Great speech by a pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-worker, pro-Israel candidate who calls for a Great Awakening. Santorum is an underdog worth watching.

May 28, 2015 By in Epicenter

Santorum-2016announcementSantorum-book2My friend, Rick Santorum, gave a great speech yesterday, announcing his presidential campaign.

It was pro-family, pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-worker, pro-growth, and pro-Israel. I loved all of it.

Santorum is an underdog worth watching. (you can watch the C-SPAN replay by clicking here).

Lynn and I have known the Santorums for years and have come to appreciate their courageous and consistent conservative views and willingness to fight long and hard for the values we hold dear, even when the media and elites mock and attack them. I loved Rick’s Blue Collar Conservative book last year. And I continue to love his message of fighting to help workers and families and working to revive American manufacturing and rebuild the American military.

I was especially encouraged that Rick spoke of America’s need for a Great Awakening in his announcement speech. Indeed, I hope more candidates speak openly and honestly about our need not just for wise leadership in Washington but our urgent need for God’s grace and mercy and a massive spiritual revival.

Rick also signaled he will be soon rolling out a bold plan to scrap the tax code, abolish the IRS as we know it, and institute a simple, fair flat tax. As a long-time flat tax supporter, I say “amen,” and I’m eager to see the specifics of his plan.

Now, to be clear, it’s far too early to endorse anyone. Like many Americans, I want to see the entire presidential field emerge and compete and lay out their visions and their detailed plans for their future and show us what they are made of.

But Santorum has some impressive strengths that are worth noting at this early stage:

  • He’s deeply pro-life and pro-marriage and never wavers on these issues
  • Won 11 states (including Iowa) and 4 million votes in 2012 campaign, coming in second behind Romney
  • Perhaps the most experienced national candidate in the race having served four years in Congress, twelve years in the Senate & was 3rd highest ranking Republican leader in the Senate
  • Helped lead the way on major tax cuts and spending cuts and balancing the federal budget
  • Most foreign policy/national security experience having served on the Senate Armed Services Committee for eight years
  • Has a real track record of writing and passing very important legislation, not just giving speeches
  • Successfully led the fight to ban partial birth abortions
  • Successfully led the fight to end welfare as we know it and move millions from welfare to work
  • Successfully led the fight to impose sanctions on Iran Syria and has been warning about “Gathering Storm” of Radical Islam for 15 years
  • Successfully helped defeat HillaryCare and then passed pro-patient health care reform including Medical Savings Accounts
  • Fought corruption in Washington when he was first elected to Congress
  • Long-time pro-Israel leader in the House and Senate, and even brought a delegation of Christian leaders to visit Israel and stand in solidarity with Israel during last year’s missile war in August (a delegation I participated in)

Now, Rick up against other solid folks that I also like a lot — Gov. Walker, Sen. Rubio, Gov. Jindal, and Gov. Huckabee among them. It’s way too early to say whether Rick can go all the way and win the nation’s trust. He’s behind in the polls, but he has a fascinating track record of being an underdog who surprises everyone. The point for now is that he’s a good man, a man of great faith in Christ and he has a great love for this country.  He has very bold and specific ideas about how to turn this country around, and he really does get the Iran and ISIS threats far better than most. I’m glad he’s joined the race and I’m praying for the Lord to protect him and all the candidates.

May the Lord raise up just the right person at the right time to lead this country and get us back on the right track. The stakes are very high.

NOTE: These are my personal views and in no way reflect the views of The Joshua Fund which is a non-profit organization and takes no political positions.

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