Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum will deliver a series of three “major policy speeches” beginning Friday in Iowa, his campaign said Thursday, focusing on a wide variety of issues that other candidates have rarely addressed.
The first speech is called “Moral, Cultural Policies for a Santorum White House,” and “will focus on returning to traditional American values of faith and family,” Santorum communications director Hogan Gidley said in an email.
While other candidates have generally focused on economic issues in policy addresses, Gidley said that the choice to begin with a speech on “moral, cultural policies” was a different means to the same end.
“Senator Santorum believes the economy is inextricably linked to the moral fabric of this country. And he realizes you can’t have a real solution-based conversation about fixing the economic problems in this country without having faith and family be a large part of that conversation,” Gidley emailed.
“Senator Santorum refuses to reduce the idea of America solely to economy — because the spirit of America is much more than money — it’s faith, family and freedom,” Gidley said, quoting of the name of the tour Santorum is launching: The Faith, Family, and Freedom tour, during which he will give these policy speeches.
Santorum, Gidley noted, has already come out with a jobs plan for the manufacturing sector.
The two speeches that follow “will outline freedom via economic security and stability; energy independence, a clear policy for Iran and securing our nation from international threats,” Gidley said. Addressing such a wide range of issues instead of just the economy, the campaign maintains, makes clear that Santorum would be ready, as president, to tackle any issue that came up — not just the ones that fit within the narrowly prescribed range of topics discussed in the debates.
“A President Santorum will be able to successfully address all major issues that confront this nation — the economic, the national security and the moral, cultural issues,” Gidley said in the statement. The press would have you believe that the only issue is the economy — and yes, the economy is certainly a pressing issue — however, to have debates with no questions about the threat of a nuclear Iran and no questions about preserving the traditional American family is a disservice to American people.”
“I will remind folks that in 2008, only one candidate — Tommy Thompson — received the lone health care related question in the presidential debates, and now, healthcare is the cornerstone issue of this election season,” Gidley added. “We must have a president ready to deal with all issues that come across his desk, and Rick Santorum is the one candidate prepared to do just that.”
On Wednesday, Santorum achieved his goal of campaigning in all 99 counties in the state of Iowa, and his first policy speech will be delivered in the Iowa town of Urbandale.
“It’s a huge milestone for this campaign to hold events in all of Iowa’s 99 counties — and I couldn’t be prouder of my grassroots volunteers and Iowa supporters who helped make this happen,” Santorum said. “However, this 99th county isn’t the end, it’s the beginning, and we’re just getting warmed up.”
Nonetheless, the polls have yet to register the results of such a rigorous campaign schedule. In the Des Moines Register poll of likely caucus goers released Saturday, Santorum was at just 5 percent, putting him in sixth place.