Rick Santorum’s children take his place on the campaign stage in Florida

Sarasota, Fla.— A Rick Santorum campaign event here Sunday opened with a moment of silence for his daughter, Bella, who is hospitalized in Philadelphia. Santorum canceled his Sunday campaign events to be with her.

Standing in for her father, Santorum’s eldest child, Elizabeth, 20,
A supporter of Republican presidential hopeful and former senator Rick Santorum wears a pin with a photo of Bella Santorum that reads reads "Go Dad! Love, Bella" during an appearance in Iowa earlier this month. (Andrew Burton - GETTY IMAGES) rallied a Sarasota crowd of supporters gathered in an airport hangar saying that her dad was “exercising his most important role, which is being a dad.”

“This is not the easiest course for our family,” she said. “But we knew that it would be worth it because America is worth it.”

On the stump, the former Pennsylvania senator has often talked about his family--he is the father of seven. Bella, 3, suffers from Trisomy 18, a genetic disorder that causes severe mental and physical developmental problems. Aides said Santorum will return to the trail as soon as possible, but there has been no update on Bella’s condition.

Members of the Duggar family, of reality TV fame, joined Santorum’s daughter on stage. The Duggars, who have 19 children, have been touring Florida in their family bus which is stenciled with “Rick Santorum for President.”

They plan to fill in for Santorum at an event in Punta Gorda later this afternoon.

Santorum has all but conceded the race here, acknowledging that he has neither the money nor organization to compete in the massive state, where about 2 million Republicans will cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary. The winner will get all 50 delegates.

Santorum has no ads on television or radio in Florida, and it’s unclear whether he will here election night. While his conservative, blue-collar message is popular here and he has drawn decent-size crowds, he has not had the kind of presence in this state to get that message out.

After a strong debate performance Thursday in Jacksonville, he added events to his schedule, but returned home this weekend to get his taxes together.

Since his daughter took ill, he has not returned, though he has a tele-town hall scheduled with Florida Republicans Sunday night.

Polls show him trailing Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich badly.

Campaign aides insist that he has no immediate plans to drop out of the race.

Elizabeth Santorum, who has taken a year off from college, urged the crowd to show up for her dad.

“You have three days left, let’s take this all the way,” she said.

View the original article here

Rick Santorum’s children take his place on the campaign stage in Florida

Sarasota, Fla.— A Rick Santorum campaign event here Sunday opened with a moment of silence for his daughter, Bella, who is hospitalized in Philadelphia. Santorum canceled his Sunday campaign events to be with her.

Standing in for her father, Santorum’s eldest child, Elizabeth, 20,
A supporter of Republican presidential hopeful and former senator Rick Santorum wears a pin with a photo of Bella Santorum that reads reads "Go Dad! Love, Bella" during an appearance in Iowa earlier this month. (Andrew Burton - GETTY IMAGES) rallied a Sarasota crowd of supporters gathered in an airport hangar saying that her dad was “exercising his most important role, which is being a dad.”

“This is not the easiest course for our family,” she said. “But we knew that it would be worth it because America is worth it.”

On the stump, the former Pennsylvania senator has often talked about his family--he is the father of seven. Bella, 3, suffers from Trisomy 18, a genetic disorder that causes severe mental and physical developmental problems. Aides said Santorum will return to the trail as soon as possible, but there has been no update on Bella’s condition.

Members of the Duggar family, of reality TV fame, joined Santorum’s daughter on stage. The Duggars, who have 19 children, have been touring Florida in their family bus which is stenciled with “Rick Santorum for President.”

They plan to fill in for Santorum at an event in Punta Gorda later this afternoon.

Santorum has all but conceded the race here, acknowledging that he has neither the money nor organization to compete in the massive state, where about 2 million Republicans will cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary. The winner will get all 50 delegates.

Santorum has no ads on television or radio in Florida, and it’s unclear whether he will here election night. While his conservative, blue-collar message is popular here and he has drawn decent-size crowds, he has not had the kind of presence in this state to get that message out.

After a strong debate performance Thursday in Jacksonville, he added events to his schedule, but returned home this weekend to get his taxes together.

Since his daughter took ill, he has not returned, though he has a tele-town hall scheduled with Florida Republicans Sunday night.

Polls show him trailing Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich badly.

Campaign aides insist that he has no immediate plans to drop out of the race.

