Daily Santorum: Moving to Florida

Rick Santorum has moved on to Florida after his 3rd place finish in S.C. Saturday night, and of course started by going after front runner Newt Gingrich. From Politico's James Hohman:

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla.— Rick Santorum kicked off his Florida campaign here Sunday by aiming directly at Newt Gingrich.

“It’s great to be glib, but it’s better to be principled,” the former Pennsylvania senator told a crowd of more than 200 standing in a hot parking lot of a strip mall in this town outside Fort Lauderdale.

Santorum dismissed the idea that the South Carolina primary reshaped the race into a Gingrich-Mitt Romney face-off. Saturday’s results could very quickly be overshadowed by the Jan. 31 Florida primary, in which he’s hoping to reemerge as a factor.

Occupy protestors threw glitter on Santorum at the end of the night Saturday, while yelling "hate monger" and "bigot." (CBS News video above.)

The Penn State grad has also been responding to Joe Paterno's death. From the Palm Beach Post:

“I said many, many times that one of the reasons Joe was hanging on to that position is because if he left, he’d die. Cancer, broke his hips, he had a lot of problems,” said Santorum at a press conference outside the Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach where he gave a sermon on Sunday.

“I knew Joe very well, and it was a very tragic tale, his last few months of his life. It’s tragic that a life so well lived and someone who had made such a great contribution to sports and to our culture would have the end of his life end in such a sad way. My prayers go to the school and his family. I know one of his sons very well; to the entire state of Pennsylvania, who I’m sure, like me, are saddened by these turns of events.”

Santorum's public schedule -- highlighted by a 9 p.m. NBC debate in Tampa -- is after the jump:

Monday, January 23:

1:30pm ET: Senator Santorum will hold a "Faith, Family and Freedom" Town Hall in Lady Lake, FL.

 

Location:

American Legion Hall

699 West Lady Lake Road

Lady Lake, FL

9:00pm ET: Senator Santorum will participate in the NBC News/National Journal debate in Tampa, FL.

 

Location:

University of South Florida

Tampa, FL