Santorum

Saturday night's ABC/Yahoo debate got personal pretty quick, as Ron Paul explained, at the urging of moderator George Stephanopoulos, why he has accused former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in ads of corruption. “It was a quote,” explained Paul. “Somebody did make a survey and he came up as one of the top corrupt individuals because he took so much from lobbyists.” At that moment, there was a loud thump, the origin of which was unclear. Santorum piped up: “They caught you not telling the truth, Ron.” Paul, humorless as ever, barely paused as he accused Santorum of voting against right-to-work legislation, voting “to double the size of the Department of Education” by supporting the No Child Left Behind bill championed by President George W. Bush and voting to increase the federal entitlement program known as Medicare Plan D. “So he's a big-government person,” said Paul.

Click here to download TV listings for the week of Jan. 20 - 16, 2013 in PDF format This week's TV Movies       SATURDAY Good Morning America (N) 7 a.m. KABC The Chris Matthews Show The president's second term: Joe Klein, Time; Nia-Malika Henderson, the Washington Post; Katty Kay, BBC; David Leonhardt, the New York Times. (N) 5 p.m. KNBC; Sunday 5:30 a.m. KNBC McLaughlin Group 6:30 p.m. KCET SUNDAY Today The presidential inauguration; growing up in the White House; First Lady Michelle Obama's legacy.

Re "Awkward moments for Romney," May 8 So Rick Santorum has now endorsed Mitt Romney after calling him everything short of the devil incarnate. Santorum has now done a flip-flop of his own and stands behind the man he denigrated at every possible opportunity. The outcome is predictable: Flocks of sheep will follow this epiphany and develop amnesia about every dagger Santorum threw at Romney for months on end. Welcome to politics, folks. It's for the solidarity of the party.

KIRKWOOD, Mo. -- Top conservatives announced their support for Missouri Republican Todd Akin's embattled campaign for Senate, some reversing course after having earlier called for him to step down following his "legitimate rape" remarks. Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint jointly gave their backing Wednesday after a final deadline passed for Akin to withdraw from the ballot. And Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, a party leader in the Senate, quietly dropped his previous opposition to Akin's candidacy, and said he would support his fellow Missourian.

If South Carolina's conservatives needed any more evidence that they may splinter their vote and help Mitt Romney win a third victory, a GOP fund-raiser and candidate forum here provided it. Newt Gingrich told dyed-red Republicans from Greenville and Spartanburg counties that this is the most crucial election in their lifetime and they must anoint a conservative to run against President Obama. And so did Santorum. But interviews with some of the more than 500 people in the vast cafeteria of James F. Byrnes High School suggest that conservatives have not yet tilted heavily toward one over the other.

A new dystopian ad by Rick Santorum's campaign, the first in a series titled " Obamaville ," takes one of the most cinematic approaches seen during the 2012 campaign in foretelling a future without a GOP victory in the presidential election. The first in an eight-part series, "Obamaville" features the full repertoire of apocalyptic imagery. Creaking, dilapidated playground equipment, flashes of a crying baby and lengthy corridors with flickering lights accompany a grim narration predicting a possible future for 2014.

A Rick Santorum fundraising mailer that hit Iowa households Monday -- nearly a week after he dropped his presidential bid -- is raising eyebrows because it harshly attacks the presumptive GOP nominee, Mitt Romney. The mailer, first reported by the Des Moines Register , contains a letter signed by Santorum that says, "It truly frightens me to think what'll happen if Mitt Romney is the nominee. " "My friend, Republicans and conservatives will be crippled by a nominee who presents zero contrast with Barack Obama on the major issues of this election," the letter says, repeating an attack on Romney that Santorum made constantly on the campaign trail.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum acknowledged that Jon Huntsman Jr.'s departure from the GOP presidential primary would give front-runner Mitt Romney a boost in South Carolina, but declined to call on Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who also trails badly in the polls, to pull out. "That's up for candidates themselves to decide," he said. Huntsman's decision still leaves the race with four candidates dicing up the conservative vote and desperately appealing to evangelical Christians, who will be a significant part of the turnout for Saturday's primary.

Re "GOP on a Mission to Save Santorum," Oct. 16 In its assessment of Sen. Rick Santorum's (R-Pa.) political plummet, The Times neglects to mention one critical error Santorum made and that Pennsylvanians won't soon forget: injecting himself into the Terri Schiavo situation. By wading into personal family affairs, Santorum alienated the vast majority of his constituents, who recognized that his political opportunism reached new heights with his despicable manipulation of this family's tragedy.

