Guest Opinion: Rick Santorum and the Republican Presidential Primary, David vs. Goliath

Frankly until Tuesday night, I hadn't made up my mind on who exactly I was going to support.  Like so many other voters in the current election cycle, I like one, or a couple of aspects of one candidate and different aspects from other candidates.Rick Santorum's speech after the Iowa Caucus sealed the deal for me personally.  It is a speech that is a "must-watch" by all voters this election cycle.  If you haven't seen the entire video of his speech, take the time to do so.  You will not regret it. 

ST. JOSEPH, MO. (Catholic Online) - Wow, WOW!  Like so many I stayed up late Tuesday night, well into the morning, to watch the results of the Iowa Caucus.  The leader of votes kept flipping painfully back and forth from Romney to Santorum until Romney was declared the winner by only 8 votes, 8 votes out of 122,255 voters from 1,774 precincts.  That is simply amazing.  I feel so proud to be an American at this moment.  Every American should be proud.  Democracy works.  I thank God for being an American.
 
Allow me to explain a little of my past before I proceed any further.  I grew up in the Midwest, specifically Missouri, in a Reagan Democrat family.  Neither one of my parents are college graduates.  Each day they got up to go to work to provide for their family, to give their kids something better than they had.  They believed in the American Dream and they lived it.  They passed those values onto me.  I am one of the first college graduates in the history of my family.  While in college I was a Young Democrat and I worked for the Bill Clinton campaign.  I have also been blessed since that time with a successful professional career and a beautiful family.  For any candidate to win the U.S. Presidency they must win the middle-class vote, they must win the hearts and minds of average working Americans.
 
Frankly until Tuesday night, I hadn't made up my mind on who exactly I was going to support.  Like so many other voters in the current election cycle, I like one, or a couple of aspects of one candidate and different aspects from other candidates.  Rick Santorum's speech after the Iowa Caucus sealed the deal for me personally.  It is a speech that is a "must-watch" by all voters this election cycle.  If you haven't seen the entire video of his speech, take the time to do so.  You will not regret it.  Santorum's speech was so powerful and moving that Romney had to scrap his own prepared speech after seeing it.  Romney went back to a successful stump speech, and it showed.  Do you trust a candidate who gives overly tailored messages by speech writers or actually speaks from heart?  The American people must judge and vote accordingly to their own consciences.
 
What I personally believe that we need today in a candidate for President is a person who understands life, someone who really gets it.  No issue is more important.  Too often candidates talk the Pro-Life rhetoric but have little to no honest intentions of doing anything to effect real change for the cause of human life.  Deeply related to the first issue of life is that of being Pro-Family.  Will that candidate sign into law and put into place policies that truly support and strengthen the core of America, and any civilization, which is the family.  At the end of the day, those two issues are more important than any others in my personal opinion.
 
Deeply related and interwoven with those two issues above though is that of work.  Working is an essential aspect of a good life, one that keeps us rooted to reality.  A family which flourishes is one that has at least one parent who works, but that requires a living wage.  Re-building a strong and vibrant manufacturing base in this country is a key for the economic survival and flourishing of this nation and therefore its families.  We must re-build American's core, the middle-class.  This issue of re-invigorating our manufacturing base closely relates to how we should design and implement our foreign policy with others around the world.  
 
Lastly, we live in a fallen world, a world full of sin and evil.  That is our reality.  Rick Santorum understands the real threat that militant/radical Muslims are to this country and our way of life.  I have personally seen the destruction and loss of life that this evil causes, both domestically and abroad.  It is real and it is deadly.  He understands the real existential threat that Iran is, not only to Israel and therefore to the U.S., but to the entire world.  He is not an idealist, he is a realist. 
 
Who can best re-build the authentic Reagan coalition of foreign policy, economic and social conservatives?  That is what America must decide.  For me, I have made that decision.  Now it is your turn. Disclaimer - The opinions expressed in this article are those solely of the author and not those of the U.S. Army.---------------
David Jones holds a Masters in Theological Studies from the Institute of Religious and Pastoral Studies, University of Dallas. He is a member of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, a Pontifically recognized and approved ecclesial movement. He also runs a popular blog entitled La Nouvelle Theologie. 

Save Now | 15% Off Jewelry

He has spoken internationally in Italy at the Rimini Meeting and at the Assembly of International Responsibles in La Thuile in addition to speaking throughout much of the United States.  His conversion story is published in the Italian book entitled Sotto Il Cielo D'America (Under the American Sky) written by Marco Bardazzi. The introduction of this book has been translated into English and is available on-line here. 

D.L Jones is married to Becky, lovingly referred to as the "General."  They have four children, 2 boys and 2 girls, ages 13 and below.  The Jones family is Roman Catholic.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'