Santorum Only Candidate to Attend Values Voter Press Conference

MOUNT PLEASANT — Family Research Council may not endorse, but those with the group seemed vocal in their choice, chanting "We pick Rick" as candidate Rick Santorum took the lectern Thursday afternoon.

All four candidates were invited to speak with the Values Voters Bus Rally, but only Santorum accepted the invitation, according to Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. Perkins called Santorum a friend.

Santorum and former Speaker Newt Gingrich were the only presidential candidates at the .

The event was joined by a brief outburst by pro-gay marriage protesters, who threw glitter and held signs reading, "True Love is Blind" and "My family has faith in what is free." Santorum continued with talking while some shouted "Gay rights are human rights." 

The protest was short-lived. 

Perkins said that while his organization, which has teamed up with the Heritage Foundation for the bus tour, has never endorsed a candidate, it does endorse values. He said those values were pro-life, marriage, and that those ideas help build a strong economy and streamlined government — something . 

Santorum said that while many of the other candidates will whisper they're for marriage, he's the only one who declares it loudly and has for the long term.

Santorum,  and endorsements from Family on the Focus founder James Dobson and Judge Paul Pressler, said little of his former competitor Texas Gov. Rick Perry's endorsement of former Speaker Newt Gingrich.