Rick Santorum sought to broaden his pitch to Alabama and Mississippi Republicans beyond his conservative stands on social issues Friday with scathing attacks on President Obama over national security, energy and global warming. At the same time, with the twin Deep South primaries now four days away, the former Pennsylvania senator kept up his religious appeals at a morning rally here at a museum for the Alabama battleship. Santorum described himself as "someone who understands the centrality of the family.

- Republican Todd Akin's embattled campaign for Senate won support Wednesday from prominent conservatives, including some who had called on him to withdraw after he said victims of "legitimate rape" rarely became pregnant. Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint backed Akin one day after the final deadline passed for him to get off the ballot. The Republican Senate campaign committee, whose chairman had asked Akin to abandon the race, now says it hopes he wins.

TAMPA, Fla. - This week was Mitt Romney's moment to shine, the culmination of years of work to become the GOP presidential nominee, capped by his formal acceptance Thursday night. But for many others who gathered here for the Republican National Convention, it was the official acknowledgment that they fell short. For the also-rans, who lost either their bids to be the GOP nominee or the subsequent running-mate hunt, the convention was an opportunity to show party unity, prove their loyalty and, above all, try to remain relevant.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Former Sen. Rick Santorum accused President Obama of creating a “nightmare of dependency” and undermining welfare reform as he became the only one of Mitt Romney's primary rivals to receive a significant speaking role at the Republican convention. In a speech that mentioned Obama frequently, but Romney only in passing, Santorum attacked the president for trying to centralize control over education and for undermining families and freedom. But it was his reprise of an inaccurate Romney campaign attack on Obama over welfare that gave Santorum's speech its hardest edge.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A top Mitt Romney aide said Monday evening that the Republican National Convention was “moving forward” with plans to hold sessions Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, even as a likely hurricane bears down on the northern Gulf Coast. Tropical Storm Isaac, which spared the Tampa area after forcing the cancellation of the convention's first day, continues to overshadow activities at what was to have been a weeklong GOP gathering attacking President Obama and getting voters better acquainted with Romney.

Protesting can be hard work - gathering petition signatures under the beating sun, chaining one's self to trees, boycotting a favorite store or picketing family-planning clinics all take work with little immediate reward. But Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee have a pretty tasty demonstration in mind, if you share their views on traditional marriage. “No signs and no protests are needed to make your voice heard.  Just simply have a meal at Chick-fil-A on August 1 for 'Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day' and our support for traditional values will be heard loud and clear,” Rick Santorum wrote in an email Wednesday to supporters.

In the two months since Rick Santorum withdrew from the Republican presidential race, the former Pennsylvania senator has faded from the spotlight. He delivered his endorsement of Mitt Romney in a midnight missive and has yet to join the presumptive GOP nominee on the campaign trail. But he resurfaced Friday, telling "Fox & Friends" that he was embarking on his next adventure - the launch of a group that will focus on issues he championed during the campaign, including family values, religious liberty, adherence to the Constitution and opposition to same-sex marriage.

If Rick Santorum's blistering remarks about Mitt Romney on Saturday are any indication, this evening's televised debate will be the most acrimonious of the Republican presidential campaign. Following his success in the Iowa caucuses, Santorum is trying to solidify his status as the conservative alternative to Romney in the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries over the next two weeks. Up to now, the contenders on the right, in their attempts to become the anti-Romney candidate, have spent more time attacking one another than tangling with the front-runner -- to Romney's great benefit.

In town hall meetings across the southern portion of New Hampshire on Friday, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum continued to tangle with voters over the social issues that shaped his image on the national political stage long before he vaulted into prominence this week as a rival to GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney. At Dublin School, a private ninth- to 12th-grade boarding school whose headmaster said the audience included three children of gay parents, Santorum's voice dropped and became emotional as he argued that only a man and woman should have the “privilege” and “honor” of marrying.

Re "Awkward moments for Romney," May 8 So Rick Santorum has now endorsed Mitt Romney after calling him everything short of the devil incarnate. Santorum has now done a flip-flop of his own and stands behind the man he denigrated at every possible opportunity. The outcome is predictable: Flocks of sheep will follow this epiphany and develop amnesia about every dagger Santorum threw at Romney for months on end. Welcome to politics, folks. It's for the solidarity of the party.