On Santorum: “It’s always been about faith…”

Recently, a reporter with McClatchy Newspapers took a look at how much a role religion plays in this Catholic candidate’s life:

For former Sen. Rick Santorum, it’s always been about faith.

Deep religious faith fuels Santorum’s conservative politics. It’s what propelled him into becoming one of Congress’ leading opponents of abortion, same-sex marriage and wrongdoing by fellow lawmakers, regardless of party affiliation.

Faith is the key ingredient that also powers Santorum’s long-shot drive for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Though solidly in the bottom tier among the seven remaining major GOP candidates, the former Pennsylvania senator doggedly soldiers on through the cold of Iowa and New Hampshire and the temperate early winter of South Carolina. He remains confident that his campaign will catch fire among conservative voters who may be leery of the current top-tier favorites _former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

“He impresses people because he’s committed to running a campaign that spotlights his deep feelings on issues that he feels are important,” said Tom Rath, a veteran New Hampshire Republican activist and Romney strategist.

Santorum, 53, is a man waiting for his moment at the top of the GOP presidential heap — a position that’s already rotated among Romney, Gingrich, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and businessman Herman Cain….

…A devout Catholic and father of seven children, Santorum was elected to the House of Representatives in 1990 at age 32. He was a member of the so-called “Gang of Seven” House GOP freshmen who rankled House leadership in both parties by highlighting check-writing abuses by their fellow lawmakers at the now-defunct House bank.

The House bank scandal — which ensnared several Democrats and a few Republicans — helped lift the career of Gingrich, R-Ga., and helped Republicans take control of the House in 1994 for the first time in 40 years…

…In the Senate, Santorum became known for his social conservatism. He led efforts to ban late-term abortions and led the unsuccessful GOP fight in 2005 to keep Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, attached to life-preserving medical equipment.

He derided a 2003 Supreme Court decision that declared a Texas sodomy law unconstitutional, saying, “If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery.”

Santorum’s stances earned him a solid following among religious conservatives and a spot on Time magazine’s 25 most influential evangelists list in 2005.

It also earned him the enmity of many Democrats, women’s groups, abortion rights advocates and gay rights supporters, who disliked what they considered Santorum’s holier-than-thou attitude.

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