IDA Caucus Countdown #1: Rick Santorum

Over the last two weeks I have worked my way through seven candidates for the Republican Presidential nomination. I have ranked the candidates based on their strengths and weaknesses. And I have even ruled some candidates out altogether based on a few extremely subjective criteria. I would like to provide a quick recap before I move on to my number one choice for the Iowa Caucus. Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman came in dead last due to his refusal to campaign in Iowa. Texas Congressman Ron Paul finishes sixth due to his reluctance to defend life and his overly naïve foreign policy. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney takes fifth place largely because I find him untrustworthy. Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann claims fourth place as she seems to find it difficult to be truthful. Coming in third is former Speaker of the US House Newt Gingrich. Gingrich’s surprising finish is largely due to his intelligence as once again I found a politician that I was unsure that I could trust. The runner up in the Countdown had an extremely weak start, but has grown stronger as the campaign has worn on and has continued to grow on my. If he had done things differently from the start it is entirely possible that Texas Governor Rick Perry could have taken the top spot. The candidate that has taken the top spot in the Iowa Defense Alliance Caucus Countdown and earned my support and my vote on January 3^rd is none other than former Pennsylvania Senator, Rick Santorum.

Senator Santorum is another one of those candidates that at the beginning of the caucus season I had all but written off. I completely disregarded his campaign because of my own preconceived notion that he was not worthy of support. I erroneously viewed him as an establishment candidate. That all changed on July 28^th, 2011. On that evening I had the opportunity to see Senator Santorum at the home of the Marion County Attorney. It was the first time I had the opportunity to see him and was very impressed. My first thought was that he reminded me a lot of former Arkansas Governor and the winner of the 2008 Caucus, Mike Huckabee. He proved himself to be an articulate man with a clear and concise message. I was intrigued, I had to know more.

During the course of Senator Santorum’s appearance in Pleasantville we learned that he didn’t just claim to be Pro-Life he lived his life Pro-Life. He told us about his daughter Bella. It was such a heartwarming story. Here is a video that will do better justice to that story than I ever could.

And this is just one of the reasons that I am supporting Senator Santorum.

There are many other areas that Senator Santorum is strong in as well. Take for instance energy policy. Senator Santorum has openly stated that we need to eliminate all energy subsidies and tax credits; that the government doesn’t need to be in the business of picking winners and losers.

And I agree with that sentiment. By eliminating those expenditures we can save the federal government money and in the process force a wide variety of companies to become more competitive.

And he has openly criticized the Troubled Assets and Relief Program, otherwise known as TARP; as well as other government bailouts of private industry. Senator Santorum correctly asserts that government funded bailouts do nothing more than punish the successful while rewarding the irresponsible.

As I look back at the last several months I can see how my preferences for the 2012 Iowa Caucus have evolved. Early in the race my preferences leaned toward Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul. As the days went by my preference for the candidates continually changed. That is until late July and early August. At that point Senator Santorum vaulted to the front of the pack and has remained there ever since. It had rapidly become clear that the one candidate that I could trust to restore our nation above all others was and is Rick Santorum.