For Santorum, ‘Team’ Is First

[Freddie Stubbs]

By Paul Kane
Roll Call Staff


May 11, 2004

Having just staked his credibility on returning a moderate colleague to the Senate, conservative Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) is finding himself in a somewhat unfamiliar spot on the political spectrum, winning slaps on the back from establishment insiders and quizzical looks from some “movement” conservatives.

Santorum, in recent years the chamber’s leading social conservative, is still reaping praise from within the Senate Republican Conference — the ideologically diverse caucus he chairs — for the assistance he gave moderate Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) in fighting off a primary challenge from the right.

Specter’s primary campaign offered the most obvious example of how Santorum has sought to put the work of the Republican Conference ahead of the ideological purity that his conservative supporters and his liberal detractors alike have come to expect.

Santorum, the third highest ranking Republican in the Senate leadership, makes no apologies for his decision to back Specter. Santorum said that once he made the decision to support his home-state colleague, there was only one way for him go about it — full throttle.

MORE: http://www.rollcall.com/issues/49_122/news/5511-1.html

[SoFlaJet]

1. He is a horrible

human being another person who thinks they are on some mission from God,helping to erode the separation of church and state.

[BayCityProgressive]

2. The mere thought

of this nasty little creature induces vomiting.