Thank-you for running, Rick Santorum

By Tom Quiner

Rick Santorum suspends his campaign

Rick Santorum amazes me.

I heard him speak at a small gathering in a West Des Moines home last summer. I never thought he had a chance to win the nomination.

I was wrong.

The man who lost his last election, a Senatorial race in Pennsylvania, in a landslide gave Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich all they could handle.

Amazingly, he became the leading conservative contender over Newt Gingrich earlier this year. And he did it with an unflinching conservative message.

While almost every politicians flip flops to some extent, Mr. Santorum proved himself to be a man of principle.

I have much admiration for him as a husband, as a father, and as a Roman Catholic who remains true to his faith even when it is politically unpopular.

I have tremendous respect for him as an American.

Rick Santorum announced earlier today that he is suspending his presidential campaign. My hope is that President Romney includes him in his cabinet. He has demonstrated a breadth of domestic and foreign policy experience that can serve our country well.

Quiner’s Diner has already put forward Newt Gingrich’s name to be the next HHS Secretary (“Newt Gingrich for Secretary of Health and Human Services”).

I can see Rick Santorum as our next Secretary of Defense.

The die was cast. Rick Santorum was not going to overtake Mitt Romney. I believe he has done the right thing in suspending his campaign to allow Republicans to focus their attention on defeating Barack Obama.

Quiner’s Diner has been tough on Mitt Romney. But we shall vigorously support his campaign against the most divisive president in modern times, Barack Obama.

Conservatives, time to unite.

In the meantime, thank-you, Rick Santorum, for the tremendous sacrifice you made to your family and your country by running for president, and for raising the issues no one else wants to talk about.