Rick Santorum's speech after improving from single digits in the polls to within eight votes of victory in Iowa.
Part 1 -- Game on!
"Thank you so much, Iowa... you've taken the first step of taking back our country." He speaks eloquently of his grandfather, who taught him the lesson: "Work hard." He said: "What wins in America is bold ideas, sharp contrasts, and a plan that includes everyone." And more: "When the family breaks down, the economy struggles."
Part 2 -- A rousing finish:
Human life and human dignity--for Rick that's what it's all about. He shares the story of his youngest daughter, Isabella Maria. "You ask me what motivates me? The dignity of every human life."
Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday said she'll put forward legislation to legalize marriage for gay and lesbian couples.
The proposal will be introduced during the legislative session that starts Monday. If it's approved, Washington would become the seventh state to legalize gay marriage.
"It's time, it's the right thing to do, and I will introduce a bill to do it," Gregoire said in a statement.
... The announcement represents a change for Gregoire. While running for governor in 2004, she supported legal rights for same-sex couples but said, "I do not believe that Washington state is ready to support gay marriage."
In a 2008 interview, when she ran for a second term, Gregoire explained her beliefs in more detail.
"There are two issues here," she said. "One is the state's responsibility. To me, the state's responsibility is to absolutely ensure equality. The other is a religious issue, and I leave it to the churches to make that call about marriage." -- The Seattle Times
There are plenty of factors that any voter needs to sort out in deciding whom to support for president. For me, one very important factor is which candidate is most likely to nominate excellent Supreme Court justices and lower-court judges and to work tenaciously to get them confirmed. On this score, the candidate in whom I have by far the greatest confidence is Rick Santorum.
I know Rick not only from his work as a senator but from his four-plus years as a colleague of mine at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. (Rick disaffiliated from EPPC just before he launched his presidential campaign.) Rick is deeply committed to the battle against liberal judicial activism, and I’d be delighted to have him making judicial nominations.
Charles Hurt at the Washington Times writes about why so many reporters wrongly wrote-off Rick Santorum. It's the sweater vest. He's not your slickster rosy scenarioist. He comes from the coal mines of Pennsylvania, he knows that life can be tough, that you have to fight, and that if you fight for what's right, you can win--against long odds. Hurt calls it "time for the porcupine":
... [a] big reason he has been written off from the start is that most political reporters have covered the former Pennsylvania senator in the Senate for the better part of a decade and have reached the conclusion that he is about as lovable as a porcupine with the charm of a possum. He is not your average back-slapping, jovial politician.
... Most politicians thrive on giving soft speeches with gauzy visions of happiness. They are related to the snake oil salesman or the used car salesman. President Obama was one of the best ever. Literally, there are still millions of people out there taking the snake oil he sold them and wondering why they aren’t getting better. Or they are still sitting on the side of the road in the broken down car he sold them jiggling the steering wheel as if it were still going.
That is not Rick Santorum. He does not offer rosy promises. Instead, he talks about fighting. And he talks about “truth.” Or he recites scripture from the Bible, usually the Old Testament. The motto emblazoned on his bus here in Iowa is: “Join the fight.”
... In these deeply troubled times, voters appear especially attracted to Mr. Santorum’s mixture of raw honesty, serious demeanor and battle-ready politics. It might just be that the time of the porcupine has finally come.
Michele Bachmann has decided to suspend her presidential bid after a disappointing showing in Iowa:
Michele Bachmann ended her bid for the Republican presidential nomination Wednesday, hours after a disappointing sixth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses.
The Minnesota congresswoman suspended her campaign, a legal technicality that will allow her to continue to raise and spend campaign funds.
"Last night the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice and so I have decided to stand aside," Bachmann told a crowd of supporters in West Des Moines. But, she added, "I will continue fighting to defeat the president's agenda of socialism."
"It is safe to say we don't see a viable way forward," a Republican source familiar with Bachmann's campaign told CNN before the announcement. -- CNN
Rick Perry, meanwhile, who said last night he was going back to Texas to decide if he sees a way forward, promised via Twitter that he had decided to continue to South Carolina.
Rick Santorum was on Bill Bennett’s radio show this morning, the only show the former Pennsylvania senator plans to do today.
... Bennett, the former education secretary and drug czar, thanked Santorum for “the linking between the economic and the social” on the campaign trail. For Santorum, Bennett said, “the family values doesn’t stand by itself, as some kind of nostalgia … but hard-hitting policy. ‘If you want to succeed as an economy … you have to strengthen families.’”
Borrowing from his stump speech, Santorum said: “You can’t have limited government without strong families. You can’t have a successful economy without strong families.”
... According to entrance polls, of those voters who wanted a true conservative, Santorum got 36 percent and Romney got just 1 percent. (That is not a misprint.)
