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After serving two terms in the House of Representatives and then another two terms in the Senate, Pennsylvania Republican Rick Santorum suffered a massive defeat in the November 2006 midterms to Democratic challenger Robert Casey Jr., winning only 41% of the vote. After conceding the race, Santorum assured his supporters that after he left office, he would "continue to work for you."

Four days after his defeat, Santorum announced that he would join the staff of the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), a neoconservative think tank that focuses on the role of religion and Judeo-Christian ethics in public life. While in Congress, Santorum, a devout Roman Catholic, won national support for his socially conservative views, particularly on abortion and gay rights, and for his strong support for the Bush administration's foreign policy, especially its "global war on terror." At EPPC, Santorum directs the center's newly created "America's Enemies" program, which focuses on "identifying, studying, and heightening awareness of the threats posed to America and the West from a growing array of anti-Western forces that are increasingly casting a shadow over our future and violating religious liberty around the world."

Commenting on Santorum's decision to remain active in the public arena despite his electoral defeat, Fred Barnes wrote in the right-wing Weekly Standard that Santorum represents a "new model" in American politics. Instead of fading into the background as a lobbyist or joining a law firm, Santorum decided to "to stay in politics and fight," Barnes said, by raising awareness of U.S. enemies, who according to Barnes include "not only Islamists but also dictators like Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Kim Jong Il of North Korea" (Weekly Standard, January 29, 2007).

In an EPPC press release about his appointment, Santorum said: "In these perilous and uncertain times, I believe it is critical that we define the threats that confront America. Without a clear definition and precise understanding of our enemies we cannot fight effectively and our own citizens become divided. It is my hope that the America's Enemies program at EPPC will help the American people—including our leaders—understand and communicate with clarity, honesty, and consistency the enemies we face and the complex and enormous threat that they pose to our lives and the freedoms we all enjoy" (January 9, 2007).

In a May 2005 New York Times Magazine article about Santorum, titled "The Believer," Michael Sokolove called him "the nation's pre-eminent faith-based politician," with the exception of President George W. Bush. According to Sokolove, "[Santorum] not only pushed the Senate to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case, but he also traveled to Florida and prayed with her parents." Also in 2005, Time magazine included Santorum on its list of the country's "25 Most Influential Evangelicals."

One of his favorite magazines is First Things, which is edited by neoconservative theologian Richard John Neuhaus and published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life. Santorum organized a study group for Catholics in Congress, and he reportedly helped convert Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) to Catholicism.

Santorum supporters include both the neoconservative get-tough-on-Islamofascists types and traditional right-wing Republicans who vociferously reject gay marriage and support walling off the U.S.-Mexico border. One of Santorum's promoters was Clifford May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, who in a mid-September 2006 Scripps News editorial praised Santorum for recognizing that "Islamic fascism" is the "ideological heir to the enemy America confronted in World War II—and is at least as serious a threat."

Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks lamented in an October 2006 op-ed that if Santorum lost, it would be bad for "people around the world." Citing Santorum's support for various anti-poverty campaigns, Brooks wrote: "If serious antipoverty work is going to be done, it's going to emerge from a coalition of liberals and religious conservatives. Without Santorum, that's less likely to happen." The columnist also cited a quote from singer Bono, who apparently once said of Santorum: "I would suggest that Rick Santorum has a kind of Tourette's disease; he will always say the most unpopular thing. But on our issues, he has been a defender of the most vulnerable."

Brooks failed to mention another issue on which he sees eye-to-eye with Santorum, and which seems to have been a major sore point for Pennsylvania voters: support for a militaristic antiterror foreign policy with a heavy emphasis on the Middle East, including outspoken support for the Iraq War. In a campaign ad posted on Santorum's website during the lead-up to the 2006 midterm elections, Santorum berated his Democratic opponent for supposedly being weak on the many and varied threats purportedly threatening the homeland. Said the ad's alarmist and inaccurate language: "North Korea, close to a nuclear missile to reach America, yet Casey opposes deploying a missile defense system now. Iran, also close, yet Casey opposes creating the bunker-busting bombs that may be needed to stop them. China, drilling oil just 50 miles off our coast, yet Casey opposes doing the same, putting our energy at risk. Terrorists, trying to enter our country, yet Casey comes out for amnesty for illegal aliens. We just can't take a chance on Bob Casey."

Reiterating such "threats" to America was a staple of Santorum's campaign speeches, in which he argued that his opponent was "unqualified for the office that he seeks at a very critical time in our nation's future." Citing "a gathering storm" of threats from the "axis of evil" states and newcomer "rogues" like Venezuela, Santorum argued during a speech in late October: "We will have to face this threat because our enemies are fully committed to our destruction. They will not stop until they destroy us or we destroy them" (Associated Press, October 26, 2006).

