Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s 2008 speech about “Satan’s” attack on America went viral this past weekend, and was featured on several major 24 hour news networks Tuesday, the night before Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate in Arizona.
Mr. Santorum still has momentum in the Republican primary race, coming off of his three wins in Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota two weeks ago.
However, the “Satan” speech resurfaced at an inopportune time for Mr. Santorum, as the four remaining candidates will all meet on stage in Arizona Wednesday for their first debate since the CNN moderated debate prior to the Florida Republican primary election.
Now Mr. Santorum is surging nationally, and being viewed as more of a realistically viable candidate for the Republican nomination. Which means his personal history will be thoroughly evaluated by the media and rival candidates in an effort to let voters decide if they truly want him as their candidate in the fall.
The comments in the 2008 speech have likely been heard and aired before, but now that voters are judging Mr. Santorum state by state, the “Satan” speech becomes more relevant. The speech was given during a holiday weekend appearance in 2008 for the former U.S. senator at Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida.
“If you were Satan who would you attack in this day and age? There is no one else to go after other than the United States. And that’s been the case now for almost 200 years,” said Mr. Santorum in the speech. “The place where he was in my mind most successful, first successful, was in academia. He understood the pride of smart people.”
The resurfacing of the “Satan” speech is similar to the racist newsletters that resurfaced when Texas congressman Ron Paul was surging nationally in early December. The newsletters that ran under Mr. Paul’s name in the 1980s and 90s did not affect his popularity much, but he did constantly have to answer questions about them in interviews and debates.
Similarly to Mr. Paul, Mr. Santorum will now have to answer questions about the “Satan” speech in interviews, and most likely at the debate in Arizona Wednesday. Right at the time he has seemingly hit his stride in the race, the “Satan” speech resurfaced and likely makes Republican voters in Arizona and Michigan reconsider who they’re voting for next week.
“This is a spiritual war,” said Mr. Santorum in 2008. “And the Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies, Satan, would have his sights on: A good, decent, powerful, influential country – the United States of America.”
Mr. Santorum handled questions about the speech Tuesday at a campaign appearance in Arizona, and said that he wants to focus on the economy and creating jobs, not “old speeches,” CBS News reports.
“If they want to dig up old speeches of me talking to religious groups, they can go ahead and do so, but I’m going to stay on message and I’m going to talk about things that Americans want to talk about. ” said Mr. Santorum. “Which is creating jobs, making our country more secure, and yeah, taking on the forces around his world who want to do harm to America, and you bet I will take them on.”
When CNN anchor John King asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich about his past relationship with his ex-wife at a South Carolina debate in January, Mr. Gingrich dismissed the question as irrelevant, drawing a standing ovation from the crowd.
Mr. Santorum will likely look to do the same, if he faces questions about the “Satan” speech in Arizona Wednesday.
The former Pennsylvania senator leads rival candidate Mitt Romney in recent polls of Michigan voters, and is statistically tied with Mr. Romney in Tuesday’s CNN/Time poll of voters in Arizona.
