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| Rick Santorum - a man devoted to the truth |
Rick Santorum for US President - Praying that God's candidate will also become the people's choice in 2012
My Fellow Crusaders,
Ave Maria!!
I got this article from a blog and I want to share it to all of you. Although I am not a US Citizen, I really pray that the next president of your great country will adhere to the laws of God and most especially to the laws of our Holy Religion like the greatest Catholic president, Garcia Moreno. It appears that Rick Santorum will be a great choice. As you can read below, it was really edifying to know that " Rick Santorum, along with Karen and their children, regularly attend the weekly Solemn Mass in Latin at their local Catholic church, St Catherine of Siena, Great Falls VA - at which it seems that Gregorian chant is the norm."
The norm for judging a man worthy of your support is the true interests of God, of the Church and the State. "It is fit and proper to give support to men of acknowledged worth, and who pledge themselves to deserve well in the Catholic cause, and on no account may it be allowed to prefer to them any such individuals who are hostile to religion."
Pope Leo XIII wrote in his Encyclical Sapientiae Christianae and I quote, "The Church cannot give countenance or favor to those whom she knows to be imbued with a spirit of hostility to her; who refuse openly to respect her nature of things, connect the interests of religion with those of the state."
According to democratic tradition and Christian ethics, a public office is a public trust. This means that the holder of that office has authority, not in his own right, but because it has been conferred upon him by God through the people. Hence, the office holder in a democracy is in a very real sense a servant of the people as well as a servant of God; and he must use his authority only as the law of God dictates and the interests of the people demand.
Thank you,
Renel
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Rick Santorum for US President - Praying that God's candidate will also become the people's choice in 2012
Since coming a very close second to Mitt Romney in the 2012 Iowa Republican caucuses on 3 January, Rick Santorum is now a serious contender to win that party's nomination in this year's US Presidential election campaign. Fortunes change. Only a few weeks ago, Santorum had been dismissed by the mainstream American press for supposedly being out of touch, irrelevant or a no hoper. Now we see that the American people are beginning to think otherwise. They know an honest man when they see one.
European history is littered with the odd saintly monarch, such as St Louis IX of France or St Edward the Confessor. These men ruled as unashamedly devoted followers of Jesus Christ. They cared for the poor, for justice and for the lives of all their subjects. They built churches and helped the Church's mission. Their reigns were wedded to the truth of the Beatitudes and they humbly served their people, taking Christ as their pattern. So far, though, there haven't been many saints within the ranks of non-crowned heads of state. Maybe it's because kings and queens owe their positions to God, whilst presidents are at the mercy of opinion polls? Also, of course, post-Enlightenment republics tend to obsess about the so-called separation of Church and state - which can make things difficult if their politicians aspire to be saints, too!
It might be, though, that if Santorum (a name that actually means "saint") was elected the next President of the United States, the people of that great land will also gain their first potentially saintly leader (in the religious and Catholic sense, that is). After 230 years, it's time that Americans had a devoted and truly Christian President, even if a few Protestants have brought some Christ-centred faith into the Oval Office from time to time. Political leaders like Rick Santorum, who truly serve God, will always seek the good of the people they work for, whilst those whose primary obedience is to the shifting sands of public opinion invariably find it very difficult to conform both privately and publicly to what is truly right and just.
Santorum knows this. He has already mentioned that if elected US President he would not be another Jack Kennedy - Catholic in name only. His Christianity motivates both his private conscience and his public policy. He wears his faith on his sleeve, and if people don't want a man who is loyal to Christ as their political leader, then more fool them. As many have already noted, Rick Santorum isn't going to water-down his religious convictions or reject his privately held morality in order to secure the Presidency. In fact, he trusts that people will be attracted to the truth and to a man who is willing to defend it - standing firm and not bending to the whims of the pollsters. With Santorum, what you see is what you get. People like that. Media pundits, though, are mystified by it.
