Santorum Makes Final Plea for Votes

A mere three days ago, Bob Barnwell remained undecided on who to support in the S.C. GOP presidential primary. On Friday, his choice was clear.

"Rick Santorum," said Barnwell of Spring Valley. "He's solid. He doesn't waver. I don't think he has a mean streak. This is a guy I can trust. He has solid character."

Barnwell was just one of approximately 200 people who crammed into in Lexington on Friday as the candidate made one of a handful of stops around the state ahead of Saturday's all-important primary.

While the crowd waited for Santorum to arrive, Jim Bob Duggar, scion of the Duggar family of reality-TV fame, entertained the crowd along with several of his children and others who sang hymns and played music.

When Santorum finally arrived, he made it clear that the next 24 hours are critical if he hopes to pull an upset in the state. 

"We feel very, very good, but what we need here in South Carolina is a great burst of energy and surge," said Santorum, appealing to voters to pick him over frontrunners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. He likened the race to the story of Goldilocks, saying Gingrich was just too hot and Romney way too cold.

"We need someone who is 'just right,'" he said. "Someone who is a strong-conviction conservative; someone who isn't going to be the issue in the campaign. Someone who can be able to play to the clear contrasts between our issues and … Barack Obama. Someone who can win this election and restore the principles and values back to this great country."

Afterward, Barnwell said he was energized and ready to get to work.

"This guy has got the total package, and I'm going to work for him as hard as I can tonight and tomorrow," said Barnwell, who planned to gather signs and blanket northeast Richland County where he lives, offer rides to voters if necessary, and do whatever else needs to be done.

"Once I decide, I'm solid, and I've spent a lot of time thinking about it."

The Lexington stop was just one of a handful of stops during the day, sandwiched between an appearance on Laura Ingraham's national talk-radio show in the morning, and an interview on Fox News' "Hannity" Friday night.

In between, Santorum also was scheduled to appear in Fort Mill, Boiling Springs, which is located near Spartanburg, and finally back downstate to Charleston.

At the Lexington event, Santorum reminded the crowd that the pre-eminent issue in this race, for him at least, was the repeal of so-called "Obamacare."

"That's the reason I'm in this race, is Obamacare," he said. "It is the game changer for this country. If Obamacare comes into place … every single American, every single American, will rely on the federal government for their health. Once that happens, they gotcha — they gotcha. Once the government has your health, they have your pocketbook and everything else that comes with it."

And Romney and Gingrich are complicit in Obamacare, he said, because the federal plan is based largely on Massachusett's plan, adopted when Romney was governor. And Gingrich, he said, has for years been a proponent of the "individual mandate" — a central point of both plans — that requires all citizens to purchase health insurance.

While Obamacare may be issue for Santorum supporters, it was evident that many in the crowd were there to support a candidate they consider to be the most consistently socially conservative.

"The biggest thing I admire about him is his Christian values," said Kenny Bilton of Manning. "I just like how he doesn't waffle and does not change his stance." 

Perhaps few were as charged up about Santorum than Lexington retiree Albert Jabs, who at one point enthusiastically wrested the microphone from Santorum, as the bemused candidate and crowd looked on.

"There are children here," Jabs exclaimed. "He protects the unborn! … I'm supposed to be retired. But I'll tell you this, after hearing Rick, I'm not going to be tired. … We've got to have a candidate with commitment, with a cause, the courage to speak and think…. Rick is the man … with the courage to speak up."