Some see Rick Santorum as an uncompromising firebrand of a culture warrior, but his rivals are focusing their attacks on his legislative record in Congress, which bridged party lines.
Rick Santorum?s 16 years in the House and Senate are giving rivals plenty of scope for attack.
Skip to next paragraphHeading into Wednesday night?s debate, Mr. Santorum was vying with Mitt Romney for frontrunner status in the Republican presidential field, but wound up taking a bashing over his record in Congress.
From ?pork? projects to tough compromise votes on must-pass bills, the former senator from Pennsylvania was pressed to defend decisions revisited and rescored in the glare of a presidential campaign being fought in a new era of hyperpartisanship.
Earmarks ? in Santorum?s early years, widely viewed as a mark of a lawmaker?s clout and commitment to voters ? are now banned. President Bush?s No Child Left Behind law, hailed as a triumph of bipartisanship and presidential leadership, is now under fire by both parties.
A firebrand who never cooled off, Santorum rubbed many former colleagues the wrong way ? few are lining up to support him ? and today is frequently portrayed as an uncompromising culture warrior. But in Congress, Santorum also established a legislative record that bridged party lines on issues ranging from welfare reform and protecting unions to support for children with disabilities, notably more federal funding for autism research.
Santorum swept into the House in 1991 with an insurgent GOP class set on challenging nearly 40 years of Democratic control.
In his first year, he helped found the ?Gang of Seven,? a group of seven freshmen, including Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, that aimed to shine a light on abuses of a Democrat-controlled House.?They helped turn member overdrafts at the House bank into a national scandal that drove dozens of House members into retirement or defeat in the 1992 campaign cycle.
Many insurgent Republicans of his era later softened their tone. Others adapted, easing into the big-spending, big-government bureaucracy they once opposed. But Santorum continued this outsider perspective well into his 16 years on Capitol Hill, railing against congressional perks, pay hikes, and, famously, even the Senate barbershop, which he said should be privatized.
When Republicans finally took back the House in 1995, Santorum had just won a seat in the Senate, where his brash, outspoken style appeared to some colleagues jarring and even toxic.
In a widely cited floor speech on civility, then-Sen. Robert Byrd (D) of West Virginia blasted Santorum, without ever naming him, for references to President Clinton as ?that guy? and to senators as ?liars.?
?Such statements are harsh and severe, to say the least,? said Senator Byrd, viewed at the time as the guardian of Senate tradition. ?And when made by a senator who has not yet held the office of senator a full year, they are really quite astonishing.? Byrd called it ?the poison that has settled in upon this chamber? ? a term picked up by leaders on both sides of the aisle.
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