Though the top two candidates tied, Santorum was the big winner. Weeks ago, the smart people thought that tonight he'd be addressing an empty ballroom of lonely, sad balloons. Instead, the crowd at his victory party is so thick I've practically got supporters on my lap as I type this. Santorum is now the only Flavor of the Week candidate to actually win anything, which makes him a genuine threat to Romney, at least for the moment.
... One of the open questions going into the caucus was how much evangelical voters would participate. They turned out in the identical numbers as the last caucus, with 58 percent of the voters self-identifying as evangelical. They helped Santorum with his surge. "Everyone talks about the economy," said Bill Yewell of Augden, "but Santorum comes at it from a different way. If we take care of the social issues and the family, the economy will come around."
After nine months of plotting and organizing, the two sides of Maryland's same-sex marriage debate are ready to campaign with full force during the General Assembly session, which begins next week.
Opponents plan a day of prayer that a same-sex marriage bill will fail, a slew of Sunday sermons focused on traditional marriage and a rally in Annapolis. They've united forces under a new banner, the Maryland Marriage Alliance.
... [this] is the last chance for lawmakers to pass the [same-sex] legislation with the knowledge that, if petitioned to referendum, the question would be on the 2012 ballot. Some have flatly stated they don't want the controversial measure going to the voters in 2014, when state senators and delegates will be up for re-election.
Since the Maryland Senate is on record supporting the bill, the fight is expected to be in the House of Delegates.
An emotional, invigorated Rick Santorum thanked God and his family on Tuesday night in a rhetorically puffed-up speech celebrating his strong finish in the Iowa caucuses.
"It's been a great journey," Santorum said, as 97 percent of precincts had him edging a handful of votes ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. "I've survived the challenges so far by the daily grace that comes from God for giving me his grace every day, for loving me."
He promised supporters that he can continue his surge in other states, even though Santorum has spent all of his time campaigning in Iowa.
"You will have a friend in Rick Santorum," he said. "We are off to New Hampshire."
The Baltimore Sun'sMaryland Politics blog on how gay marriage activists outspent us last year, but ultimately lost because the people of Maryland oppose redefining marriage:
...The Human Rights Campaign, a national group that support same-sex marriage spent $380,000. That put the group #7 of the list -- and they are playing an even more visible role this coming session. The group vastly outspent an opposing advocacy organization, The National Organization for Marriage, which supports traditional marriage. NOM put $165,000 toward influencing the General Assembly.
It was a very, very powerful speech. The word I would choose to describe it and him is “grounded.” There’s a reason Rupert Murdoch used a word not often used about a presidential candidate surging: “humility.” The humility that comes from standing for something larger than yourself, for people other than yourself. As Rick said, “Game on!”
O.K., I'm not ready to go to bed just yet. As I write this, with 98% of the vote, Santorum is leading Romney by five votes.
Although I find myself in agreement with Santorum in foreign policy, as I listen to his speech I feel like I am connecting with him for the first time. It's the first time I've heard Santorum talk at length about his grandfather. His grandfather was a coal miner and so was mine. His grandfather mined the fields of southwestern Pennsylvania and mine was underground in southwestern Alberta. I don't always agree with Santorum, the way he presents himself and am sure I will find myself at odds with him between now and November. But there's now some real common ground, literally and figuratively.
I was struck by his comment on the values of working people, Santorum said, "These are the people who Barack Obama says cling to their guns and their Bibles. Thank God they do."
If Republicans choose wisely, President Obama is in for one hell of a fight. As Santorum put it, "Game on."
For many voters, tonight was the first time they got a chance to see Rick Santorum as a real contender, after he has spent the past months quietly canvassing every county in Iowa. Tonight viewers of his speech were reminded that hard work and aspiration pay off. Santorum said tonight he learned these essential lessons from the example of his grandfather and father.
He was inspiring, effective, while sounding fully like himself. He contrasted his positions with both the Democrat and Republican establishment, arguing that "cutting taxes is not enough." He offered more: for America to reach its full potential, he said, it must embrace the values that made it into the great country it is. American values, Santorum said, which are not shared by those who currently occupy the White House.
One of my favorite lines of his speech: “Thank God for people who cling to their guns and bibles... They understand that when the family breaks down the economy does." One of Santorum's unique contributions to this debate has been to constantly tie American's economic success to the strength of her families and marriages.
Another favorite line of his: "What motivates me? The dignity of every human life." He also tied human dignity to the particular dignity of work and labor. An uplifting vision which reveals a heart that has been touched by serving rural Pennsylvania areas where shuttered steel mills marked the landscape.
Mitt Romney began his speech by graciously congratulating Santorum for his strong finish tonight. We've got a real race on our hands. And I look forward to seeing how it plays out in the coming critical weeks.
Quin Hillyer of American Spectator on the gracious nature of both top finishers in Iowa:
Santorum's remarks tonight perhaps lacked the lightness and joy that should come with such an unlikely victory. But in every other way it was an incredibly superb speech, very eloquent, very focused, and very, very authentic. Many congratulations to him. Now comes Romney, who I expect will also be gracious.