Elizabeth Santorum, who has taken a year off from college, urged the crowd to show up for her dad.

“You have three days left, let’s take this all the way,” she said.

View the original article here

Romney campaign looks to consolidate support of GOP establishment

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Romney campaign looks to consolidate support of GOP establishmentView Photo Gallery — ?After what was widely considered an unfocused and bloated campaign in 2008, the Republican former Massachusetts governor is returning to the presidential sweepstakes with a more tightly knit team.

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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — With support for Mitt Romney eroding on the eve of the critical South Carolina primary, his campaign advisers are redoubling their efforts to consolidate elected officials, major donors and key activists from throughout the GOP establishment. And they are having some success.

Several prominent Republicans who until recently were neutral have endorsed Romney over the last few days. Among them are two GOP swing-state stars buzzed about as potential vice presidential candidates — Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio) and Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell — who campaigned with the former Massachusetts governor in South Carolina this week.

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With recent polls showing former House speaker Newt Gingrich overtaking Mitt Romney, the Palmetto State’s primary is suddenly a nail-biter.

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Debate fatigue strikes on GOP trailThe Fix: S.C. debate’s winners and losersFact Checker: 15 dubious statementsRomney campaign looks to consolidate support of GOP establishmentSOPA, PIPA votes delayedSupreme Court sides with Texas on redistrictingPolarized in South Carolina House Republicans hold subdued retreat

“I think the best candidate to beat Barack Obama and to restore confidence in the United States of America is Mitt Romney and that’s why I’m here,” McDonnell told reporters after a rally with Romney in North Charleston on Friday. “I hope a lot of people come on board right now and let’s get this done and start focusing on the general election.”

Prominent bundlers — including John McCain’s 2008 finance chairman Fred V. Malek, who had been unaligned, and former Bush ambassador David Wilkins, a leading supporter — joined the Romney campaign in recent weeks, giving him a new network of fundraisers who have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for past presidential nominees.

One of the big questions after Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s withdrawal has been whether his large stable of donors and endorsees would follow Perry’s lead and support former House speaker Newt Gingrich. Romney aides are not automatically surrendering that ground. On Friday, Romney announced the backing of three congressmen from the Lone Star state and his fundraisers are wooing hundreds of Perry’s top Texas donors.

“The logic of his candidacy is very powerful and suggests, yes, he’s gonna be the nominee,” said former senator Jim Talent of Missouri. “The people who know what it takes to run for an office like this, I think, have become increasingly convinced that he has the ability to do it — that he can win and that he can govern afterwards. It’s also increasingly obvious that the others that are left are not in a position to do that.”

Talent, a close Romney adviser, said one of the campaign’s fundraisers in California called him Friday morning to say he had recruited five Perry donors there. And in Texas, Talent said, “I don’t think they’re gonna move to Newt. .?.?. I’ve talked to people down there who say we’re going out to get them now.”

Still, many party establishment figures remain on the sidelines — among them, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who decided against a run last spring and is slated to deliver the Republican response to President Obama’s “State of the Union” address next week.

Aides to Gingrich sounded unimpressed with the Romney effort. Asked about Romney’s gathering of establishment support, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond replied with a short e-mail: “Hasn’t done much so far.”

Gingrich received new endorsements boosts Friday, picking up support from movie star Chuck Norris and Michael Reagan, a conservative talk show host and son of former President Reagan.

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Perry to reassess his campaign after poor Iowa finish

???initialComments:true! pubdate:01/04/2012 00:04 EST! commentPeriod:14! commentEndDate:1/18/12 12:4 EST! currentDate:1/14/12 7:0 EST! allowComments:true! displayComments:true!Posted by Aaron Blake at 12:04 AM ET, 01/04/2012

Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Tuesday night that he will return to the Lone Star State to reassess his GOP presidential campaign after a fifth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses.

“With the voters’ decision tonight, I’ve decided to return to Texas, assess the results of tonight’s caucus, determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race,” Perry said.

Perry had been scheduled to travel to South Carolina on Wednesday to campaign.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who finished in sixth place, offered no indication of any plans to drop out in her speech Tuesday night. She is also scheduled to go to South Carolina on Wednesday.

Perry’s fifth-place finish came despite him and his supporters spending more than anyone else on TV ads in the Hawkeye State.

His prospects in the next few contests don’t appear much better at this point. And pausing to reassess the campaign isn’t going to help him raise money if he decides to stay in the race.

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