Santorum Says He's in Race to Stay; Focuses on Delegates

(Photo: Reuters/Chris Keane)
U.S. Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum speaks during the Faith and Freedom Prayer Breakfast in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina January 15, 2012.

By Paul Stanley , Christian Post Reporter

January 27, 2012|12:16 pm

Rick Santorum wants to make one thing clear: he's in the presidential race for the long haul and has surplus money to ramp up his campaign staff.

Mark Rodgers, one of Santorum's closest confidants and who served as his chief of staff during his time in Congress, dispelled any rumors that Santorum would be bowing out of the race.

"No truth whatsoever," said Rodgers, who is now an adviser to the Santorum campaign, to The Christian Post. "We are hiring staff and ramping up for the weeks and months ahead."

Santorum himself was just as emphatic.

"We are just going to continue to work hard," Santorum said after an event Thursday with the College Republicans in Tallahassee, Fla., according to ABC News. "We're not going anywhere. We are going to be in this race, we are going to stay in this race for the long haul. We are planning for the next states. We took a little time last night to take a little planning time and we are staffing up, we are deploying resources."

However, because of his inability to buy television and radio time in Florida, some are questioning the depth of Santorum's bank account.

But Santorum told ABC News, "We've run a very conservative campaign. We only spend the money we get, we don't spend any more."

He added that they are in "cash-plus position" because of recent fundraisers and have "plenty of money to hire staff."

Delegates will remain the ultimate goal for Santorum. After Florida's primary, Santorum will move to Colorado, Nevada and Missouri in hopes of picking up support and delegates through August.

"This is only the fourth primary. We have a long, long way to go. We got apportioned delegates in most of the states and we feel very comfortable that as we keep going we are going to pick up delegates," Santorum explained to ABC. "We are going to stay in this race and the longer we are in it the better off we will be, the more people will recognize what we bring to the ticket…"

Santorum's strong debate performance may help the conservative former senator stay in the race another day. In the latest Sunshine State News/VSS poll taken before Thursday night's debate, Santorum is in third place with 12 percent, behind both Romney and Gingrich, who have 40 and 31 percent, respectively. Paul came in fourth with 9 percent.