Santorum Launches 'Patriot Voices' to Help Romney
TAMPA, Fla. – Rick Santorum launched a new political advocacy organization during the Republican National Convention. One of the first missions of Patriot Voices will be to help Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in some key swing states.
Santorum announced the launch at an event Wednesday that also featured Ralph Reed, founder of Faith and Freedom Coalition; Penny Nance, CEO of Concerned Women for America; Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council; Ted Cruz, Texas Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate; and Matt Romney, one of Mitt Romney's five sons.
Patriot Voices will focus on five states – North Carolina, Iowa, Ohio, Colorado and Michigan. More states may be added to the list later. Those states were chosen for two reasons, Santorum explained. They are key battleground states and he already has a base of supporters in those states.
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Santorum ran against Romney and came the closest to denying him the nomination. He surprised many with his showing in the first contest – the Iowa caucus. The night of the caucus showed him tied with Romney for the lead. A recount later had him winning. Santorum also had a surprise win in Colorado and came close to beating Romney in Michigan, where Romney grew up and his father was governor.
Patriot Voices will not just be involved in elections, Santorum said, but will also support efforts by private organizations to provide services at the local level that are currently being provided by government.
"If government is going to get smaller," Santorum said, "we are going to have to get bigger. That is a blessing, but it is also a responsibility. Not just to provide for yourself, you've got to be able to provide for your families, and to work in communities and churches to set up and do things, because if the government is going to do less, ... we will all have to do more. Part of Patriot Voices is to do just that. To show that we can, in America, do things from the bottom-up and do it better than the government and top-down way."
