The Washington Times’ Charles Hurt today writes a piece in which he describes Pennsylvania’s Rick Santorum as a politician who has come full circle from his early 90’s rabble rousing conservative days:

When Sen. Rick Santorum was first elected to Congress 16 years ago, he was among the firebrand conservatives who mapped out the Republican Revolution to slash government spending and end political careerism in Washington.

Today, the Pennsylvanian is the third-ranking Republican in the Senate. But the Republican Revolution is over, and he faces one of the toughest re-election campaigns in the country.

Typical of his campaigning these days was a stop earlier this month at the Pittsburgh Zoo, where he boasted to local reporters about how he’d fetched $500,000 from federal taxpayers to build one of the most luxurious polar-bear exhibits outside Arctic climes.

“They’re building underwater tunnels so you’re actually under water,” Mr. Santorum told his awe-struck children as they toured the construction site and approached a tunnel of 4-inchglass that will allow zoo visitors to view the bears from below.

More…

After the zoo event, Mr. Santorum was asked whether funding for the polar-bear exhibit really was all that important, given the federal government’s hemorrhaging debt, looming financial crisis in entitlement programs and expensive emergencies, such as the war in Iraq and rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.

“If the pot of money is there, I’m going to make sure we get a piece of that money,” said Mr. Santorum, who defended his record of support for “lean” budgets.

This is a legitimate point. Somehow I don’t see Rick Santorum circa 1994 responding to this question in this manner. Like other conservatives I part ways with Santorum on some issues like this. But I do think Santorum still has an ace card.

Aside from his willingness to always be the lead Senate conservative who speaks eloquently and passionately about morality in the public square, Santorum is gaining traction with conservatives concerned about foreign policy and America’s position in the world. His willingness to speak with clarity about the Iranian regime and the precarious position of Democracy on the global stage is more than commendable. It would be nice to see the President deliver a speech like Santorum delivered last month at the National Press Club.

It is possible (maybe probable?) that conservatives will overlook the issues described above as the Middle East turmoil continues to gobble up the front pages.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006 at 12:44 pm and is filed under politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.