By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Former candidate for the Republican nomination for President and the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum will be in Birmingham on Thursday. Senator Santorum will discuss the challenges facing our nation and the solutions being offered by conservatives at the Alabama Policy Institute (API) Annual Dinner on May 29th at the Birmingham Cahaba Grand Conference Center.
Alabama Policy Institute President Gary Palmer said, “Just weeks following the election results, a top contender for the Republican presidential ticket, Rick Santorum, will address where conservatives should look for hope in changing the direction of our country.”
Senator Santorum recently told ‘The Weekly Standard’, “I’m open to it, yeah,” when asked about another presidential campaign. “I think there’s a fight right now as to what the soul of the Republican party’s going to be and the conservative movement, and we have something to say about that. I think from our battle, we’re not going to leave the field.”
Sen. Santorum said that 2012 Republican Party Nominee, Mitt Romney should have focused more on the role of government in the lives of Americans. Sen. Santorum said, “We didn’t make that argument in this race. Our candidate didn’t make that argument, as some of us said during the campaign, because he was not capable of making that argument. In my opinion, what could have been and what should have been a referendum election on what it means to be an American, what it means for us as a country to head down the road toward European socialism, we just simply didn’t make the argument at a time when I think America was ripe to hear the argument.”
Sen. Santorum said that the Republicans could have performed better in the crucial Midwest battleground states if they had had a candidate and a party which did not “look askance” at a populist economic and social message. Santorum said that he and his organization, Patriot Voices, are, “Going to talk about all of the issues with an emphasis on cultural issues.” Santorum has said that the party will have to do better with Latino voters to win in 2016. “Immigration reform is something we have to deal with,” Santorum said.
The API Dinner and program will be from 7-9 pm. The Cahaba Grand Conference Center is at 3660 Grandview Parkway in Birmingham, AL 35243. The Conference Center is right off of US Highway 280 just to the South of the US Highway 280/Interstate 459 junction near the Jefferson and Shelby County line. The API Annual Dinner is held solely for the benefit of API and is not a fundraiser for any political campaign or candidate. API does not support or oppose candidates for political office.
