DETROIT (AP) ― An aggressive Rick Santorum attacked Mitt Romney on multiple fronts, challenging the Republican front-runner’s economic policies, values and consistency in the city of Romney’s birth.
Polls show Santorum has risen to a virtual tie with Romney, and the former Pennsylvania senator on Thursday criticized his rival’s record on federal bailouts in particular, though both men opposed the government’s decision to rescue the auto industry.
“Gov. Romney supported the bailout of Wall Street and decided not to support the bailout of Detroit. My feeling was that the government should not be involved in bailouts period,” Santorum said in an address to the Detroit Economic Club, just 37 kilometers from where Romney went to high school. “I think that’s a much more consistent position.”
Santorum has vowed to campaign aggressively in Michigan despite Romney’s local advantages. The state hosts a presidential primary Feb. 28 as Republicans battle to decide who will challenge President Barack Obama in November.
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U.S. Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum addresses the Detroit Economic Club on Thursday. (AFP-Yonhap News) |
Santorum came up with surprising wins in three states last week, forcing the former Massachusetts governor to focus on his latest Republican rival instead of Obama. A New York Times/CBS News poll released Tuesday showed Santorum with 30 percent support among Republican voters, three points ahead of Romney but within the survey’s margin of error. Similar polling by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Gallup organization showed Santorum shooting up 14 points from a month ago.
But on Thursday, Romney ignored Santorum and the two other rivals for the Republican Party nomination ― former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
Santorum is showing confidence in what should be safe territory for the longtime Republican front-runner: Romney not only grew up in Michigan, he is the son of a former governor. His family members also have been deeply involved in the state’s politics for decades.
Known for staunch socially conservative views, Santorum outlined an economic policy with a heavy emphasis on family values. He supports additional tax breaks to encourage charitable donations to churches, for example.
“We certainly won’t be able to have limited government, lower taxes, if the family continues to disintegrate,” he said.
Still, Romney is considered the Republican front-runner nationwide, with far more delegates from state-by-state voting that are necessary to claim the party’s nomination. The multimillionaire has far more money and campaign organization than Santorum, and he picked up the support of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who on Thursday called him “the man for the job.”
But Romney still struggles to win over the party’s conservative base, which hesitates at his past positions on sensitive issues like abortion and health care.
With that in mind, Santorum linked Obama and Romney, suggesting neither wants to lead the entire country as he would.
“We have a president who says he supports occupiers who divide America between 99 and 1. We have another candidate in this race who suggested that he didn’t care about the very poor,” Santorum said of Romney. “How about a candidate who cares about 100 percent?”
Santorum spoke hours after he released tax returns showing his average income exceeded $990,000 in recent years. He paid a considerably higher tax rate than Romney, whose income largely comes from interest on investments.
“Look, I do my own taxes. Heck, Romney paid half the tax rate I did, so obviously he doesn’t do his own taxes,” Santorum said. “Maybe I should hire an accountant in the future.”
