Former Senator Rick Santorum met me at Baby Boomers Café in the East Village area of Des Moines, IA on Monday to discuss his character, convictions, values and thoughts on a variety of issues that have been present in this campaign.
We discussed the toll campaigning has taken on his family and how he protects his integrity in the process – how he guards his heart, (Proverbs 4:33). I also asked what is at his core, what are the hills he would die on. He replied there are too many of them, but did list a few. In relation to his comments on poverty last week and how broken families are a primary cause we discussed what, if anything, can be done at the federal level. This led to a discussion of while there are limitations on what can be done via the legislative process much can be done from the platform the President of the United States has.
He shared ways the prolife agenda can be advanced, and what areas of spending he would cut. In light of President Obama sending up to 100 troops to Africa we discussed the circumstances he would be willing to deploy troops. He wants to secure the border, but is leery of sending troops into Mexico like Texas Governor Rick Perry suggests. With building a physical fence he did express concern over the property rights of those whose property extends on both sides of the border. He wants to repeal Race to the Top. He’s not a fan of the gold standard though he does want a return to sound money. He also discussed his “zero-zero-zero” plan to help revitalize the manufacturing sector to give them the incentives to create more jobs. He also shared his thoughts on the Penn State-Iowa series in football (Hawkeyes have won 8 of the last 10).
You can watch the interview below:
Bonus videos – I had problems uploading some of the videos from his campaign event on Sunday. I wanted to share two videos from the Q&A session he had. One are this thoughts on national security as it relates to Iran and Islamic terrorism, and the second he answer’s Tea Party activist, Lynn Rodgers’, question “why should I get behind you?”