Advertisement

Rick Santorum endorses Mitt Romney in late-night email

Share

Rick Santorum endorsed his onetime rival Mitt Romney in a long email to supporters late Monday night, calling on them to unite behind the cause of defeating President Obama in November.

Santorum, who withdrew from the race last month (and who pointed out in the late-night email that he won 11 states and over 3 million votes), spent many months urging members of his party to back his insurgent effort — arguing that Romney was not sufficiently conservative to stand against Obama in November.

But the two men met for more than an hour in Pittsburgh last Friday for a conversation that the former Pennsylvania senator described as “candid” and “collegial.” Hinting at the hesitation within the Republican Party about the presumed Republican nominee, Santorum said he felt a “deep responsibility” to assess Romney’s commitment to “addressing the issues most important to conservatives, as well as his commitment to ensuring our appropriate representation in a Romney administration.”

Santorum said he concluded that he and the former Massachusetts governor agreed on many issues including abortion, same-sex marriage and the need to curb spending in Washington. He added that he was “comfortable” with Romney’s views on foreign-policy matters. Santorum said he was also convinced that Romney would work to repeal Obama’s healthcare law, even though he had long argued that
Romney’s healthcare plan in Massachusetts was a precursor to the federal law.

In the 13th paragraph of a 16-paragraph email, Santorum offered his endorsement of Romney: “Above all else, we both agree that President Obama must be defeated. It will require all hands on deck if our nominee is to be victorious. Gov. Romney will be that nominee and he has my endorsement and support to win this the most critical election of our lifetime.”

maeve.reston@latimes.com

Advertisement