Santorum asks Spokane Valley crowd to ‘speak conservatively’

Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum appealed to Washingtonians to “reset” the presidential race on Saturday just in time for Super Tuesday. Santorum cast himself as the underdog “insurgent” candidate in a half-hour speech to more than 800 people at New Life Assembly Church, which is located in a converted Rosauers store in Spokane Valley. “We think that we can surprise a lot of people here on Saturday in the state of Washington,” Santorum said. Washington holds its Republican caucuses starting at 10 a.m. Saturday. They are the last contests before 11 states make their presidential picks on Tuesday. Santorum hit many of the same themes he did last month when he held a rally in Coeur d’Alene He repeated a line about how the belief among most climate scientists that human activity is a significant source of global warming “wasn’t climate science. It was political science.” He promised to work for the repeal of the national health care law frequently labeled Obamacare. And he criticized bailouts and the country’s soaring debt. “I didn’t rush to bail out my friends on Wall Street, in part, because I don’t have any,” he said. This time, Santorum was more focused on the frontrunner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He labeled Romney a “moderate” and pointed to other Republicans nominated for president whom he said he said were moderates and who lost bids or reelections, including President Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole and John McCain. “All the good ol’ boys are supporting the moderate candidate,” he said. “We still have someone in this race who still believes in you.” He praised President George W. Bush for his willingness to label certain countries “evil.” Santorum warned that depending on the outcome of the 2012 election “that flame your generation was entrusted to could flicker and die out.” “Speak conservatively,” he said. “Will you be with me?” Santorum flew into Spokane from Georgia, where he held rallies earlier in the day. He started his Spokane rally about an hour late, which he blamed on conducting an interview with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News. Jessica Morgan, a stay-at-home mom and Spokane Valley resident came to the rally with her 3-year-old daughter and 9-month-old son. “He has a strong economic message, but he’s not afraid to talk about the other stuff that the others seem to be afraid to.”