Super Santorum Tuesday: Rick Rocks the Republican Primary Race

There is no candidate more ready to slay the modern day Goliath than Rick Santorum

Rick is the real deal. He is an inspired leader, with a vision,who can turn this Nation around. He is a Republican who is not blue blood - but blue collar. He is authentically pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-family and pro-freedom. He cares about the working man and woman. He cannot be caricatured by the Obama administration as a "1 % er" in their misguided class warfare strategy planned for the Fall campaign. It is now after midnight. The primary race in Ohio appears too close to call. However, one thing is sure. This has been a Super Santorum Tuesday.

P>STEUBENVILLE, OH (Catholic Online) - It is getting very late. The Ohio Republican Primary race is still too close to call. Rick Santorum gave an extraordinary speech this evening from Steubenville, Ohio. I love Steubenville, Ohio. I have also made my admiration for Rick Santorum clear in the many articles I have written during this amazing Presidential campaign.

As a young man, after returning to my faith, I followed a dear friend, Fr Michael Scanlan, to Steubenville in the early seventies. He took over the Presidency of the then College of Steubenville. With courageous faith and inspired leadership he transformed a failing college into an academic center of authentically Catholic Renewal. He also showed me what leaders with vision can do.

I finished my undergraduate College years in Steubenville. I helped Fr Michael, first as a student leader and later as an administrator, in his vital work. I stayed after graduation and attended Law School at the University of Pittsburgh to be a part of the Steubenville miracle. I learned a lot about leadership.

My wife Laurine and I were married in Steubenville, at the Christ the King Chapel on Campus. Today we celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary. We had our five children in Steubenville, Ohio.  Steubenville was the place where I began my Law Practice. It was there that I began my Pro-Life, Pro-Family and Religious Freedom activism and legal work. 

It was in that place where salt of the earth people still believe in fidelity in marriage, hard work and the American dream and opportunity, that I cut my political teeth and honed my policy convictions. As a lifelong Democrat, raised in a blue collar home in Boston, Massachusetts, I voted for Ronald Reagan in Steubenville, Ohio. I reluctantly left the Democratic Party because it was hijacked by people who failed to hear the cry of the poorest of the poor, children in the womb.

So, tonight, the fact that my friend, Rick Santorum gave his stellar speech this evening in Steubenville was like a homecoming to me. He began tonight with these words "Not too many presidential candidates come to Steubenville, Ohio, much less hold their victory party here in Steubenville, Ohio. And we just prepared our talk where many talks were prepared for this gym floor, in the coach's room.

"This is our roots. Here behind me is, well, a part of our family, because this is the where we're from. We're from down here in the areas of southeastern Ohio, West Virginia, and southwestern Pennsylvania, where -- where the folks who worked hard and built this country lived and worked for many, many decades here."

Rick is the real deal. He is an inspired leader, with a vision, who can turn this Nation around. He is a Republican who is not blue blood - but blue collar. He is authentically pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-family and pro-freedom. He cares about the working man and woman. He cannot be caricatured by the Obama administration as a "1 % er" in their misguided class warfare strategy planned for the Fall campaign.

Like no one I have seen on the political landscape in decades, Rick Santorum connects with people like me, and the people in Steubenville, Ohio. Rick is the grandson of an immigrant coalminer. He is from blue collar roots in nearby Pennsylvania. He can carry the "rust belt" States in what is going to be the most difficult and most important election in my lifetime. They are crucial to victory. Over the years I have known the candidate and his wife; I have been deeply impressed with his vision and his leadership skills.He would make an extraordinary President.

Tonight he spoke of the people who made this Nation great noting that "just like the folks here in Steubenville and throughout the Ohio Valley and all the -- all the valleys of this country that are the heart and soul of this country, they worked hard and they overcame odds. And that's what -- that's what we're here to talk about. And that's why we came to Steubenville. That's one of the reasons I'm so proud to have my mom and my father-in-law and mother-in-law up on stage with me. They're a part of the greatest generation of America. "

He gave an inspiring speech, flanked by his mother, his in laws, his wife, his children and his large extended family. The background spoke volumes about the man and his candidacy. He reminded those who listened "We are in this thing not because I want to be the most powerful man on the earth but because I want to return the power to you".  As I write, the race in Ohio is still too close to call. The political pundits all have egg on their face. The candidate won by large margins in Tennessee, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. 