Santorum's alarmist language was also evident in a column he penned marking the five-year anniversary of 9/11: "Every major Islamic fascist leader has openly identified the United States as their prime target, and repeatedly promises the creation of a new, global, 'caliphate' where Islamic fascism will rule mankind. This, now, is the great threat of our generation."

On his RickSantorum.com campaign website, Santorum boasted of his strident support for Israel, including his sponsorship of a passel of bills in recent years aimed at isolating Israel's Mideast neighbors. A page with the header "Santorum U.S. Senate: Jewish," claimed: "The Jewish community has no stronger leader in the United States Senate than Rick Santorum. In fact, when Rick was first elected to the Senate in 1995, his first action was to support moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Since then, he has led the fight to protect Israel and promote democracy in the Middle East. His Syria Accountability Act, the Iran Freedom and Support Act, and the Iran Nuclear Trade Prohibition Act have paved the way for the Senate to foster a strong, yet diplomatic, approach to the problems Israel faces."

Santorum first entered Congress in 1990 as a representative in the House. Four years later, he won a seat in the Senate, defeating Democratic Sen. Harris Wofford, one of several Democrats who fell in 1994 to a rising tide of new Republicans whose trademark figure was Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA).

Although closely associated with Bush's increasingly unpopular foreign policies, it was Santorum's extremely socially conservative views that were the hallmark of his tenure in Congress. Fiercely anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage, Santorum frequently resorted to hyperbolic tirades in championing his view of the culture wars. As the Los Angeles Times reported: "In 2002, he blamed Boston 'liberalism' for the Roman Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal. In a 2003 interview, he linked gay consensual sex with bigamy, polygamy, incest, and adultery. In a 2005 book, he found fault with two-income families and working women" (October 16, 2006).

Such is his stature among social conservatives that his lagging poll numbers during the lead up to the 2006 midterms energized conservatives across the country to pour in support for his 2006 midterm campaign. The Los Angeles Times reported: "It is a four-alarm fire for conservatives, who are bringing water buckets from all corners of the political world. Across Pennsylvania, pastors are preparing to stuff voter guides into their Sunday bulletins. In Washington, DC, Paul Weyrich, a national conservative leader, hosted a conference call to give a pep talk to Republicans in Pennsylvania. In England, some Santorum fans are planning to cross the Atlantic to help campaign." Said one member of Let Freedom Ring, a conservative group based in Pennsylvania: "If Rick Santorum were to lose, it would be cited as a turning point in the social conservative movement" (Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2006).

Santorum is the author of the 2005 book It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Ground (Intercollegiate Studies Institute), described by Mark Schmitt of the liberal New America Foundation as "a jumble of half-rewritten Senate-floor statements, blandly reflective personal anecdotes, and some weak attempts to give the whole thing a theme." According to Schmitt, the "most interesting sub-theme of It Takes a Family is the attempt to work through the central intellectual challenge for modern Republican majority conservatives: how to reconcile laissez-faire economics with social conservatism."

Schmitt says Santorum addresses this dilemma in two ways: "One is to frame the argument around the word 'capital.' There is 'moral capital' which can only be built in a society of 'mom and dad families' in which abortion, sodomy, and gay marriage are illegal. There is 'social capital' in communities, 'cultural capital.' Then there is real capital, and they are all interdependent. But this is pretty much empty rhetoric and is soon abandoned. The second attempt is to argue that only in a society defined by virtue (again, 'mom and dad families,' keep-it-in-your-pants, etc.) can the 'freedom' that the economy needs, and that is the basic promise of America, thrive. In other words, if we stray from Santorum's morality, it will force 'big government' to crack down, which in turn will be bad for the dynamic economy" ("It Takes a Democrat," American Prospect web exclusive, July 29, 2005).

In an April 2003 interview with the Associated Press, Santorum outraged many when he supported laws banning gay sex and appeared to place homosexuality in the same grouping as bestiality, incest, and pedophilia. In an attempt to make sure Santorum's anti-gay positions were not forgotten by voters, in May 2003 columnist Dan Savage asked readers to name a sex act after the senator. Readers instead chose a substance, and a neologism was born: santorum, noun, "that frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex." Savage's efforts, unconventional though they may be, were by most lights a successful direct political action—not only has "santorum" entered the urban lexicon and engendered discussion and debate, but Savage later used his column as a platform to raise money for Casey, Santorum's political opponent.

According to Project Vote Smart, in 2006 Santorum's votes aligned with the interests of Planned Parenthood none of the time, and with the National Right to Life Committee 100% of the time. In 2006, he voted against the Teen Pregnancy Education Act, which was designed to "authorize grants to carry out programs to provide education on preventing teen pregnancies, and for other purposes." In 2005, Santorum voted against the Unintended Pregnancy Act, which was designed "to expand access to preventive health care services that reduce unintended pregnancy (including teen pregnancy), reduce the number of abortions, and improve access to women's health care." (For more on Santorum's voting record, visit www.vote-smart.org.)