Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN) - Despite anemic numbers in recent state polls, former Sen. Rick Santorum emphasized his commitment to New Hampshire Thursday with an announcement that 83 supporters in the state would serve as his primary captains.
In a statement Santorum, who has called himself the true conservative in the GOP field, implied some political observers thought he might be too socially conservative for New Hampshire.
"Many have said to me that I should skip New Hampshire because the state does not 'match-up' with my brand of conservatism," Santorum said in the statement. "Today's announcement proves the nay-sayers wrong, because New Hampshire Republicans are looking for a candidate who is committed to their state, who speaks from the heart, and speaks the truth about the challenges facing our nation."
Many of the more socially conservative GOP candidates have focused their efforts on Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus. In fact, Santorum's campaign announced this week the candidate would achieve his goal of holding public events in each of Iowa's 99 counties.
In a CNN/Time/ORC poll released Thursday, Santorum polled at 1% among Republicans and Independents in New Hampshire.
Santorum has visited the state 25 times, according to his campaign. Staffer Mike Biundo, a New Hampshire native, was recently elevated to become Santorum's national campaign manager.
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I saw "commitment" in the headline and assumed Mr. Frothy was finally getting the mental health treatment he so obviously needs.
The only news-worthy part of this article is that Rick San torum has 83 supporters in New Hampshire.
Santorum is a single issue candidate who should do well in Mississippi. Mississippians in the state legislature think that a person's birthday is when the egg is fertilized.
How can the GOP-baggers like Senator Buttmilk ever utter the words "liberty" and "freedom", when all they want to do is impose their brand of radical social conservatism on the rest of us? Practice your crazy social conservative "values" on your own, keep it out of politics.
"liberty" and "freedom", social conservative "values"
Rick Santorum is a true freedom fighter , he will go down on history !
He's struggling because no one like him or his ideas. He fooled the people of Pennsylvania a couple of time, but they finally wised up and gave him the boot.
I don't think that most people are a part of his brand of conservatism. His numbers are small because no one really can connect with him. He doesn't seem that personable to me. That fact that he was defeated in his home state also says something about him as well. If he had resigned, I think that his numbers would be slightly better.
He needs to hang in---- the Democrats need him.
Rick Santorum should just hang it up and quit. He has no plan for solving the country's economic or fiscal problems. He is way down in the a number of polls–in the single digits. He has a slim to none chance of getting the nomination.
I am one person in Mississippi who thinks Santorum is way too socially conservative. Since he can't even get reelected in his home state, why does he think he can win a national campaign?
He should save his time and peoples money by pulling out. It is not going to happen.
Santorum needs to do a "Sarah Palin" and just quit this...save some folks some money and go back to his position on FoxNews. He has about as much chance to be POTUS as I do.