Santorum Hits the Midlands

This story has been updated.

Calling South Carolina the key to his campaign and in determining the GOP presidential nominee, candidate Rick Santorum urged a West Columbia crowd Wednesday night to be bold when it treks to the polls later this month.

Speaking to about 250 people at the Historic Springdale House & Gardens, Santorum said this election is perhaps the most important in the nation's history. Republicans, he said, can nominate a safe moderate such as Mitt Romney, or they can nominate someone who provides a clear contrast to President Barack Obama.

South Carolinians did it once before in 1980, Santorum said, when the state chose Ronald Reagan over George H.W. Bush, seen as more moderate and thus more electable against President Jimmy Carter.

"This is your chance," he said. "Think seriously about your charge, about your generation."

That charge, he said, was for South Carolina voters to vote for the person who will "get out and fight for the soul of America."

"...Someone who believes it, someone who has a track record that can contrast starkly with the man in office in right now on healthcare, a central freedom issue in this race. And financial services, another central freedom issue in this race," Santorum said.

If South Carolinians fail to make the bold choice, "you will not have done your job in striking a blow for liberty," he said.

"We have to win this race. And the best way to win this race is to do what we did 30 years ago, the last time we were facing economic catastrophe," he said. "South Carolina faced a choice. Take someone who can appeal to moderates, someone who can win … or, pick someone with bold and stark contrasts."

That message resonated with Santorum supporter John Butcher of Irmo, who initially supported Herman Cain then Newt Gingrich before settling on Santorum.

"You've got to toss aside your feelings on who you think can win," he said. "I went through that in 1980. I was a George Bush supporter. I thought Bush was more moderate and had a better chance of winning against Carter. 

"But I was wrong," he said. "A man who stuck with his ideas and was able to express them and act upon them was what the people wanted. He was the most electable. That's what people want. They don't want for you to tell them what they think you want to hear; they want to know who you are and what you're going to do."

Santorum's unapologetic brand of social and religious conservatism will not play well in the general election, so the thinking goes among political analysts and the punditry. But like Reagan, Butcher said, Santorum is an unwavering conservative that has held fast to his core beliefs. 

"I like his faith-based [approach]" said Caelin Lacy, a University of South Carolina student from Pawley's Island.

Her friend Jamieson Broggi, a fellow student from Beaufort who just turned 18 and voting in his first election, agreed and said, "I don't think South Carolinians go out to vote for who's the most electable, they want to vote for who represents our values. Santorum's experience in Iowa, grassroots campaigning, that's exactly what he's doing in South Carolina. I think he has a great chance in South Carolina.

"I want to vote for somebody who God is most likely to bless," he added. "I really believe that. I'm not criticizing [frontrunner Mitt] Romney, but I don't think he's that man."

The real deal?
Romney, who won the first two nominating contests, has the most money, the most endorsements, and the framework and organization for a nationwide campaign firmly in place, appears poised to win South Carolina based on the latest polls. 

While the more conservative elements of the party have their knives out for Romney, and candidates such as Gingrich have stepped up their attacks, Santorum for the most part held his fire Wednesday for President Obama.

But Romney didn't get a free pass, either.

Santorum said so-called Obamacare, and its repeal, is paramount for conservatives. By nominating Romney, he said, that central issue will be rendered moot, since the new federal program is heavily based on a health plan passed by Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts. 

"We're just taking away one of the biggest issues we have when it comes to basic freedoms," said Santorum. "We've given it away with the nomination of Gov. Romney."

Plus, he added: "We need to look at someone who has proven in the past that they can actually go out and run a campaign, as a conservative, and be successful."

Santorum, who managed to be successful in his Democratic-leaning state of Pennsylvania, added that candidates Gingrich and Texas Congressman Ron Paul have never run for statewide office and have only managed to win congressional seats in safe Republican districts.

Gov. Rick Perry, he said, "was a Democrat when Democrats were in charge of Texas, became a Republican when Republicans came to power in Texas -- and then ran as a conservative in Texas. How hard is that?

"And finally, Gov. Romney? He's run three races and lost two," Santorum added. "The first race he ran as a liberal and lost to Ted Kennedy, and he actually claimed to be to the left of Kennedy on some issues. Secondly, he ran as a moderate and got elected in Massachusetts. Then he ran for president as a conservative. It's just sort of multiple choice. They say he's the most electable -- says who? How has he ever proven that? He's the most electable because the establishment feels comfortable with him. And that's it.

"They're not going to feel comfortable with me," Santorum said. "I'm going to make them squirm. I'm going to be out there doing things and talking about how we can rebuild a just society from the bottom up, have a limited government, rely on faith and family, and that we believe in the foundational values of this country."

Simply deciding to vote for him isn't enough he said. "We aren't going to have the most money in this race -- we have to have the most passion" and that means supporters spreading the word to everyone they know, he said. 

"We have 10 days," he said. "I'm asking for 10 days to strike a blow for freedom. Don't let America down."