Santorum, Bachmann Contrast Each Other Ahead of Iowa Caucus
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AFP/Getty Images(BETTENDORF, Iowa) — Both Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann made appearances at a Christmas party fundraiser for a congressional candidate Tuesday evening, and despite similar platforms and a similar electorate they are hoping to persuade in these final two weeks before the Iowa caucus, the contrast between the two could not have been starker.
Santorum mingled and lingered, relishing the time with likely caucus goers. He spoke for almost 30 minutes and took questions from the audience for another 20. Upon leaving, he stood in the driveway with his daughter and two staffers for a few minutes before they got in their car to leave.
Bachmann was at the end of the small street in her bus, but the two candidates never crossed paths. By the time Bachmann’s campaign bus drove up the street with Christmas music playing, there would be no run-in or even a holiday greeting between the rivals. The hosts waited outside Bachmann’s bus to greet her for several minutes until she stepped out of the bus and into the party with four of her five biological children in tow. She was immediately enveloped into the crowd who gave her a warm welcome.
The Minnesota congresswoman is currently on a whirlwind bus tour that will take her to all 99 counties in the Hawkeye State. Santorum completed the feat last month, but Bachmann is aiming to accomplish it in 10 days, lending to a schedule that at times only allows 15 minutes or less at each stop.
Both Santorum and Bachmann were greeted enthusiastically, but there was a notable difference. Bachmann ran in and addressed the party for 12 minutes before dashing out again. She did shake hands with the partygoers, but it was impossible to ignore the rushed feeling of her visit, especially in contrast to Santorum, who spoke right before her and spent time both before and after shaking hands, taking pictures and chatting.
And that’s not where the contrasts stopped. Both candidates have been hitting upward, aiming their fire at frontrunners Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and even Ron Paul in recent days, but on Tuesday night, they contrasted with each other, each making the case why they should be the victor on Jan. 3.
Rick Santorum, who received a standing ovation from the crowd at the end of his speech, said that it’s just about a difference of experience — although he said Bachmann is a “good person” and a “good conservative.”
“I think people are looking for someone with more experience, someone with a track record of success, someone who can deliver a key state and has a track record of attracting the kind of votes where they can win,” Santorum told reporters after his speech. “I can tell you after four years of being in the minority in the House I wasn’t ready to be president. I mean it’s great to be there, but it’s not the kind of breadth of experience in Washington that gives you what you need to be able to take on the job as president. ”
For her part, Bachmann said,” I have a very strong record across a broad plethora of issues, whether it’s dealing with national security, no one in this race has more current experience on national security because I currently sit on the House intelligence committee. We deal with the nation’s classified secrets.”
“It’s important to recognize that I’ve won four elections in the last five years. Sen. Santorum lost his senate race by a wider margin than any sitting Republican senator in history, and so when it comes to ability of getting elected … I win on that score as well,” she continued.
Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio