Mike DeWine Switches Endorsement From Mitt Romney To Rick Santorum
EmailABC News’ Michael Falcone and Shushannah Walshe report:
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has had a change of heart.
The prominent Buckeye State Republican threw his support behind presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Friday afternoon, switching his allegiance from Mitt Romney to the former Pennsylvania senator.
“To be elected President, you have to do more than tear down your opponents,” DeWine said in a statement. ”You have to give the American people a reason to vote for you — a reason to hope — a reason to believe that under your leadership, America will be better. Rick Santorum has done that. Sadly, Governor Romney has not.”
DeWine made the official the announcement on Friday in front of the Ohio State House in Columbus. There he candidly admitted he “was wrong” to have endorsed Mitt Romney four months ago and he was even more candid about why.
According to DeWine, Romney has shown an “astounding inability to provide voters with a rationale to support him.”
As for Santorum, “People like him — he’s human!” DeWine said.
He cited Romney’s “massive financial and organizational advantage” as one of the reasons he previously supported the former Massachusetts governor’s presidential bid.
Evidently pleased by DeWine’s scathing critique of Romney, Santorum said he only wished his wife could have been in Ohio to attend the endorsement event: “I wish Karen could have heard that,” he said.
Santorum will become the third presidential candidate DeWine backed during the primary season. The former U.S. Senator who served alongside Santorum in Washington, originally endorsed Tim Pawlenty before moving to Romney after Pawlenty dropped out of the race.
In a tweet, Romney strategist Eric Fehrnstrom sought to portray DeWine as fickle: “Mike DeWine makes his third endorsement in six months — Pawlenty, Romney, and now Santorum. I think that’s a record,” Fehrnstrom wrote.
Romney is not lacking in Ohio endorsements. He has dozens of state and local elected officials on his side, including U.S. Sen. Rob Portman. But on Friday he lost one of them.
“For some time now, it has been clear to me that Rick Santorum should be the Republican nominee for President,” DeWine said in the statement circulated by the Santorum campaign. “To be frank, I’ve had some sleepless nights. I could not, in good conscience, be on record endorsing Governor Romney when I knew in my heart that Rick Santorum was the better candidate.”
Earlier on Friday, Santorum held a town hall meeting in Shelby Township, Mich. and dropped DeWine’s name when a voter asked Santorum about his 18-point loss in his U.S. Senate re-election campaign in 2006.
“It was a horrible year. We lost 23 of 33 senate races in this country. I mean it’s one thing to say oh you lost your last race, why could you run? But everybody lost the race in 2006.,” Santorum said. “So if you Look here at Michigan. Look who you re-elected in 2006. Let’s just get down to the fact of how bad it was. Mike DeWine in Ohio lost by 15 points, in the state of Ohio, which is a better state than Pennsylvania. And by the way he’s now the attorney general of Ohio. He came back four years ago and he won.”
DeWine served for two terms in the U.S. Senate and four in the House of Representatives. He announced his endorsement of Romney in last October.
“Americans can choose a president that believes in the greatness of America or can choose a president that would rather engage in class warfare and partisan bickering than work to solve America’s problems,” DeWine said of Romney back then in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
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Posted by: Disgusted with gop | February 17, 2012, 2:51 pm 2:51 pm
If the Repubs want to guarantee defeat in November, they’ll put up Santorum as the Repub nominee for President. When you examine his record you’ll find he’s a Big Government conservative who’ll tinker around the edges rather than spur the significant, constitutional changes needed to get things turned around.
Santorum, and all of his supporters, needs to understand this: campaign talk is cheap and, in the end, you are what your voting record says you are.
Posted by: Derek F | February 17, 2012, 4:17 pm 4:17 pm
The only thing thinner than Obama’s resume is Santorum’s resume. He is the conservative version of Obama, a nice guy, but has achieved nothing of importance. His senatorial loss in his home state by double digits (the largest in that state’s history) should tell us something about this candidate. Would you hire this “entry level” man to run your business? Some say that he’s a “real” conservative as if that is the only qualification one has to have to run the business of this country. Remember that Obama was the “transformational” candidate? How did that work out? Let’s elect someone with the skill set to run this country (and I don’t mean “community activist), one whose resume reflects success and experience. Romney/ Rubio 2012….
Posted by: jabon | February 17, 2012, 4:38 pm 4:38 pm
Santorum will get slapped around by Obama so bad it will take years for the GOP to recover! Mitt is the only candidate with any shot at beating Obama! Can’t believe all you do called conservatives can’t see that!
Posted by: Shane | February 17, 2012, 4:44 pm 4:44 pm
Bless his little heart – what a responsible and reliable leader he is —NOT!
This campaign certainly reflects the decline of standards in people for whom others actually had respect. Right now, the only respectful candidate in this race is Mitt Romney and anyone who says otherwise does so because they do not know him and have never cared enough to get to know him. America needs Mitt and if we reject him AGAIN this time, the next four years of Obama will surely destroy us.
Posted by: Brenda Copely | February 17, 2012, 5:07 pm 5:07 pm
I’m not in the habit of quoting Democrats – especially those from Illinois. But all this flap about Romney not providing voters with a rationale to support him is ridiculous and brings to mind the words of Adlai E. Stevenson: what we need “is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime”. So it is with Mitt Romney. His lifetime of turning around financially troubled companies, a troubled Olympics and the state of Massachusetts speaks with more power than any outburst of emotion from a fired-up Pawlenty, Bachman, Gingrich or Santorum. I won’t vote on emotion, I’m voting for someone who has a record that speaks louder than the campaign rhetoric. I look at what people have done not what they say they’ll do. Unfortunately, Mr. Santorum’s record on fiscal responsibility is not what this country needs. His charitable giving is another case in point. Santorum is a millionaire who gives less than 2% to charity. Romney is not one to brag about his charitable giving but there again his actions speak louder than his words!
Posted by: Henry Beecher | February 17, 2012, 8:42 pm 8:42 pm
To date DeWine has endorsed 3 Republicans. Like his politcal record he seems to jump around alot. He is considered a very Liberal Republican and a real political opportunist.
He has run and lost for more different elected offices then he has ever won. Perhaps now , he has finally found his true soul mate in another looser, Santorum.
Posted by: Joanne | February 17, 2012, 9:10 pm 9:10 pm
Wow! What a coward!
The AG looks at all the candidates, learns of their policies, their character, their strengths and their weaknesses and then makes his decision. However, after his man gets attacked, both by the left AND those on the extreme right, complains that the guy he picked (Romney) has to do more than “attack”?
Give me a break.
The Ohio AG is a feckless coward.
Posted by: Twister | February 17, 2012, 9:25 pm 9:25 pm
Mr DeWine is the reason politicians are in such disrepute. So many of them are just a bunch of finger to the wind backstabbing opportunists.
Posted by: valwayne | February 17, 2012, 9:31 pm 9:31 pm
Now there’s a shocker…. A fellow member of the 2006 Loser’s club endorses his Roomie…
Together they represent 2% of possibly the worst Republican controlled Senate in U.S. History..
Posted by: poyman | February 17, 2012, 11:09 pm 11:09 pm
Santorum has the same resume as Obama if you throw out abortion and Gay Marriage and that’s not an exageration.
Both are Lawyers, both are very liberal spenders, both keep on voting to increase the debt limits, Obama pushes Obamacare that will cost a Trillion over 10 years and Santorum pushed the Prescription Drug Legislation costing Taxpayers hundreds of Billions with unfunded liability for Trillions in the future, both are against Right to Work and back Big Unions, and both love Earmarks…..
But the thing that they have most in common is that neither one has Executive Experience or experience with the Economy or anykind of Business Acumen, yet the world waits and hopes that the U.S. can kick start the Economy…. The world hopes that the U.S. can get the Private Sector going so that we can start a Recovery… But I think that all of us know that there is no chance for a recovery with either one of these guys.
Posted by: poyman | February 17, 2012, 11:10 pm 11:10 pm
Sorry but Santorum will lose the nomination and any assurances that he gave you of a possition in his cabinet will go up in smoke.
Posted by: Jack | February 18, 2012, 9:00 am 9:00 am
DeWin, like a priceless win, has mellowed through the years. His endorsement is commendable.
Only Santorum is really electable because only Santorum has the solid backing of conservativesm not to mention the Catholics, the Evangelicals, the Tea Party Patriots and all those who refuse to disbelieve in God. Santorum also is authentic. He means what he says and he says what he means. He speaks the language of the people because he is one of us.
Because he looks good, he makes his detractors look miserable, messy and mad.. When he answer gotcha interviews, he does so with charm, with eloquence and common sense. He represents America best. We have not had a charming, lovable and articulare President for a long, long time. Santorum is the Tim Tebow of our dirty political landscape. Once he becomes President, America is bound to regain its moral authority to pursue its manifest destiny.
Posted by: Anatole Pushkin | February 18, 2012, 11:29 am 11:29 am
Santorum has no shot in the general election. He has a reputation as a bible thumper and women don’t like his extreme views. He also wants the government to control the internet. Keep the government out of the bedroom and the internet.
Also, Santorum has no executive experience. Who was the last senator to win the WH with no executive experience? Oh yeah, it was Obama. How did that work for us?
Posted by: Mike from MA | February 18, 2012, 12:05 pm 12:05 pm
Romney is the biggest joke I have ever seen. I’m an Independent and I’m planning on voting a Republican ballot in the Ohio primary just to vote against Romney. I am sick of his negative attack ads and he stands for nothing. Romney is damaged goods and there’s no way he’s going to beat Obama. Vote Rick Santorum in the Ohio Primary in March.
Posted by: Adam | February 18, 2012, 1:06 pm 1:06 pm
There is one main reason “Christian Conservatives” do not want Romney to win the nomination: he is Mormon. Their worst nightmare is being forced to choose between Obama and a Mormon come November. They would rather vote for a minority (Cain) than a Mormon, and that is saying alot.
So they have tried and faied numerous times to get a “Social Conservative” nominated. First it was Bachmann, then Perry, then Cain, and then Gingrich. Santorum was their last choice, and now he is their only choice.
Of all the original Republican candidates, including Bachmann, Santorum is by far the weakest. And that is also saying alot.
Posted by: skarphace | February 18, 2012, 1:54 pm 1:54 pm
Republicans seem well on their way to losing another general election. Santorum’s momentum in the republican primaries ironically seems to be inspiring republicans now but weakening the GOP for the general election. Behind all of the arguments against Gingrich, Romney and Paul in the GOP primary process, it seems the GOP will lose because behind closed doors I keep hearing Christians cannot get behind their strongest leader because of his Mormon faith. I’m neither republican or democrat but I really want to see a real leader become president this time and it looks like we’re going to get either another lawyer/senator from the right or the same lawyer/senator from the left.
Posted by: dannyalts | February 19, 2012, 12:49 am 12:49 am