Buried underneath pages and pages of Anthony Weiner sex scandal headlines, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum announced he will run for the Republican nomination.  No one really noticed though.  Santorum, who desperately needs some PR, was overshadowed by Congressman Weiner’s tearful press conference on Monday.

Santorum made his announcement on the court room steps in Somerset County of his home state. Santorum, 53, appeared with his wife, Karen, and their seven children to make the decision official, although it has been speculated by the press that he would run for months.

“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,” he said. “That’s why I’m announcing today that I am running for president of the United States.”

Santorum spent his speech trying to appeal to the undecided Tea Party that has not rallied around a specific candidate.  The principal purpose of America was to make sure each and every person was free. Ladies and gentlemen, that is at stake now,’’ Santorum said, pointing to a Democrat-pushed health care law that conservatives loathe.

“Every single American will be hooked to the government with an IV,’’ Santorum said. “They want to hook you. They don’t want to free you. They don’t want to give you opportunity . . . This president does not trust you to make a decision on your health care plan.’’

He also targeted the Obama administration and accused the president of spending billions of dollars. “I believe now, that Americans now are not looking for someone they can believe in,’’ Santorum said in a mocking reference to Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan, “Change You Can Believe In.’’

“They’re looking for a president who believes in them,’’ Santorum said.

Santorum was booted out of his Senate seat in 2006 and is known for making very controversial and offensive remarks.  He has suggested that sodomy should be illegal to prevent acts which “undermine the basic tenets of our society and the family.”  He stated he did not have a problem with homosexuals, just homosexual acts.  In an interview with the Associated Press, he suggested that laws of privacy do not exist in the U.S. Constitution.  “If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything.”

Santorum also lacks the name recognition and fundraising powers of some of the other actual or probable Republican nominees, suggesting that he will remain a fringe candidate and flame out early in the primary season.

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About the author

Erin Chavez
Erin Whitney-Chavez has been writing professionally since 2009. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from St. Bonaventure University and received a Master of Arts in mental-health counseling from Argosy University. Erin Whitney-Chavez is a licensed mental health counselor and has worked in the mental-health field for more than 10 years.

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