Santorum to host meet and greet on campus tonight

By Jonathan McFadden
mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com

Photo courtesy of Winthrop University

Check mytjnow.com later tonight for complete coverage of the event

Coveting for top billing in the nation's chain of command, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum will hob-nob and greet supporters in the Tuttle Dining Room, adjacent to McBryde, tonight at 6:30.

Deeming himself as a fiscal conservative, Santorum is an advocate for Congress not raising the debt ceiling until a balanced budget amendment is passed.

While campaigning in Iowa last week, Santorum was noted as saying that the federal government should reduce the amount of money it allocates to institutions of higher education.

Following in the footsteps of other GOP contenders, Santorum will be winding down a two-day campaign coral throughout the state when he sets up camp in McBryde tonight.

Earlier today, he made a stop in Spartanburg, where he held a news conference. Tuesday, he made stops in Myrtle Beach, Conway and North Charleston.

Simultaneously, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman finished his traipse through the state yesterday and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich completed a stop in Charleston today, where he called for a new energy policy that would drill oil off the South Carolinian coast.

South Carolina holds the first GOP primary in the South.

Stretching a bulk of his political appendages in Pennsylvania, Santorum served two terms in the House and two terms in the Senate. He went on to be named the Senate's third-ranking Republican in 2001.

Among his expanding list of political credentials is his authoring of the Welfare Reform Act in 1996, which encouraged and enabled Americans to break from the welfare system and enter the workforce.

Santorum was also one of the “Gang of Seven,” a group of seven freshmen House members who openly and actively condemned the House Banking Scandal and Congressional Post Office Scandal in the early 1990s.

Most recently, Santorum was largely criticized for throwing his support behind The Marriage Vow, a pledge that claims African Americans who were enslaved had more stable households and parental figures than black Americans today.

Why WU?

It may be no coincidence that Santorum sought to spread his campaigning wings in Eagle-territory; Winthrop has been a hot spot for GOP contenders this summer.

Late last month, Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann spoke in the Richardson Ballroom on campus—an event that was nationally televised and covered by the Associated Press, along with major newspapers.

The Tea-Party enthusiast, who's also advocated cuts to the PELL Grant, did not mention funding for higher education during her town hall-style meeting.

In March, U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, S.C.5—a staunch Republican—told students what he thought to be the solution to abating the nation's current financial crisis...cut everything.

Winthrop has a long-standing history of inviting “candidates of all stripes” to campus, as long as it's open to all students and not a venue to fund raise, said Scott Huffmon, associate professor of political science.

Chief among past invitees were President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mike Huckabee, both of whom came to campus during the 2008 election cycle, Huffmon said.

Since President Obama maintains as the only candidate for the Democratic Party, a great number of presidential candidates to swing through campus will probably belong to the Republican Party, he said.

Santorum's meet-and-greet is free and open to the public. Light snacks and beverages will be provided.

Check mytjnow.com later tonight for complete coverage of the event