Rick Santorum reminds me of the biblical story of David and Goliath.  David was the youngest of the sons of Jesse. He was finally chosen to lead Israel . (1 Samuel 16): "In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any one of these." Then Samuel asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" Jesse replied, "There is still the youngest, but he is tending the sheep." Samuel said to Jesse, "Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he arrives here."

"Jesse had the young man brought to them. He was ruddy, a youth with beautiful eyes, and good looking. The LORD said: There-anoint him, for this is the one! Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand, anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and from that day on, the spirit of the LORD rushed upon David."

One by one, the candidates in this Republican Presidential primary process were presented as the ones to be "anointed" to oppose the President in the 2012 campaign. However, one by one their once soaring poll numbers quickly descended. Then, the political "experts" - supported by the pundits- hand selected Mitt Romney. However, a funny thing happened on the way to the coronation.

There was one left in the field, given little or no chance by the media elites, Rick Santorum. The candidate left in the field is the choice of the voters. They sent a strong message this evening. The coronation of the establishment candidate, Mitt Romney is no longer assured. 

My favorite story concerning David was his defeat of Goliath, the Philistine giant who evoked such fear in Israel. David was unafraid. He gathered five smooth stones from the brook for his sling. However, it only took one stone in the hands of this man of courage to slay Goliath. Mitt Romney has outspent Rick Santorum by absurd amounts. However, all his wealth has not closed the deal.

There is no candidate more ready to slay the modern day Goliath than Rick Santorum. His position on all of the issues that matter most is informed by his uncompromising view of the dignity of every human life from conception throughout all of life - up to and including a natural death. His profound respect for marriage and the family and society founded upon it is equally clear. His view of freedom informs his small government philosophy and his vibrant vision for a truly free market.

He views the family as the first government, first economy, first school and first mediating institution. He knows that free people keep a market free. He believes in expanding opportunity in the marketplace in order to expand participation in the American dream. He recognizes that the first freedom is religious freedom. He will not allow the Government to usurp the fundamental right to religious freedom. He will keep our Nation free and will stand up to the growing threats internationally. 

His "five smooth stones" are life, marriage, family, opportunity and freedom. He wields them in his slingshot and just keeps swinging, against all odds. He is unafraid to acknowledge that there is a moral basis to a free society. He is unafraid of any adversary. He has shown that in the face of those who have tried to count him out of this, the most important race of our lifetime. 

He told the folks in Steubenville, "We need a fighter. We need a fighter and someone who learned what America was about by growing up in communities just like this, understanding how America and neighborhoods and families work, and believing in them, understanding they're under a lot of stress and strain right now, much of which is put upon them by the government, understanding that that's the greatness of our country."

"The Republican Party has to nominate somebody who can talk about the broad vision of what America is. As I talk about in every one of my speeches, I talk about how important it is that we remember who we are. Ronald Reagan, in his farewell address to the American people, worried about whether America would remember what made us great, that we are not a great country because we have a great and powerful government. We are a great country because we believe that rights don't come from the government, but as in our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, says, our rights come to us from our creator.'

"The government's job and the Constitution of this country was intended to do one thing: protect those rights, so each and every one of you would have the opportunity to build their own life, to take your own path, to create a strong family, strong neighborhood, community, state and country. That's what made America great. "

"We built a great country from the bottom up. And we need people to go up against President Obama and his vision of a top-down government control, of not just health care, but of energy and of manufacturing and of financial services, and who knows what else is next. But this is a -- this is a president who believes -- who believes that he simply is better able to do this than you are, that he will be fairer than you are with your fellow man."

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is an election about fundamental liberty. And the signature piece, the signature piece of legislation that points this out, where you have economic rights created by the government, and then the government using its heavy hand to force you to buy insurance, to force you to take policies that you don't want, and, of course, to force you to take coverage's that may even violate your faith convictions."

It is now after midnight. The primary race in Ohio is still too close to call. One Network is calling it for Mitt Romney by a razor thin margin. However, one thing is sure. This has been A Super Santorum Tuesday. Rick has rocked the Republican Race and is positioned to possibly win the Republican Nomination.

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