DUBLIN, N.H. ? Somewhere between Iowa and New Hampshire, Rick Santorum?s message changed. It got bigger.
The former Pennsylvania senator still talks about revitalizing manufacturing and protecting conservative social values. He still urges early-state voters to fulfill their role in the primary process by considering the underdog.
Continue ReadingBut now, Santorum starts nearly every campaign event with a broader, darker description of the 2012 campaign as a war over the size of the federal government. He spends hours taking voters? questions on subjects from Internet regulation to Social Security. In Brentwood on Wednesday night, at the end of his first town hall meeting after the Iowa caucuses, Santorum solicited a question on foreign policy ? and gave a drawn-out answer on Iran?s nuclear ambitions.
The point, it seems, is to show the people of New Hampshire that he?s not merely the latest in a parade of one-dimensional Mitt Romney opponents ? the next iteration of Herman Cain?s substance-free protest candidacy. Instead, Santorum is committed to convincing audiences here that he?s a candidate who is ready to be president of the United States, not just president of Iowa and its social issue-focused GOP base.
And Santorum doesn?t just tell voters he?s a substantive guy with ?moral vision.? He also tells them ? or at least strongly hints ? that he?s even more substantive than Romney.
?I hear this all the time, ?We need a candidate who just laser-beam focuses on the economy. Folks, this is more than just the economy,?? Santorum said in Keene Friday morning. ?Of course, the economy?s usually affected by whether you think government should control, or it should be bottom-up. But so is everything else in society. This is a big, big meaningful election, on a values level.?
To state the obvious, Iowa and New Hampshire are very different places and the trip northward has bedeviled previous Iowa upstarts ? Mike Huckabee in 2008, for one ? who have had to instantly adjust a campaign tone that was pitch-perfect for Midwestern conservatives but may ring out of tune in more moderate climes.
Santorum?s exultant remarks Tuesday night in Iowa seemed to begin the process of opening up his stump speech and using it to convey a more expansive vision of a traditional American middle class that has been wronged and disrespected.
He?s embracing New Hampshire?s favorite medium, the town hall meeting, to aid his message.
Santorum jokes at his campaign stops that Granite Staters may try to wear him out by peppering him with an endless number of detailed questions. Then he tells attendees to do their worst, looking coolly at one questioner after another as many try to throw him for a loop, and often answering at extreme length.
?Tell me what the problem is, be really specific about it,? he challenged his audience in Brentwood. ?I just believe that the American public can be trusted with more, not less, information.?
Santorum aides and supporters dispute the idea that his message has shifted since the Iowa caucuses. Rather than a ?pivot,? senior Santorum adviser John Brabender says he?s ?just receiving more attention.?
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