Former Pennsylvania Senator and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum minced no words in calling out his own party for its poor record of fighting for working class Americans. In an interview with Chuck Todd on MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown, Santorum described Republicans as hostile to the working class. In particular, he went after them for their steadfast opposition to raising the minimum wage.
Santorum appeared on the show to promote his book Blue Collar Conservatives: Recommitting to an America That Works. In the interview Santorum forcefully argued that his party is not fighting for the working class. In blasting his party’s anti-minimum wage dogmatism, Santorum stated bluntly:
Let’s not make this argument that we’re for the blue collar guy but we’re against any minimum wage hike ever. It just makes no sense.
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The former White House hopeful made his remarks less than a week after Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have raised the minimum wage gradually from 7.25 to 10.10 an hour over the next thirty months and then index it to inflation.
Santorum’s legislative record as a Senator could hardly be characterized as worker friendly, although the Senator did support minimum wage increases on some roll call votes while opposing them at other times. Based on his mixed voting record, Santorum should not earn the trust of low-wage workers as a candidate, should he decide to seek office again. However, his criticisms of his political party’s anti-worker platform are nevertheless refreshing coming from a candidate with such a reputation for conservatism.
Santorum’s conservative credentials are mostly burnished by his right-wing positions on social rather than economic issues. Nevertheless, by calling out his own party for its anti-minimum wage intransigence, Santorum at least makes one prominent GOP politician who is showing some flexibility in reassessing the party’s stance on opposing a minimum wage increase. Hopefully, the idea will take hold inside the Republican Party, because it is right for America and Democrats and Independents are already on board.
Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.
