Evangelical backing boosts Santorum poll campaign

SUPPORT EXPECTED TO HELP HIS SOUTH CAROLINA DRIVE

Washington (AFP) Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has received a powerful shot in the arm as top US evangelical leaders endorsed his White House bid ahead of a crucial South Carolina primary.

The endorsement came after about 1 50 i nfluent i al Christian conservative leaders met at a ranch outside of Houston, Texas, in hopes of rallying their forces around one candidate before the January 21 vote in the state where evangelicals and social conservatives make up 60 per cent of the Republican electorate.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and one of the organisers of the meeting, said Santorum, a former US senator from Pennsylvania, had received 85 out of 114 possible votes, thus securing the backing of the

We believe that with strong consensus coming behind him that can aid in the fund-raising that he will need to be successful in the primary.”

group. The endorsement includes f inancial support from key religious conservative groups, Perkins explained without offering specifics.

Close second

Par t i c i pa nt s i ncl uded James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family; Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of the Liberty Institute; Don Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association; and Gary Bauer, president of American Values.

“You will see these organisations engaging openly

Tony Perkins President, Family Research Council

on his behalf — especially in the state of South Carolina,” Perkins told reporters. “We believe that with strong consensus coming behind him that can aid in the fund-raising that he will need to be successful in the primary.”

Sa nto r u m f i ni s h e d a close second i n the Iowa caucuses earlier this month, losing to front-runner Mitt Romney only by eight votes. He was tied for fourth place with former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich in New Hampshire.

Many social conservatives perceive Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, as a moderate and question his commitment to priority issues such as opposition to abortion and gay marriages.

Jobs issue

Meanwhile, Romney’s team hit back on Saturday at President Barack Obama’s campaign for portraying him as a jobs destroyer.

Romney, favourite to take on Obama in November, sought to turn the tables on the Democratic president, with a senior campaign ai de saying t he candidate’s business experience t rumped Obama’s background as a “community organiser”. “No amount of speechmaking will persuade the American people that his economic record has been anything other than an unmitigated disaster,” Romney’s policy director Lanhee Chen said of Obama in a statement.