So far in his public career, Rick Santorum has spoken his mind freely on a range of issues that many politicians - especially here in Europe - would shy away from. He has openly and unapologetically declared himself to be pro-life and has also stated that he would oppose 'gay marriage', even to the point of invalidating the ones that might already have been contracted in the various States that recognise homosexual unions. On social issues, like poverty, Santorum also tends to adhere to the Church's teaching - ensuring care for society's most vulnerable members, whilst also wanting a safer, more secure and ultimately peaceful world. He believes in the inherent sanctity of work, but also knows that the 'widow and orphan', so to speak, need compassion and mercy. Santorum would also take a firm stand to ensure that nations like Iran would no longer be in a position to hold other sovereign states to ransom. (I also quite like the fact that Santorum has called the hysteria surrounding climate change "junk science" - but don't tell the Pope that, as he's a keen personal advocate of the green movement!).
In his private life, former Senator Santorum has had to endure many hardships, which he has always borne with grace and an exemplary acceptance of God's will. His greatest cross must have been when he and his wife, Karen, tragically lost a child a few years ago. Another of their six remaining children suffers from a serious genetic illness. Yet, Santorum has even shown great serenity and peace in the face of his enemies' taunts - which have often been horrifically personal and also unjustly directed at his family (some even making 'jokes' about the way he and his wife chose to mark their child's death). He retains the joy of one who is deeply devoted to Christ and his Church. of one who knows the true value of human life. He is unashamedly proud to be a Catholic, and a traditional one at that. Unlike the Kennedys, then, his religious faith is not merely used as a political tool (even if some of them were also religious). Catholicism for Santorum is not a means of garnering the Irish, Italian or Latino vote. It is something to which he and his family are deeply attached.
In fact, Rick Santorum, along with Karen and their children, regularly attend the weekly Solemn Mass in Latin at their local Catholic church, St Catherine of Siena, Great Falls VA - at which it seems that Gregorian chant is the norm. Santorum is also an active Knight of Malta. He was also present in Rome to mark the 100th anniversary of St Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer's birth at a special Opus Dei celebration. At that event nearly 10-years ago to the day, he told the well-known Catholic journalist, John Allen, that President Kennedy's distinction between private religious conviction and public responsibility had caused "great harm in America". He went on to add: "All of us have heard people say, 'I privately am against abortion, homosexual marriage, stem cell research, cloning. But who am I to decide that it's not right for somebody else?' It sounds good, but it is the corruption of freedom of conscience." Now, there's a man who believes what he says, and says what he believes - a very rare politician indeed!
Already, many Catholics and other Christians, as well as people of good will from a wide range of beliefs, are rejoicing to see that this God-fearing man is now closer to making it into the White House than he was only a few days ago. It even seems that Santorum-mania has caught on over on this side of the pond, too - especially amongst some of the UK's Catholic bloggers. Anthony Radice at A Tiny Son of Mary has started a Rosary Crusade for the intention of getting Santorum elected (called "Rosaries for Rick"), whilst Richard Collins at Linen on the Hedgerow recently recalled that the nuns who taught him encouraged the whole school to pray for JFK in 1960 - with the intention that a Catholic would become leader of the free world. As Richard points out: "The odds have never bothered God so why should they bother us."
With that in mind, then, I for one - although not an American and therefore obviously having no actual vote in the US Presidential elections - will be casting a spiritual vote by joining others in praying the Rosary for Rick Santorum. I invite those who read this post to join me in saying a Rosary for Rick .
Not wanting to prematurely canonise Santorum, I truly believe that if he were to become the 45th President of the United States, that country would have gained its first properly saintly leader. Without wanting to judge JFK - the only Catholic to have been elected to the White House so far - too harshly, either, I think it fair to say that the 35th President was no saint. In that sense, the fact that Rick Santorum is currently a real contender for the Republican nomination is surely a cause for joy. Be sure, though, that those who hate life, truth and the Gospel's profound liberty, will do all that they can to attack this good man. For that reason, please pray for Rick Santorum and his family - remembering that "with God, nothing is impossible" (cf Lk 1:37).
