Santorum Responds to My Tweet

Following GOP presidential nominee hopeful Rick Santorum's appearance in Goose Creek Saturday, I tweeted: 

"Disappointed I didn't get 2 talk 2 @RickSantorum. Being 1 of few media here & him always getting snubbed, figured he'd make time 4 us"

Santorum called that evening. 

"Hello, Lindsay Street, this is Rick Santorum. I saw that you didn't get a chance to chat with me after the event in Berkeley County," he said in the voicemail message.

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post was right: "Rick Santorum will talk your ear off with no press handler."

Rubin goes on in the story about how each 2012 candidate treats the media differently. While the candidates are making time for the everyman at the town hall events in key primary states like South Carolina, they often aren't available for follow-up questions from the everyman or the press, local or national. 

So why did Santorum call after seeing the tweet?

"I'm always available to the media," Santorum said in a short telephone interview Tuesday. 

Waiting for a plane to take off to Los Angeles, with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich passing by, Santorum answered his own cell phone.

A cynical person might say that's because Santorum is currently running behind the pack. Talking to the media is a necessity when you're not Texas Gov. Rick Perry or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. 

While high-profile candidates were invited to Columbia to take part in , hosted by Sen. Jim DeMint, Santorum was meeting with church leaders in Charleston on Sunday, taking part in Monday's Chapin Labor Day parade and other events in the Upstate.

But Santorum said it's just habit. He did it as a senator; why not do it as a person running for the country's highest office? 

"I'll talk to you all day long," he said. "It's the best way to get that information out." 

But even while he makes himself available, Santorum still takes a jab at the news outlets, whether on the stage or on the phone.

"The frustrating thing for me with the national media is they tend to go out and be selective as to who they think is the primary candidate," Santorum said, adding that they often look at polls to gauge the worthiness of a candidate. "It's sort of silly journalism ... it's irrelevant journalism."

He also said being open with the press has "burned" him. There are a few phone calls he doesn't take.

"You play it straight; you quote what I say," Santorum said.