The main event during Santorum’s impending return to Iowa will be his keynote speech in Urbandale at the annual spring fundraising dinner for the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition, a Christian conservative group that holds deep influence among evangelical caucus-goers in the state. He also is slated to participate in a Des Moines luncheon on behalf of a pro-life medical research group.
In both appearances, Santorum is expected to defend what he has called the “soul of the Republican Party” against forces within it that are increasingly eager to downplay or reconsider longstanding aspects of its platform.
His eagerness to remain on the front lines of this intra-party fight comes after Santorum spent much of the 2012 campaign defending his hard-line positions on social issues while also aiming to expand his appeal by touting his blue-collar credentials and economic populism.
“We’d go a whole day in Iowa talking about the economy, his manufacturing plan, and lowering taxes, and then at the last minute a reporter would come up to him and say, ‘Hey, what do you think about gay marriage?’ ” recalled Hogan Gidley, who served as Santorum’s traveling spokesperson during the 2012 campaign. “And we used to laugh at that because a lot of times he wouldn’t even bring it up.”
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