[Image: Republican Presidential hopeful, Rick Santorum; this image is in the public domain and is the work of the US federal government; source: Wikimedia Commons]
European history is littered with the odd saintly monarch, such as St Louis IX of France or St Edward the Confessor. These men ruled as unashamedly devoted followers of Jesus Christ. They cared for the poor, for justice and for the lives of all their subjects. They built churches and helped the Church's mission. Their reigns were wedded to the truth of the Beatitudes and they humbly served their people, taking Christ as their pattern. So far, though, there haven't been many saints within the ranks of non-crowned heads of state. Maybe it's because kings and queens owe their positions to God, whilst presidents are at the mercy of opinion polls? Also, of course, post-Enlightenment republics tend to obsess about the so-called separation of Church and state - which can make things difficult if their politicians aspire to be saints, too!
It might be, though, that if Santorum (a name that actually means "saint") was elected the next President of the United States, the people of that great land will also gain their first potentially saintly leader (in the religious and Catholic sense, that is). After 230 years, it's time that Americans had a devoted and truly Christian President, even if a few Protestants have brought some Christ-centred faith into the Oval Office from time to time. Political leaders like Rick Santorum, who truly serve God, will always seek the good of the people they work for, whilst those whose primary obedience is to the shifting sands of public opinion invariably find it very difficult to conform both privately and publicly to what is truly right and just.
Santorum knows this. He has already mentioned that if elected US President he would not be another Jack Kennedy - Catholic in name only. His Christianity motivates both his private conscience and his public policy. He wears his faith on his sleeve, and if people don't want a man who is loyal to Christ as their political leader, then more fool them. As many have already noted, Rick Santorum isn't going to water-down his religious convictions or reject his privately held morality in order to secure the Presidency. In fact, he trusts that people will be attracted to the truth and to a man who is willing to defend it - standing firm and not bending to the whims of the pollsters. With Santorum, what you see is what you get. People like that. Media pundits, though, are mystified by it.
So far in his public career, Rick Santorum has spoken his mind freely on a range of issues that many politicians - especially here in Europe - would shy away from. He has openly and unapologetically declared himself to be pro-life and has also stated that he would oppose 'gay marriage', even to the point of invalidating the ones that might already have been contracted in the various States that recognise homosexual unions. On social issues, like poverty, Santorum also tends to adhere to the Church's teaching - ensuring care for society's most vulnerable members, whilst also wanting a safer, more secure and ultimately peaceful world. He believes in the inherent sanctity of work, but also knows that the 'widow and orphan', so to speak, need compassion and mercy. Santorum would also take a firm stand to ensure that nations like Iran would no longer be in a position to hold other sovereign states to ransom. (I also quite like the fact that Santorum has called the hysteria surrounding climate change "junk science" - but don't tell the Pope that, as he's a keen personal advocate of the green movement!).
In his private life, former Senator Santorum has had to endure many hardships, which he has always borne with grace and an exemplary acceptance of God's will. His greatest cross must have been when he and his wife, Karen, tragically lost a child a few years ago. Another of their six remaining children suffers from a serious genetic illness. Yet, Santorum has even shown great serenity and peace in the face of his enemies' taunts - which have often been horrifically personal and also unjustly directed at his family (some even making 'jokes' about the way he and his wife chose to mark their child's death). He retains the joy of one who is deeply devoted to Christ and his Church. of one who knows the true value of human life. He is unashamedly proud to be a Catholic, and a traditional one at that. Unlike the Kennedys, then, his religious faith is not merely used as a political tool (even if some of them were also religious). Catholicism for Santorum is not a means of garnering the Irish, Italian or Latino vote. It is something to which he and his family are deeply attached.
In fact, Rick Santorum, along with Karen and their children, regularly attend the weekly Solemn Mass in Latin at their local Catholic church, St Catherine of Siena, Great Falls VA - at which it seems that Gregorian chant is the norm. Santorum is also an active Knight of Malta. He was also present in Rome to mark the 100th anniversary of St Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer's birth at a special Opus Dei celebration. At that event nearly 10-years ago to the day, he told the well-known Catholic journalist, John Allen, that President Kennedy's distinction between private religious conviction and public responsibility had caused "great harm in America". He went on to add: "All of us have heard people say, 'I privately am against abortion, homosexual marriage, stem cell research, cloning. But who am I to decide that it's not right for somebody else?' It sounds good, but it is the corruption of freedom of conscience." Now, there's a man who believes what he says, and says what he believes - a very rare politician indeed!
