Romney Campaign Press Release - Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock: Santorum "Has Continually Defended his Liberal Position of Economic Issues"

"Republican primary voters in Illinois know that [Romney] is not only a conservative in his talk, but equally important, he's a conservative in his walk. And that is in stark contrast to [Senator] Santorum, who has continually defended his liberal position on economic issues time and time again when he was a Senator of Pennsylvania." — Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL)

Former Governor John Sununu, Congressmen Aaron Schock and Jason Chaffetz, and Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross
"Rick Santorum Went To Washington And Never Came Back" Press Conference Call
March 16, 2012

Click Here To Listen To The Entire Call

Highlights From The "Rick Santorum Went To Washington And Never Came Back" Press Conference Call:

GOV. JOHN SUNUNU: "Thank you very much. We're about forty percent of the way through this primary process. We're in Illinois—the Illinois primary is now coming up next Tuesday. And so it's time for the folks in Illinois to take a serious look at the difference between Governor Romney and former Senator Santorum. I think it's pretty clear that people should understand that there are two absolute requirements for the Republican nominee to run against President Obama. The first one is we need somebody who can beat President Obama and the second one is equally important, we need someone who when they get to the White House as president, can perform and solve the problems of this country—the economic woes that President Obama is leaving us. We cannot afford a Republican version of President Obama and Rick Santorum is a Republican Obama. Mitt Romney can solve the problems. Rick Santorum really doesn't even know where to start in order to solve the problem. Santorum's campaign has been based on hot rhetoric—some of it accurate, some of it inaccurate. But good rhetoric without a capacity to perform is just a Republican Obama. ..."

REP. AARON SCHOCK: "[Romney's] beating President Obama in the latest Rasmussen poll. So in terms of the electability, the guy that has the best organization to go up against President Obama, Republican primary voters in Illinois know it's extremely important that we put somebody on the ballot up against President Obama that has the capacity to go against the Chicago machine. Second, in terms of deliverables, Governor Sununu is exactly correct: we don't have a shortage of people in Washington, D.C. with great ideas, we have a shortage of people in Washington, D.C. who can deliver on ideas. And Governor Romney has shown time and time again to be a mainstream conservative, but somebody who can also deliver in very, very difficult times. People in Illinois know that you're not always going to get everything you want. When you're a Republican in Illinois, you're used to being in a very Democratic environment, a very blue state. And so we can appreciate, I think Illinoisans appreciate, someone like Governor Romney who served a very liberal state like Massachusetts, where the odds were stacked against him, with an 85 percent Democratic House, an 85 percent Democratic Senate, and he turned the state around. He took it from a several billion dollar deficit when he came in into a rainy day fund of a couple billion dollars. Balanced the budget all four years he was there. Cut taxes 19 times. And so Republican primary voters in Illinois know that he is not only a conservative in his talk, but equally important, he's a conservative in his walk. And that is in stark contrast to [Senator] Santorum, who has continually defended his liberal position on economic issues time and time again when he was a Senator of Pennsylvania. It's why he was run out of the state, run out of the U.S. Senate by double-digit votes. ..."

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ: "Thanks Aaron. This is Jason Chaffetz. I want nothing more than to fire Barack Obama.  His policies have been failing, he's been an absolute failure, and as a Republican I want to put forward the very best candidate to beat Barack Obama, and that person is Mitt Romney.  Rick Santorum is no fiscal conservative.  When the largest thing that you've ever run is your Senate office, that's hardly the qualifications to become the next President of the United States.  We need somebody who understands financially how to manage this country and get it out of the financial abyss that we are in right now. ..."

ILLINOIS HOUSE MINORITY LEADER TOM CROSS:  "Welcome and good morning.  I think the, one of the unique things for Illinois voters especially Republican Party voters is we have not had a chance to play in a Republican primary in a long long time.  And I think that bodes well for Governor Romney.  We have an area in the suburban area and the urban area that will, should play very well for Governor Romney.  And I think there will be a significant turnout on Tuesday because of our opportunity for the first time to play in a primary.  I think timing wise the momentum is very strong for Governor Romney right now.  ..."