Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum officially announced Wednesday night that he’s forming an exploratory committee for a run in the Republican presidential primary in 2012, or as he called it in the official press release, “a Presidential Testing the Waters Effort.”
“In 2008 Americans wanted a president who they could believe in, but after two years they realized that what they needed is a president who believes in them,” Santorum said in a statement. “It’s time for America to be America again — an America that rewards innovation and hard work, that stands by our allies instead of our enemies, that protects even the most vulnerable of our society, and an America that says every life is to be cherished. That is what I believe in, and that’s why I’m taking this next step in a possible run for president.”
Santorum made his announcement on On The Record on Fox News, and told host Greta Van Susteren: “We have to reinstall that sense of freedom and responsibility in America.”
So far Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty have also announced their exploratory committees.