Already, many Catholics and other Christians, as well as people of good will from a wide range of beliefs, are rejoicing to see that this God-fearing man is now closer to making it into the White House than he was only a few days ago. It even seems that Santorum-mania has caught on over on this side of the pond, too - especially amongst some of the UK's Catholic bloggers. Anthony Radice at A Tiny Son of Mary has started a Rosary Crusade for the intention of getting Santorum elected (called "Rosaries for Rick"), whilst Richard Collins at Linen on the Hedgerow recently recalled that the nuns who taught him encouraged the whole school to pray for JFK in 1960 - with the intention that a Catholic would become leader of the free world. As Richard points out: "The odds have never bothered God so why should they bother us."
With that in mind, then, I for one - although not an American and therefore obviously having no actual vote in the US Presidential elections - will be casting a spiritual vote by joining others in praying the Rosary for Rick Santorum. I invite those who read this post to join me in saying a Rosary for Rick .
Not wanting to prematurely canonise Santorum, I truly believe that if he were to become the 45th President of the United States, that country would have gained its first properly saintly leader. Without wanting to judge JFK - the only Catholic to have been elected to the White House so far - too harshly, either, I think it fair to say that the 35th President was no saint. In that sense, the fact that Rick Santorum is currently a real contender for the Republican nomination is surely a cause for joy. Be sure, though, that those who hate life, truth and the Gospel's profound liberty, will do all that they can to attack this good man. For that reason, please pray for Rick Santorum and his family - remembering that "with God, nothing is impossible" (cf Lk 1:37).
[Image: Republican Presidential hopeful, Rick Santorum; this image is in the public domain and is the work of the US federal government; source: Wikimedia Commons]
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dawn Marie on
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01/ 6/2012
The Gospel according to Rick Santorum
The republican Rick Santorum
God, family and country are the strong points of the rising star in the race for the republican nomination for the White House
Vatican Insider Staff
RomeGod, family and country are the guidelines for Rick Santorum, rising star for the Republican nomination for the White House, also considered the moral winner of the caucus in Iowa where he came second by just eight votes. And obviously, after the results were made public, Santorum said three thanks: to his wife, to God and to Iowa.
Religion and Christian values have been among the main themes of his electoral campaign from the beginning. In televised debates in the past months, Santorum, who every Sunday attends mass in Latin in a church near Washington, reiterated his hostility towards gay marriage, contraception and abortion (even in a case of rape).
The country and its defence are, however, obviously Santorum’s favourite grounds to criticize the current resident of the White House, who according to him is the most divisive president of all time, because ‘speech after speech tries to divide America in social classes, racial and ethnic groups’. But on the other hand, concerning Iran, for example, according to Santorum, Obama is “naive”; while he, Santorum, would be ready to bomb the Iranian nuclear sites if Teheran refused to withdraw from its military operations. Moreover, Santorum claims that «America is at war with Islamic fascism », while Obama «doesn’t admit that Jihadism is the evil, he doesn’t admit that Sharia (Islamic law, ndr) is incompatible with western society and the United States »
Usually however family, since his first parliamentary involvement, is one of Santorum’s strong points; in December he moved the country answering a question on how he was able to continue his electoral campaign when his daughter, Bella, the youngest of his seven children is terminally ill and her life is measured in “days and weeks”
Talking with ABC journalist Christiane Amanpour who was asking him why he carried on his electoral campaign, seeing his daughter’s health situation and since according to the polls he was at the bottom of the candidates list, Santorum answered: “I do not worry about the polls. I try to be the best father and husband possible and a large part of this is to try and build a country that respects her life and a country that is free, safe and prosperous for all my children».
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Permalink Reply by Cathleen on
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I knew about he and his wife losing the one child but hadn't heard about the other little girl. I am very sorry to hear that. Having gone through a similar situation, my heart goes out to them. :-(
May God's Holy Will be done.
As +HE Williamson said, "Gottes Zeit is die allerbeste Zeit." (God's time is the "best" time ---my translation is not the best)
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Permalink Reply by Alan on
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These clowns at the ADL never cease to amaze me!
