who are willing to give voice to that, who are willing to raise us up instead of trying to provide for us, do for us what we can better do for ourselves. That’s the message that came to me and it’s one that I feel very good about continuing to talk to Americans about.
You know I walked out after the Iowa Caucus victory and said “game on.” I know a lot of folks are going to write, maybe those even at the White House, game over. But this game is a long, long, long way from over. We are going to continue to go out there to fight to make sure that we defeat President Barack Obama, that we win the House back, and that we take the United States Senate and that we stand for the values that make us Americans, that make us the greatest country in the history of the world, that shining city on the hill, to be a beacon for everybody for freedom around the world.
Thank you all very much. God Bless you.
© Mike Dec, 4President Corporation and Eric Appleman, Democracy in Action
THE SANTORUM CAMPAIGN UPDATES THE CONDITION OF BELLA SANTORUM AND ANNOUNCES SCHEDULING CHANGES FOR TUESDAY
Verona, PA - Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum and his wife Karen are excited to share that their daughter Bella has returned home from the hospital.
Hogan Gidley, National Communications Director, said: "Rick and Karen are happy to announce that their daughter Bella has been discharged from the hospital and returned home earlier Monday evening. The Santorum's are truly overwhelmed by the prayers and support they've received - and wanted to attach a picture of their daughter Bella so everyone could see their precious gift from God.
The campaign has cancelled its first two events of the day to allow Rick, Karen and Bella to settle in at home. To make up for the morning events, the campaign is adding a campaign stop in Gettysburg, PA at 2 pm and the remainder of the day's public and private events will continue as originally planned."
Tuesday, April 10:
2:00pm ET: Senator Santorum will hold an event in Gettysburg, PA.
Location:
Gettysburg Hotel
Thaddeus Stevens Room
One Lincoln Square
Gettysburg, PA
Source: Rick Santorum For President 2012 Website