Rick Santorum Vows to Stay in GOP Presidential Race No Matter How He Finishes in South Carolina Primary

In a possible sign he does not expect to do well tonight, Rick Santorum is already saying he will not drop out of the GOP Presidential race based on results from tonight’s South Carolina Primary. Santorum vows to go on to Florida (January 31) and to compete in the contests in February:

NEW YORK TIMES – The Caucus: He also blasted his “desperate” rival Mitt Romney for perpetrating “cheap stuff” as Mr. Romney’s position as front runner here melted away the past week.

In a brief visit during a driving rainstorm to a small fire station serving as a polling place here, the former Pennsylvania senator said that he believed he was going to outperform recent state polls and that he can beat Ron Paul for third place in the South Carolina primary.

“Most of the polls have us down in the fourth-place area,” Mr. Santorum said. “We were hoping that we’d finish third, and maybe even a good third would be a good number for us.”

He said any pressure to drop out after Saturday’s contest “will be from the other candidates — it’s not going to be from our supporters,” and he said he is flying to Florida on Sunday morning and would be speaking at churches in Palm Beach before launching into a statewide campaign. He said there is no question he would compete in Florida through that state’s Jan. 31 primary — the next one on the calendar — and that he would also compete in February caucus contests in Nevada, Colorado and Minnesota. . . . Read More