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Santorum urges Romney to weaponize same sex marriage issue

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
May 14th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum is urging Republican candidate Mitt Romney to "step up" and "weaponize" the issue of same-sex marriage. "This is a very potent weapon, if you will, for Governor Romney if he's willing to step up and take advantage of a president who is very much out of touch with the values of America," Santorum said in a live interview with Arkansas TV station KARK, a CNN affiliate.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Santorum made the remarks before appearing at the Benton County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner in the northwest corner of the state last week. Santorum's comments also came on the eve before Romney's speech before the Christian conservative Liberty University in Virginia.

Romney's former opponent noted the recent results of a ballot issue in North Carolina where voters approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

"Hopefully Governor Romney will continue to stand tall for his position on this issue and understand how detrimental it would be for society for it to have this changed," Santorum told TV journalists.

"Governor Romney has to talk about his values," he added. "That's the most important thing."

President Obama stated his support for same-sex marriage in reversal of his stance on the sensitive issue last week. Obama becomes the first President to support it, in no uncertain terms. Obama said, "At a certain point, I've just concluded, that for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."

Following the president's comments, Romney seemed hesitant to take on what he called a "tender" subject, though he did reiterate his view that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Santorum's indicate the former Pennsylvania senator is not fully on board Romney's team. After a bitter and ugly primary season battle, Santorum endorsed Romney in a lengthy email to his supporters.

However, Santorum did not actually state his endorsement until the tail end of the message.

When asked whether he would be interested in running as Romney's running mate, he replied "It's one thing you don't campaign for - at least I'm not campaigning for," Santorum said.

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Article brought to you by: Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)