ADL to Rick Santorum: Keep Emphasis on Religion Out of Campaign
New York, NY, January 6, 2012 … In response to his comment on a radio show that "we always need a Jesus candidate," the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum to refrain from overt expressions of religious preferences and beliefs on the campaign trail, stating that "religious appeals to voters are simply unacceptable and un-American."
"Senator Santorum's remark comparing himself to a 'Jesus candidate' was inappropriate and exclusionary. It essentially says that those of other faiths or of no faith – whether Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, non-believers or others – do not belong," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Religious appeals to voters are simply unacceptable and un-American. Voters should be encouraged to make their decisions based upon their assessment of the qualifications, integrity and political positions of candidates, not the intensity of their religious beliefs."
The League has long maintained that candidates should feel comfortable explaining their religious convictions to voters, but that there is a point at which an emphasis on religion in a political campaign becomes inappropriate and even unsettling.
Sen. Santorum said Thursday in response to a question from a caller on a radio show that he disagreed the economy was the essential issue of the campaign. The caller commented, "We don't need a Jesus candidate; we need an economic candidate," to which Sen. Santorum replied: "My answer to that was, we always need a Jesus candidate. We need someone who believes in something more than themselves and not just the economy. … When we say, "God bless America," do we mean it or do we just say it?"
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Former senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) rocketed from being just a blip in the polls to coming within eight votes of clinching the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday..., due in large part to his strong showing among the Hawkeye State’s social conservatives.
Here is the text and video of Santorum’s caucus-night speech, delivered to supporters at the Stoney Creek Inn in Johnston, Iowa. (Text courtesy of FDCH Transcripts.)
JANUARY 3, 2012
SPEAKER: FORMER SEN. RICK SANTORUM, R-PA.,
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
[*]
SANTORUM: Thank you. Thank you. Game on.
(APPLAUSE) As all of you know, I do not speak from notes, but there’s a couple things I want to say that are a little — little more emotional, so I’m going to read them as I wrote them.
C.S. Lewis said a friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you’ve forgotten the words. My best friend, my life mate, who sings that song when I forget the words, is my wife, Karen.
(APPLAUSE)
People have asked me how I’ve done this, sitting back at the polls and not getting a whole lot of attention paid to us. How did you keep going out to Iowa, in 99 counties, and 381 town hall meetings and speeches? Well, every morning when I was getting up in the morning to take on that challenge, I’ve required a strength from another particular friendship, one that is sacred. I’ve survived the challenges so far by the daily grace that comes from God.
(APPLAUSE)
For giving me his grace every day, for loving me, warts and all, I offer a public thanks to God.
(APPLAUSE)
Third, thanks. Thank you so much, Iowa.
(APPLAUSE)
You — you, by standing up and not compromising, by standing up and being bold and leading, leading with that burden and responsibility you have to be first, you have taken the first step of taking back this country.
(APPLAUSE)
This journey started officially just a few months ago in June, when I stood on the steps of the county courthouse in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. I decided to go there, not the typical place someone announces for president — it’s not where I was born, it’s not where I ever lived — but it’s where my grandfather came back in 1925. He came by himself, even though he was married with two children, one of them being my father. He came after having fought in World War I, because Mussolini had been in power now three years, and he had figured out that fascism was something that would crush his spirit and his freedom and give his children something less than he wanted for them.
So he made a sacrifice. He left to the coal fields of southwestern Pennsylvania. He worked in the mine at a company town, got paid with coupons, he used to call them, lived in a shack. Eventually, he figured out that that was a trip to nowhere, so he started taking less — taking money less so he could start to save, and he did. And after five years, he got his citizenship and brought my father over at the age of 7. He ended up continuing to work in those mines until he was 72 years old, digging coal. I’ll never forget the first time I saw someone who had died. It was my grandfather. And I knelt next to his coffin. And all I could do — eye level — was look at his hands. They were enormous hands. And all I could think was those hands dug freedom for me.
And so to honor him, I went to Somerset County, because I believe foundationally, while the economy is in horrible condition, while our country is not as safe as it was, and while threats are rising around the world, while the state of our culture under this administration continues to decline with the values that are unlike the values that built this country, that the essential issue in this race is freedom, whether we will be a country that believes that government can do things for us better than we can do for ourselves, or whether we believe, as our founders did, that rights come to us from God and, when he gave us those rights, he gave us the freedom to go out and live those — live those rights out to build a great and just society not from the top down, but from the bottom up.
