Romney Campaign Press Release - Former Rep. Phil English: I've Known Rick Santorum Since College, But I Support Mitt Romney

"The fact is all of us have had a common experience: we served with Rick Santorum; we worked with Rick Santorum. But in 2006, I was on the ballot with Rick Santorum when he suffered a catastrophic 18 point defeat. A defeat which, incidentally, cost us two Congressional seats where the challengers, Democratic campaigns, were tied very closely to... to tying the incumbents to Senator Santorum. I campaigned with Rick Santorum in 2006 the week before he lost. So I've been there, I've stood with him and I've gone down with the ship. The Republican Party needs to put forward a ticket which allows us to attract swing voters, attract Democrats and build a working coalition to make a state like Pennsylvania competitive." — Former Rep. Phil English

Former Congressman Phil English and Independence Hall Tea Party's Don Adams

"Those Who Know Rick Santorum Best Support Mitt Romney For President" Press Conference Call

March 15, 2012

Click Here To Listen To The Entire Call

Highlights From The "Those Who Know Rick Santorum Best Support Mitt Romney For President" Press Conference Call:

FORMER REP. PHIL ENGLISH: "Yes, sir. This is Phil English. I appreciate the introduction. Very briefly, I've known Rick Santorum since college. I served in the House for fourteen years in Western Pennsylvania and twelve of those overlapped with his two terms in the U.S. Senate. I am a friend and an admirer of Rick Santorum and a strong, committed supporter of Governor Romney. Governor Romney clearly has the background as an executive and the background as a job creator to address our current economic crisis. But my support of Mitt Romney, which tracks with the fact that none of the House members who served ... or none of the members of the Pennsylvania delegation who served with Rick Santorum when he was senator have endorsed Rick Santorum for president. That may seem like an anomaly, but the fact is it is very significant and a strong indicator of what's going on right now in Pennsylvania. We had an endorsement session the other day, in which three members of the current delegation, joined myself and with one other current member of the delegation in-absentia endorsed Mitt Romney very strongly in our State Capitol in Harrisburg. The fact is all of us have had a common experience: we served with Rick Santorum; we worked with Rick Santorum. But in 2006, I was on the ballot with Rick Santorum when he suffered a catastrophic 18 point defeat. A defeat which, incidentally, cost us two Congressional seats where the challengers, Democratic campaigns, were tied very closely to... to tying the incumbents to Senator Santorum. I campaigned with Rick Santorum in 2006 the week before he lost. So I've been there, I've stood with him and I've gone down with the ship. The Republican Party needs to put forward a ticket which allows us to attract swing voters, attract Democrats and build a working coalition to make a state like Pennsylvania competitive. In my view, and obviously in the view of many other Republican leaders in the state, it's fairly clear: Mitt Romney is a much better candidate than Rick Santorum to attract swing voters in a year like this. I'm going to take any questions you might have after Mr. Adams' presentation and I'll turn this over to him."

DON ADAMS: "Thank you so much Congressman English. And, again, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to express our point of view. [I'm] Don Adams with the Independence Hall Tea Party PAC and I'm speaking on behalf of our Board of Delegates from the Tri-State region: Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Our board decided on December 31st to endorse Governor Romney for a whole host of reasons. Our Tea Party is committed to small government, to constitutional principles, and to free enterprise.  And we don't think there is anybody out there better than Governor Romney who embodies those principles. Our board voted almost unanimously to endorse Governor Romney. We are the first Tea Party group in the nation to give an official endorsement. On January 2nd, we rolled out our endorsement with a press release on the eve of the Iowa caucus.  We are impressed with Governor Romney's record in a very deeply blue state.  He balanced the budget four times and Rick Santorum has never balanced the budget.  Mr. Romney has also voted to cut taxes 19 times.  We were extremely impressed with those kinds of statistics.  I've got say, I have supported Mr. Santorum as an individual over the years.  I voted for him for Senator three times, but would not consider voting for him for President for a whole host of reasons.  I think Mr. Romney demonstrates gravitas.  He's a serious, mature leader.  And I think in Rick Santorum you have someone who is a little less than that.  And we have been able to watch him over the years.  We've been very disappointed in him at times with endorsements such as Arlen Specter for president and Arlen Specter for Senator over our terrific U.S. Senator Pat Toomey who we had endorsed in 2010 for the U.S. Senate.  So we're very proud of our endorsement.  Rick Santorum is a good man but I'm not quite sure that he's ready for prime time for the office of President of the United States.  We believe Mitt Romney will be the 45th President of the United States. Thank you."