Pro-Life Activist Gary Bauer Endorses Rick Santorum

Politics   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jan 9, 2012   |   1:54PM   |   Washington, DC

Leading pro-life activist Gary Bauer has issued an endorsement for Rick Santorum who has been steadily gaining in the polls following his surprising second place showing in the Iowa caucus vote last week.

Bauer is a prominent conservative leader who is a former Republican presidential candidate himself, the former president of the Family Research Council and now the head of the Campaign for Working Families.

“Senator Santorum has the character, courage and conservative ideas our country desperately needs,” Bauer said. “He can unite the GOP but more importantly he can restore American confidence and get out nation back on the right track.”

“After careful consideration and prayer, I decided to publicly endorse Senator Rick Santorum yesterday in Greenville, South Carolina,” Bauer added about the endorsement. “My intention had been to avoid an endorsement this cycle. But in recent days it has become obvious that conservative voters are deeply divided about who should carry the banner for our values into the 2012 election. I have been receiving an increasing number of questions from our grassroots supporters around the country seeking guidance on which candidate they should support. I feel it is imperative that I take the lead now.”

Santorum responded to the endorsement, saying, “I am thrilled to receive Gary’s endorsement today. Gary has been a leader in the conservative movement for decades, spearheading the charge to defend the traditional family and the basic building blocks of our nation’s foundation. I am honored to receive his vote of confidence today and am excited to work with him as we build upon our surging campaign.”

Bauer continued about his endorsement of Santorum: “As you know, I believe virtually all of these candidates are men who would be fantastic presidents. My endorsement of Rick Santorum is in no way meant to be critical of the others. But I believe Santorum can best articulate the Reagan conservatism that has defined my political life and holds the best hope for the future our children and grandchildren will inherit. Rick Santorum is unambiguously pro-life and pro-family.”

“The election of our next president in 2012 will be the most important election of my generation. Campaign for Working Families will continue to build a war chest to ensure our values prevail in November. I believe the candidate best able to do that is Rick Santorum. But let me assure you that we will deploy our resources for whoever is selected as the nominee,” he said.

Bauer served in President Ronald Reagan’s administration for eight years, as Under Secretary of Education and as President Reagan’s Chief Domestic Policy Advisor. Completing his service in the Reagan White House in late 1988, Gary Bauer became President of the Family Research Council and a Senior Vice President of Focus on the Family.

In 1996, Bauer launched the Campaign for Working Families, a political action committee dedicated to electing pro-family, pro-life conservatives to public office. In its first two years of operation, Campaign for Working Families raised $7 million with 90,000 individual contributors and today remains one of America’s largest conservative political action committees.

Bauer took his unapologetically pro-family, pro-life message across the country in 1999 and 2000 into the Republican presidential debates and primaries. Stressing the sanctity of life, Bauer made family-friendly policies and combating judicial activism key platforms of his campaign. He has continued to champion these and other causes at American Values, a non-profit educational organization Bauer founded after the 2000 presidential campaign. From American Values, Bauer has authored numerous op-ed pieces stressing the urgent need to rein in rogue judges.