Rick Santorum and the pursuit of happiness

Rick Santorum addresses a overflow crowd of more than 2,300 during a rally at First Redeemer Church, Cumming on Sunday. Curtis Compton, compton@ajc.com

Cumming, Ga. — The rise of Rick Santorum and the return of social conservatism to the Republican presidential primary is an economic indicator that bodes well for most of the country, though perhaps not for Mitt Romney.

We’ll get to that in a minute. But first a few details from First Redeemer Church, where on Sunday night, Santorum addressed, for 70 minutes, an overflow crowd of 3,300 or so. If Santorum makes a big move in Georgia on Super Tuesday, people will point to this church meeting as the place where it started.

The crowd was littered with Republican activists – always a sign of whether a campaign is poised to take off.

Among those who were there: Tim Echols, chairman of the Public Service Commission, who acted as MC; Chuck Eaton, member of the PSC; Ralph Hudgens, state insurance commissioner; state Sens. David Shafer, R-Duluth, state chairman for the Santorum campaign and a native of the candidate’s hometown of Butler, Pa., Renee Unterman, R-Buford, and William Ligon, R-Brunswick; state Reps. Buzz Brockway, R-Lawrenceville, Terry Rogers, R-Clarksville, Sam Teasley, R-Marietta, Ed Setzler, R-Kennesaw, Mike Dudgeon, R-Suwanee; former state Senator Jeff Chapman of Brunswick, the new head of Peach Tea Patriots; former state lawmaker Mitch Kaye; and Niki Broun, the wife of U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens.

In an overflow room in another building, U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Lawrenceville, watched on TV. “I’d never heard him speak, except at the debates, and he was in my hometown,” Woodall said afterwards.

Another pair in the audience: Joe Dendy, the chairman of the Cobb County GOP, and Scott Johnson, the former chairman. In a measure of how far Santorum had come, Johnson said he last saw the former Pennsylvania senator last August at the Iowa State Fair. “I went up and talked to Rick Santorum because nobody else would,” Johnson said.

First Redeemer is pastored by the Rev. Richard Lee, who has appeared in some literature as a supporter of Newt Gingrich.

The Rev. Richard Lee, right, prays with Rick Santorum, his wife Karen, and three of their children, from left, John, Sarah Maria and Daniel, at the conclusion of Santorum's address during a rally at First Redeemer Church in Cumming, Ga. on Sunday, Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.com

Before the event, Lee explained that Santorum’s appearance, one day after Gingrich completed a two-day stint in the state, didn’t constitute an endorsement:

“I had breakfast with Newt yesterday. Every time there is an election, we’ll have one or two candidates come through here. It’s never to be misinterpreted. I will invite [President Barack] Obama. Whether he comes, I don’t know. But I invite every candidate to come speak to our people, because [Forsyth] is the second most conservative county in America.”

In addressing the pews, Lee emphasized that the evening was a campaign event. “This is not church tonight,” he said. Even so, and despite his protestations of neutrality, his introduction was more fulsome than many endorsements we’ve heard. Lee emphasized Santorum’s record on pro-life issues – his mention of the ban on partial-birth abortions drew the evening’s first big cheer.

Lee quoted John Adams, the second U.S. president: “’In politics, the middle way is no way at all,’” the pastor quoted the Founding Father, adding this: “Rick Santorum knows only one way, and that’s the right way.”

Santorum focused exclusively on Obama. Only a few allusions were aimed at his GOP rivals – and they received no mentions by name. The economy received some mention, but not much. Santorum’s emphasis was on the overreach of federal government, and on social issues. ”Those who believe they know best are gaining more and more authority to tell us how to live our lives,” he said.

The contraception debate, as a measure of religious freedom, received a good deal of attention. Santorum upped the ante with this line:

“Now we have an administration that’s trying to wipe the decks. Yes, remember the president proposed eliminating charitable deductions for higher-income taxpayers, to cripple further these [churches] and non-profits.”

Let the record show that the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles federal deficit commission recommended the same thing.

That said, you have to note that Santorum’s rise has been concurrent with three weeks of news indicating an economic upturn. And his language indicates that the former Pennsylvania senator recognizes that the economy isn’t the Sword in the Stone that Romney thinks it is.

The core of Santorum’s lengthy talk was the link between the unalienable rights cited by the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution. In particular, Santorum discussed the use of the word “happiness” in the Declaration of Independence, rather than the right to pursue “life, liberty and property.” Said Santorum:

”Property is just stuff. And America isn’t just about pursuing stuff. That’s one of the problems I have sometimes with our fellow conservatives, is that all we talk about — ‘Oh, Rick, presidential candidates just focus on stuff. Focus on taxing and spending, the economy. Don’t talk about anything else. Just focus on stuff. That’s what Americans really care about.’

“Do they? [The crowd murmured in the negative.] No, America and our founders understood that if we were just a bunch of folks that cared about stuff, we have a very, very narrow view of freedom. We have a very, very narrow view of what God’s call is in our lives. Because that’s why He gave us these rights. To pursue happiness.

“…..’Happiness’ actually had a different definition, ‘way back at the time of our founders. Like many words in our lexicon, they evolve and change over time. ‘Happiness’ was one of them. Go back and look it up. You’ll see one of the principle definitions of happiness is ‘to do the morally right thing.’ God gave us rights to life and to freedom to pursue His will. That’s what the moral foundation of our country is.”

Dismissing “stuff” and economic materialism is not necessarily a line that appeals to voters uncertain of where their next paycheck, or meal, will come from. Consider that, in its own way, Santorum’s emphasis is a sign that things are getting better – at least, economically.

Santorum’s closing argument came as part of a brief question-and-answer session. And this was addressed to supporters of both Romney and Gingrich. “This election is about big things. Yeah, it’s about the economy, it’s about jobs,” Santorum said. But he added this:

”If you don’t have a candidate who can reach out and touch something deep inside every American — and that touching may engender passion and support, it may raise someone’s consciousness, it may infuriate.

“But this is an election where we need to move people, remind people, what’s at stake. And there are those who are going to be passionate on both sides. If we do it wrong, they will have all the passion. And if they have all the passion, we will lose.”

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

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