Antipoverty campaign?
In January, a CBS poll found Rick Santorum running a distant third in the Republican presidential race. After his February 7 victories, CBS polled Republican voters again—and found the former senator from Pennsylvania on top. The now serious possibility that Santorum will win the nomination could have at least one positive outcome: a general election campaign in which the candidates actually talk about poverty.
As a U.S. senator, Santorum didn't cross the aisle much for major votes on taxes or social spending, but he did stand up for foreign aid, and he was a key player in the effort to fight AIDS in Africa. Whenever a bipartisan bill sought a middle way in addressing domestic poverty, Santorum's name was usually on it.
This primary season, Santorum has frequently talked about poverty. He correctly dismissed Herman Cain's regressive tax plan as "not good for low-income people." He also offered this: "We need to talk . . . about people at the bottom of the income scale being able to get necessary skills and rise." He then highlighted, quite rightly, the need for reinvestment in American manufacturing.
