After taking part in NBC’s debate in Tampa on Monday, former Pennsylvania Senator and presidential hopeful Rick Santorum zigzagged the state of Florida this week. He drove south after the debate, stopping in Sarasota, Fort Myers and Naples.
Tallahassee was one of his last stops before heading to Jacksonville for the next GOP debate, hosted by CNN.
The Florida State U. College Republicans, who estimate 500 people were in attendance, hosted Santorum today. He spoke to an enthusiastic crowd—a crowd full of applause—ready to see someone take on President Obama in November.
Running on a steadfast social conservatism bid, Santorum hopes to set himself apart from his other Republican rivals. He talked today about abortion, SOPA/PIPA and family.
“I will talk about life,” Santorum said. “I will talk about the sanctity of every human life. I will not say I believe life begins at conception because I don’t believe life begins at conception. I know life begins at conception.”
Santorum’s stop at FSU was not without controversy. A small group of seven students stood outside the union protesting his visit.
“Stop the hate at Florida State,” they chanted.
They held signs that read, “Stop the war on my uterus” and “I love Iranians.” They said they wanted to make sure Santorum knew “FSU would not tolerate his bigoted, racist message of hate.”
After his speech, Santorum returned to the ballroom to talk to members of the local media. He started the conversation with a sarcastic “anything for the media—we just love you guys,” reiterating his message of a liberal bias held by media—something the FSView denies.
Santorum talked about the overstressed tax returns—particularly the Romney returns—saying he “does his own taxes, and they’re on his own personal computer” during the NBC debate.
He said he is returning to Pennsylvania tomorrow to get his taxes.
“I’m going home to fetch the tax returns that all you guys want me to get, and that’s going to […] I’m leaving tomorrow night after a whole series of events tomorrow,” said Santorum.
He acknowledged the stress that comes with running for president.
“I want to hug my kids,” said Santorum. “I haven’t been home since Christmas day. I want to see my kids, say ‘hi’ to everybody and spend half the day fishing for my tax returns and get all that together.”
In true political spirit however, Santorum did comment on his frontrunners problems.
“What we see between Gingrich and Romney is really interesting because what you see is they basically are attacking each other, by and large, on things that have nothing to do with policies,” said Santorum.
Santorum told the media he is not concerned with gaining the independent vote if he is pitted against Obama in November; he says this is because he has remained consistent with his opinions over his political career.
“They expect you to do what you think is right, not what’s popular or what could pay off politically for you,” said Santorum.