Back Channels: A chat with Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum, presidential candidate and former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, was in town last week for a talk on health care. Afterward, I asked him about his run for president, the perception that he's too dogmatic on issues, and his differences with President Obama on the economy, the budget, and foreign policy.

Too dogmatic? If the concern is that I'm someone who believes in increasing people's power and limiting government's power, the answer is, yes, then I am pretty black and white about that.

The key to success of America is limited government and a belief in people's ability, given the opportunity, to provide for themselves, their family, and their community. I think government's role should be limited. And that's a basic foundational constitutional principle that I espoused when I was in Congress and the Senate. . . . Is that black and white? I think it's principled, and I think that it's principled based on what's worked in America. . . .

If you look at my service in the United States Senate . . . there were many, many opportunities that I did work with people on the other side, when we found common ground. I always felt it was very important to be civil. I didn't always accomplish it, but thought it was important to be civil, and to respect people's opinions on the other side. To challenge them, to show where they were wrong, if I believed they were wrong, but not to condemn people for their beliefs.

How to win over voters after losing in 2006 by 18 points? Six years ago, [U.S. Sen.] Mike DeWine . . . lost by 12 points in Ohio. Last year, he ran for attorney general . . . and he beat a sitting attorney general, after losing by 12 points. . . .

So I look at it as, yes, we had a bad year [in 2006]. I stood up for what I believed in and, as you know, during that election didn't flinch. Argued for more involvement in Iraq, not less. Argued for engaging and confronting Iran, which was something nobody wanted to hear. I mean, I was called a warmonger by every paper, including yours. I stood up and said we have to do Social Security reform. . . .

I think if you look at what I said and measure, what I said then and what I'm saying now is pretty much the same thing. And I think if you look at where the people of Pennsylvania were then and where they are now, they're much more aligned with me than they were in 2006. Things change. . . .