Santorum, in N.H., balks on GOP debt deal
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum this morning refused to endorse any compromise to raise the debt ceiling unless it included a balanced budget amendment.
As Congress and President Obama struggle to reach a compromise on raising the debt ceiling before an Aug. 2 deadline, Santorum, a former US senator from Pennsylvania, said he opposes a plan by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that would allow the president to take full responsibility for raising the debt ceiling without Republican votes.
“For Mitch McConnell not to stay on the playing field and fight for a balanced budget amendment, fight for responsible spending reductions and punt to the president, is ceding the high ground,’’ Santorum told reporters after visiting supporters at his campaign office.
“The easiest case to make is we need a balanced budget amendment,’’ the former senator said. “That’s where I’d draw the line in the sand and (what I would) require to get my vote.’’
On his last trip to New Hampshire before the Aug. 13 Ames Straw poll in Iowa, Santorum said he is employing a three-state strategy, focused on Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
He pledged to be a regular presence in New Hampshire after the Straw Poll.
“Doing well in Iowa doesn’t mean anything if you can’t make hay in New Hampshire,’’ he said.
In addition to his meeting with volunteers today, Santorum is attending a house party in Henniker, a Grafton County Republican Committee Golf Tournament in Campton, and a New Hampshire House Republican Victory PAC reception in Jackson.
As to the straw poll, he said, “We don’t have to win Ames, we just have to show well.’’ But in a show of how seriously he is taking it, his New Hampshire supporters today were busy making phone calls to voters to drum up their support – in Iowa.
So far, there is little to show that Santorum is having an impact here.
In a poll of likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters done earlier this month by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, Santorum received support from less than 1 percent of respondents.
His social conservatism has less resonance in New Hampshire – where many voters are fiscally conservative but more socially moderate – than in Iowa or South Carolina.
Santorum reported raising just $582,000 for his campaign committee during the past three months, and his political action committee raised another $490,000 in the fund-raising quarter that ended June 30.
Among his Republican rivals, Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, and Ron Paul all raised more than $4 million, while Mitt Romney raised $18 million. Businessman Herman Cain, a newcomer to the political scene, raised over $2 million.
Santorum said he has enough money to run a “lean and mean grassroots-oriented campaign.’’
He added: “I didn’t feel it was appropriate to raise money until I was fully committed to running,’’ saying he decided to run in late May, announced officially in June, and held his first fund-raiser the last week in June.
As to his lack of visible support, Santorum compared his work now to building the foundation of a house.
“Pretty soon you’ll start to see the structure coming up,’’ he said.
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