(APPLAUSE)
My grandfather taught me basic things that my dad taught me over and over again: Work hard, work hard, and work hard. And I think about that today. There are so many men and women right now who would love to work hard, but they don’t have the opportunity.
And we have two parties who are out talking about how they’re going to solve those problems. One wants to talk about raising taxes on people who have been successful and redistributing money, increasing dependency in this country, promoting more Medicare and food stamps and all sorts of social welfare programs, and passing Obamacare to provide even more government subsidies, more and more dependency, more and more government, exactly what my grandfather left in 1925.
And then there’s another vision, with another vision, the Republican vision, which is, let’s just cut taxes, let’s just reduce spending and everyone will be fine.
I believe in cutting taxes. I believe in balancing budgets. I propose cutting $5 trillion from this budget over the next five years. I support a balanced budget amendment that puts a cap at 18 percent of GDP as a guarantee of freedom for this country. But ...
(APPLAUSE)
But I also believe we as Republicans have to look at those who are not doing well in our society by just cutting taxes and balancing budgets, and that’s why I put forth a plan that Iowans responded to. It’s a plan that says, yes, let’s flatten the tax code, get rid of it, replace it with five deductions. Let’s create two rates, 10 percent and 28 percent. Why 28 percent? If it’s good enough for Ronald Reagan, it’s good enough for me.
(APPLAUSE) And then I take the corporate tax, cut that in half, because it’s the highest in the world, and we need to be competitive. But when I traveled around Iowa to the small towns, I found a lot of those small towns were just like the small towns that I traveled around in Pennsylvania. They were towns that were centered around manufacturing and processing, those good jobs that built those towns, and those jobs slowly, whether it’s in Hamburg, whether it’s in Newton, or any place in between, we found those jobs leaving Iowa.
Why? Because our workers didn’t want to work? Because our workers weren’t competitive? No. It’s because government made workers uncompetitive by driving up the cost of doing business here. It’s 20 percent more expensive to do manufacturing jobs in this country than it is in the top nine trading partners that we have to compete with. And that’s why we’re losing our jobs.
And so when Republican purists say to me, well, why are you treating manufacturing different than retail? I say because Wal- Mart’s not moving to China and taking their jobs with them.
(APPLAUSE)
So we eliminate the corporate tax on manufacturing so we can compete. We take the regulations, every regulation that’s over $100 million, and we repeal all those regulations, repeal them all, and there’s a lot of them. Under the Bush and Clinton administrations, they averaged 60 regulations over $100 million a year. This administration hit 150 last year.
You don’t want to know what’s crushing business. This administration is crushing business.
(APPLAUSE)
People have asked me, well, why do you think you can win? Because we’ve been told by so many people that there’s another candidate in this race who is running a rather close race with me tonight ...
(LAUGHTER)
... that is a better person to choose because he can win. Let me tell you ...
(BOOING)
(UNKNOWN): Romneycare.
SANTORUM: ... what wins — what did you say?
(UNKNOWN): Romneycare.
SANTORUM: Oh, Romneycare, okay.
(LAUGHTER) I just didn’t hear you. What wins — what wins in America are bold ideas, sharp contrasts, and a plan that includes everyone, and a plan that includes people from all across the economic spectrum, a plan that says we will work together to get America to work.
(APPLAUSE)
How did I win when I won in Pennsylvania? I won because I went out and worked in the communities like I grew up in, Butler, Pennsylvania, a steel town. How was I able to win as a congressman in a 60 percent Democratic district and then in a 70 percent Democratic district, which represented all of the old abandoned steel mills in Pittsburgh? All of them, all along the Monongahela River, those mills were in my district. And I ran in a tough election year, when George Bush Sr., was losing the election by a landslide in my district, and I got 60 percent of the vote, because I shared the values of the working people in that district.
If we have someone who can go out to western Pennsylvania and Ohio and Michigan and Indiana and Wisconsin and Iowa and Missouri and appeal to the voters that have been left behind by a Democratic Party that wants to make them dependent instead of valuing their work, we will win this election.
