This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 30, 2012 - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum promised enthusiastic supporters in St. Charles County today that he would advance the policies needed to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States.
"We've had other countries eat our lunch," declared Santorum, who called for eliminating all federal taxes for manufacturers and their suppliers and all regulations put in place by President Barack Obama and his administration.
He asserted that American companies, like Apple, which have the bulk of their manufacturing jobs overseas also would face taxes of 35 percent unless they brought the jobs back to the United States --- in which case, they'd qualify for the no-tax policy.
'We're competing for jobs that China wants to take away from us," he said, adding that the loss of manufacturing jobs has led to a decline in the standard of living for many working-class Americans.
Santorum, a former senator from Pennyslvania also called for revamping education, saying the current public education system does not work, in part because it is "controlled by teachers unions."
"It's top down, it doesn't work," he said, touching off cheers of agreement.
The candidate was speaking to more than 300 people who packed a meeting room in St. Charles Community College, cheering and offering up standing ovations throughout his half-hour address.
Santorum, the first GOP presidential candidate to make a public appearance in the state, said he chose the community college because it represented education that more reflected what young people need -- which he said public education often is not. His remarks indicated that he was not aware that St. Charles Community College was paid for with state dollars.
Afterward, he held a rally outside to speak to the overflow crowd, an estimated 200, who couldn't get inside.
"You have an opportunity in Missouri, in a week's time, to send a message," Santorum said, implying that the best way was to support him in Missouri's Feb. 7 presidential primary.
Although the GOP primary won't count, Santorum's aim is to create a wave of support going into the Missouri caucuses in March, which state party leaders have decided to use to award the delegates.
Santorum invoked the populism and nationalism that -- in 1996 -- helped propel then-Republican presidential hopeful Pat Buchanan to primary victories in Missouri, although Bob Dole still won the GOP nomination.
Santorumappears to be hopingthat Missouri will help provide the boost that he does not expect to receive Tuesday in Florida, where Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the perceived GOP frontrunner, appears to be poised for a strong victory. Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the U.S. House, has faltered under attacks from Romney and his allied "super PACS."
Gingrich's campaign has sought for Santorum to drop out, in hopes of attracting the latter's socially conservative backers who dislike Romney. But Santorum made clear here that he is not interested.
Instead, Santorum jabbed at his rivals -- who he did not name -- for engaging in "gutter politics" that he said has not advanced the Republican agenda.
St. Charles Officials Signal Support
The standing-room-only crowd included former St. Charles County Executive Joe Ortwerth, who said he was a strong Santorum supporter, and current County Executive Steve Ehlmann, who hinted that he might be as well.
Officially, Ehlmann said he was present to show respect for Santorum, since he is the first GOP presidential hopeful to hold a public event in Missouri. But Ehlmann added that he and Santorum shared the saming working-class roots.
Ehlmann observed that he also thought Santorum was demonstrating smart politics by choosing St.Charles County, generally one of the biggest blocs of Republican votes in the state.
"I think we're well representative of the Republican base," Ehlmann said. "Not just the Republican elite."
Such a comment appeared to be directed at much of the state's Republican establishment, who back Romney.
State Rep. Doug Funderburk, R-St. Peters, said he was a big fan of Santorum and predicted the candidate would do better than some expect in Missouri on Feb. 7.
Santorum did touch briefly on the personal-behavior issues that have attracted many conservatives to his campaign. The best way to avoid poverty, he declared, was for someone to "work, graduate from high school, and get married."
The crowd loved such talk. But Santorum did not mention the issue most often mentioned by those in the staunchly conservative audience -- his opposition to abortion.
Typical was Mary Ann Dallas, from St. Charles, who brought up the issue immediately when asked what drew her most to Santorum's candidacy. "His pro-life stance is very important to me," she said.
Ortwerth, who now heads the Family Policy Council, a socially conservative group, cited Santorum's stances on abortion, as well as his economic views, as reasons for his support.
But some of the audience's strongest applause came when Santorum promised to flex the nation's international muscles and, like many of his rivals, accused Obama of "apologizing for America."
Santorum pledged that, if elected, he "will not once talk about the previous president" or blame the past presidents for current problems.
"Quit whining about what people did before," Santorum said, in a dig at Obama, who often has faulted the policies of former President George W. Bush.
Santorum, however, is blasting what Obama is doing now.
If Obama is re-elected, he said Republicans will be unable to stop further implementation of the federal health-insurance law or to end the changes already in place.
If Obama is re-elected, he said, "We will become a dependency society."
Missouri voters can help change the nation's direction, Santorum added. "We need the bellwether state of Missouri to stand up and say, 'We want a strong principled Republican' " in the White House.
