Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, winner of the Iowa Republican caucuses four years ago, quit the 2016 presidential contest on Wednesday night and endorsed U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's bid for the White House.
Santorum told Fox News he had concluded the best way to advance his policy agenda would be to suspend his presidential campaign and support another candidate who shares his values. He praised Rubio as someone who is concerned about working-class Americans who are struggling to earn a living and a person who understands the central role of the family in society. He also cited the Florida senator's national security experience and his knowledge of the threats of ISIS and fundamentalist Islam.
"I see a tremendously gifted young man and a leader," Santorum said of Rubio. "He is the new generation and someone who can bring this country together; not just moderates and conservatives, but young and old."
Santorum, an advocate of Christian conservative values, a tougher foreign policy and creating blue-collar jobs, finished in 11th place in Monday night's Iowa GOP caucuses with 1 percent of support. He failed to get traction in this year's caucus race after surging at the end of the 2012 Iowa contest to capture a belated victory and then won primaries in 10 more states.
Santorum was Iowa's hardest campaigner during this year's caucus cycle, appearing at more than 290 events over 95 days here. But he believes he was especially hurt by cable television debate rules that forced him and other lower-polling candidates into so-called “undercard” debates that received relatively modest national news coverage compared to prime-time debates involving upper-tier candidates.
He said earlier this week that if similar TV debate rules had been in place before the 2012 caucuses he couldn't have won.
However, Santorum has also said he realizes he bears some responsibility for his campaign’s troubles because his family was short of money after he spent so much time campaigning for the 2012 caucuses. That meant he had to get a regular job to support his wife and their seven children and he was out of the political arena for several years.
A crowded field of Republican presidential candidates with several new faces also made it more difficult for Santorum this time around with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the winner of the 2016 caucuses, garnering more support from key social conservatives. Much of Santorum's backing during the 2012 race came from opponents of abortion and same-sex marriage.
Patti Brown of Des Moines, co-chair of Santorum's 2016 Iowa caucus campaign, and state Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, Santorum's state campaign director, both praised the former Pennsylvania senator on Wednesday after learning he had decided to leave the presidential race.
"We gave it our all. I think we all believed deeply in our candidate," Brown said. "He was an inspiration to everybody on the campaign staff. I have no regrets whatever. I am so deeply grateful to have been a part of his Iowa campaign."
Rogers said everyone on Santorum's Iowa campaign had worked hard and he was proud of their effort.
"I think that just from the start there were certain people within politics and just the Iowa caucuses who thought that Rick had a chance already, and so we were never really given a chance to compete. But we had to go all the way to find that out for sure," Rogers said. "Rick Santorum has a future and we will see what it is, but he is going to influence the United States of America somehow."
Santorum had lost some key Iowa aides from his 2012 campaign, including Chuck Laudner, who had driven him around Iowa in a Dodge Ram pickup dubbed the "Chuck Truck," and Sam Clovis, a college professor and well-known radio broadcaster in Sioux City. Both Laudner and Clovis held key roles in businessman Donald Trump's Iowa campaign in this year's caucuses.
Santorum had made no effort to hide the fact that his 2016 campaign was running on a shoestring budget, just like his 2012 Iowa caucus race. According to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission for the period from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2015, Santorum’s presidential campaign had net contributions of $1.2 million and net expenditures of $1.8 million with more than $600,000 in loans and debt. He had cash on hand of just $56,153.