(APPLAUSE)
Those are the same people that President Obama talked about who cling to their guns and their Bibles.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank God they do.
(APPLAUSE)
They share our values about faith and family. They understand that when the family breaks down, the economy struggles.
(APPLAUSE)
They understand when families aren’t there to instill values into their children and into their neighbors as Little League coaches, as good neighbors of fathers and mothers being part of a community, that the neighborhood is not safe and they are not free.
These are the basic values that Americans stand for. And those are the values that we need if we’re going to go up against Barack Obama and win this election and restore the founding principles of our country to America.
(APPLAUSE)
I want to close by thanking all of you. This has been an incredible journey, 99 counties, 381 town hall meetings, 36 Pizza Ranches ...
(LAUGHTER)
... and you’ll notice I’m not buttoning my coat for a reason.
(LAUGHTER)
Okay, I love Iowa, but the fare can be a little bit thickening.
(LAUGHTER)
It’s been a great journey. And I just have to say, I always said, you know, the three words that I heard most often when I traveled around this state ...
(UNKNOWN): “We pick Rick”?
SANTORUM: Well, that was — that was late.
(UNKNOWN): “Welcome to Iowa.”
SANTORUM: “Welcome to Iowa.”
(APPLAUSE)
I want to thank the Iowans who are up here on stage. You were introduced to many of them. Folks who stood up when no one else was standing up, folks who, when I was sitting at single digits in the polls, believed in the message and the messenger, believed in the cause, and were willing to stand behind us and do what was not popular in the world today: lead. They led. And to each and every one of you, I want to thank you for leading, for doing what was necessary to promote the cause of liberty. Thank you, including Matt Schultz.
(APPLAUSE)
I have — I have to particularly give a shoutout to the guy who really helped us on the ground here as a volunteer late, became a little bit of a symbol of the campaign, the owner of the Chuck Truck.
(APPLAUSE)
I love that — I don’t really often talk about the New York Times, but I love that graphic in the New York Times that had — had how the entourages traveled around the state. And there were these long rows of buses and people and airplanes and SUVs and people and staff. And then all the way at the bottom was the Chuck Truck, me and Matt and one of my kids. That was — that was the ...
(CROSSTALK)
(APPLAUSE)
I started with this; I’m going to end with it. You know, I’ve written a whole bunch of books in my life. I’ve written just one. It’s called “It Takes a Family.” I started my speech talking about my wife, and I’ll end it talking about the other gems in my life. Six of my kids are up here, Elizabeth, John, Daniel, Sarah Maria, Peter and Patrick. They have not seen much of their dad over the past several months. Yet they’ve stood by me, every step of the way, encouraged me and loved me, unconditionally.
There’s another little girl who’s not here tonight. She is with a little button (ph). She’s our little angel. That’s Isabella Maria. Isabella Maria, we don’t take her out in crowds. She’s — has a disability. She has a disability that has, according to the records, the statistics, has a 1 percent chance of survival after one year. She is 31 / 2 years old.
(APPLAUSE)
So Bella is here with us in spirit and is deeply embedded into my heart. People ask what motivates me. I say the dignity of every human life.
(APPLAUSE)
God has given us this great country to allow his people — to allow his people to be free, has given us that dignity because we are a creation of his, and we need to honor that creation. And whether it’s the sanctity of life in the womb or the dignity of every working person in America to fulfill their potential, you will have a friend in Rick Santorum.
We are off to New Hampshire. We are ...
(APPLAUSE)
Because the message I shared with you tonight is not an Iowa message or an Iowa and South Carolina message. It is a message that will resonate across this land. It’s a resonate — it will resonate, I know, in New Hampshire, because you think I’ve been in Iowa a lot. I’ve been to New Hampshire 30 times and have been more times and done more events than anybody but Jon Huntsman. And he cheats; he lives there.
(LAUGHTER)
We will be in New Hampshire. We’ll leave tomorrow. We’ll spend our time there. And with your help and God’s grace, we’ll have another fun night a week from now.
God bless you.
(APPLAUSE)
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