It was great to see him again. The last time I saw former US Senator Rick Santorum, I shook hands with him. That was over a year ago.

Santorum spoke yesterday at Hillel, as part of “Islamo-Facism Awareness Week.” Although he talked about the threat of radical Islam, his speech was hardly radical. It consisted of the usual name-dropping — Bruce Bawer, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Theo van Gogh — of people who evoke a call to arms against radical Islam. Anyone who has basic world history knowledge and has regularly read the newspaper in this post-9/11 reality would have found no surprises.

He focused the speech on how we are not at war with terrorism but with “Islamo-Fascism,” a position he has expressed in the past. He spoke with conviction and clarity, reminiscent of when he ran for re-election last year. In fact, the event reminded of one of his old stump speeches.

Then there was the question and answer session. Santorum commanded the room and was in his element. If you’ve seen him debate, you know he is a street fighter. Composed and resolute, Santorum asserted he was in charge — cracking jokes and using his caustic wit against detractors.

Santorum is not a fool, but an intelligent politician — he managed to avoid any verbal gaffes and politically suicidal statements, thereby saying nothing fresh. It felt like he was running for office. Maybe that’s because he will. That’s what I really saw here. Indeed, last month’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review highlighted an “unnamed political adviser” who said “Rick is a politician. He loves the competition and the process of running. He’s getting back in.” And with more of these speeches, he just might win the visibility primary. What’s more, Santorum’s recently announced column at the Philadelphia Inquirer will only magnify his name recognition.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 at 6:33 pm and is filed under Penn. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.