Santorum Lifts CPAC Crowd, Focuses on Obama and Romney - East Idaho News
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Santorum Lifts CPAC Crowd, Focuses on Obama and Romney

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Getty P 021012 SantorumCPAC?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1328903137934Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Rick Santorum’s fans, many of whom say they have hopped onto the bandwagon only in the past couple of weeks, have descended onto the Conservative Political Action Conference parade in northwest Washington with an abundance of stickers and other campaign paraphernalia to show their support.

There was barely an empty seat in the ballroom at the Marriott Friday morning as Santorum spoke to the conservative movement with his wife and six of his kids surrounding him.

“We are not just wings of the Republican Party,” Santorum said to enthusiastic cheers. “We are the Republican Party.”

At one point, he rhetorically asked the audience which candidate has the best ideas to challenge President Obama, and before he could finish his thought, a smattering of people yelled “you!” and “Santorum!”

“I guess I can quit now because you’re all convinced of that,” Santorum joked.

Without mentioning Mitt Romney by name, Santorum said the former governor created the “stepchild of ObamaCare” in Massachusetts and that as the nominee, Romney would “give that issue away.”

Santorum got his biggest cheers when he derided Obama’s recent mandate that religious groups provide health care services that include contraception.

“It’s not about contraception. It’s about economic liberty,” Santorum said as the crowd rose to its feet. “It’s about government control of your lives, and it’s got to stop.”

Watch Santorum’s full speech:

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