DALTON, Ga. (WRCB-TV) - Voters filled the Dalton City Council chamber for a quick visit by former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. "Well, I think the reason for being here is purely and simply to try to determine who you're gonna vote for next Tuesday." said Bob Harrell, a local resident who still had not yet made up his mind.
"You've got a big day coming up here in Georgia on Super Tuesday," said Santorum as a few hundred listened intently, "and I'm hoping we're gonna surprise a few folks here in Georgia on Super Tuesday."
They were supporters like Pam Hall. "We were very impressed," she said. "We liked a lot of what he was saying and I think he would make a difference in America."
Like Santorum, she is a home-school parent. The candidate introduced his eldest daughter at the beginning of his remarks and joked that she was the family's 'guinea pig' for home-schooling when he arrived at the US Senate. "I'm pro-education," Hall said, "and I think that whatever's best for you is what you need to be doing. And it excited me that he understands where I am as a parent."
There were detractors in attendance, as well. A trio of twenty-somethings wore hand-made T-shirts and carried signs. They claim to be undecided, but decidedly against Rick Santorum. "He's definitely not the most conservative candidate out there, said protestor Michael Delagwardia. "Especially fiscally speaking which is most important, right now."
The argument could be made, though, that Santorum is the most conservative candidate when it comes to social issues and he is not shying away from talking about them. "It's one thing to be pro-life, pro-family, pro-marriage, taking on the issues of faith and freedom in our country, the core values of life. It's one thing to vote that way," he said. "It's another thing to stand up and fight and lead on these issues."
Several swells of applause signaled he was hitting the high notes with the crowd. Another came when he talked of a more limited role for government. "For most of American history, up until recently, if someone had a problem or was in trouble, the first thing you didn't do was think, 'What can the federal government do for me to help me,'" Santorum said. "You used to think, 'Well, what my family member could do, what my neighbor could do, what the folks at the church could do, what the folks at the school could do.' Why? Because there was a lot of organizations you were part of that you built."
Rick Santorum urged Georgia voters to change the Republican race on and help launch him into the lead on Super Tuesday. Did it work? "I don't know who I'm gonna vote for yet," said Bob Harrell.
"I don't know," said Harrell's wife, Ann. "I just, like I told somebody a few minutes ago, I wish I had a crystal ball. The one that's gonna get Obama out of there."
From Dalton, Santorum headed for Atlanta and then on to Washington State to shake hands and stump for votes ahead of their Saturday caucus.
(AP) - Republican Rick Santorum said he believes the presidential primary will be a two-man race and criticized former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for supporting a health care mandate.
The former Pennsylvania senator held a rally Thursday in Dalton ahead of Georgia's Super Tuesday primary next week. He's scheduled to appear later Thursday in the Atlanta area.
Santorum called himself a "principled" conservative. He criticized Romney for supporting a law while he was governor that requires Massachusetts residents to buy health insurance or face financial penalties. He said Romney's position on health care is unlikely to rally the Republican base.
Santorum also called for cutting taxes for manufacturing firms that reinvest in American factories. Dalton, a city in northwest Georgia, suffers from high unemployment because of its ailing manufacturing sector.
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