- Sunday, January 22, 2012

Culture Challenge of the Week: The Tipping Point

Over the past few weeks, President Obama has requested a trillion-dollar increase to the debt limit, appointed another liberal to head the Domestic Policy Council, rejected the Keystone XL oil pipeline and rallied nearly 200 big-time Hollywood supporters to campaign for him.

It’s business as usual - just another month in his relentless campaign to destroy American values and prosperity.

Although Mr. Obama’s personal work ethic lags - in 2011, he strolled the links in more than 30 golf outings and played hooky from the Oval Office on more than 30 vacation days - he keeps a blistering pace when it comes to fundraising. Candidate Obama has attended campaign fundraisers, on average, every five days, raising more than $200 million in 2011 alone.

Make no mistake, Mr. Obama will be a formidable opponent this November.

We need our very best candidate if we are to defeat him.

This election is perhaps the most crucial of our lifetime. Our country has reached its moral and fiscal tipping point. Unless conservatives come together behind a strong candidate, the results of November’s election may plunge our nation headlong into an abyss of moral decadence, truncated liberty and bankrupt socialism - a place of no return.

How to Save Your Family: Support Rick Santorum - A Bold, Consistent and Principled Leader

I urge you to give your passionate support to Rick Santorum - a bold, principled leader with the courage to fight for America.

Why Rick?

He’s a persuasive voice for the truth, and he lives that truth every day. He’s also the most electable. (More on that in a moment.)

Every day - in town meetings, national debates and door-to-door campaigning - Rick gives voice to the issues we care about most - limited government, economic freedom, military defense and the sanctity of marriage and human life. And he has done so consistently over 20 years of public service.

As a principled conservative, Rick was on the right side long before it was fashionable. One reporter described him as “a tea party kind of guy before there was a tea party.”

As a lifelong advocate for families and conservative values, Rick Santorum is the real thing. I know it; I’ve had the immense honor of working with him on a project and have seen firsthand that he faces turbulent headwinds without flinching. He consistently has supported traditional marriage in the face of intimidation and threats.

I’ve known him to speak passionately for the preborn to a nearly empty Senate chamber, convinced that his words needed to be said, even if no one listened. (Because he followed his convictions, his words saved the life of an unborn child whose mother heard him speak.) And I’ve seen him boldly denounce Islamist terrorists while this administration ducked its head and spoke vaguely of “criminals,” unwilling to upset liberals with the truth.

Rick knows what he thinks - and he gets things done. He doesn’t just identify problems, he fashions solutions. He came to Washington as a reformer - and succeeded. He helped shape welfare reform, championed the rights of the preborn and disabled, and fought for a balanced budget and line-item veto. He advocated for a strong military and national defense. And he rose to one of the highest Republican leadership positions in the Senate.

As a congressman and senator, Rick deftly built coalitions that brought moderates into the conservative fold on important issues. He forged partnerships without forgoing principle. That sense of judgment - people-smart and principled - is why Rick became a tremendously effective legislator and congressional leader. It’s why he will make a great president.

Rick’s legislative success proved wrong all those who argue that conservatives succeed only when they become less conservative - that conservatives must become moderates to win. Some Republicans today think mistakenly that only a bland candidate - a Mitt Romney - can win moderate votes.

News flash: Passion persuades. Timidity does not.

Rick’s bold leadership and his unequivocal commitment to principle are reason enough to support him. But he’s also the most electable. He is the only candidate whose positions sharply contrast with Mr. Obama’s - and the voters know it.

Republicans must not field a presidential candidate dressed in timid words and shades of gray. If Republicans select a candidate like Mr. Romney, who created and continues to defend Romneycare, we will lose in November. And if they select a candidate like Newt Gingrich, who can’t control his ego and has a propensity to choose personal gain over principle, we will lose in November.

We need a principled leader who projects not only a bold vision for America, but one sharply opposed to Mr. Obama’s vision. And that candidate is Rick Santorum.

Rebecca Hagelin can be reached at rebecca@howtosave yourfamily.com.

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