Factbox: Alabama, Mississippi hold primaries

(Reuters) - Alabama and Mississippi hold presidential primaries on Tuesday, with polls showing three of the four Republican candidates locked in close races in each state.

The stakes are high for former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, as they fight for support among conservatives and try to cut into the support for frontrunner Mitt Romney.

A win in either of the two Southern states, the latest to hold nominating contests in the race to pick a challenger to face President Barack Obama in the November election, would be a breakthrough for Romney's campaign.

Texas congressman Ron Paul is not seen performing well in either of the open primaries, in which Democrats, Republicans and Independents can vote across party lines. Voter turnout is expected to be high.

Details follow on the two states and the primary races:

Alabama

* Public Policy Polling surveys showed Gingrich, Romney and Santorum were within 2 percentage points of each other, inside the margin of error.

* Alabama sends 50 delegates to the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. They are awarded proportionally for each of the state's congressional districts and also according to the statewide vote.

* In 2010, 68.5 percent of Alabama residents were white, 26 percent black and 4 percent Hispanic, according to U.S. Census data.

* In 2008, 77 percent of Alabama voters in the Republican primary said abortion should be illegal, according to exit polls. Seventy percent said they attended church weekly.

* Unemployment in Alabama was 8.0 percent in December 2011, compared to the national average at that time of 8.5 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

* Republican presidential candidates who have dropped out of the race will still be on the ballot, including Texas Governor Rick Perry, U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman. Georgia businessman Herman Cain will not be on the ballot.

Mississippi

* Public Policy Polling surveys showed Gingrich led Romney 33 percent to 31 percent, with Santorum at 27 percent.

* Mississippi has 40 delegates. Of those, more than half will be awarded proportionally, according to the statewide vote and another 12 will be per congressional district, the Mississippi Republican Party website said.

* Sixty-nine percent of those who voted in the 2008 Republican primary identified as Born-Again or Evangelical Christians, according to exit polls. Seventy-two percent of voters also said abortion should be illegal.

* Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, was endorsed by Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant.

* Unemployment was 10.4 percent in December 2011, compared to the national average at that time of 8.5 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

* In 2010, almost 60 percent of the state's residents were white, 37 percent were black and 2.7 percent were Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census.

(Reporting By Lily Kuo; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/factbox-alabama-mississippi-hold-primaries-051623749.html

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Why Small Businesses Should Scrap Strategic Planning | Fast ...

This blog is written by a member of our expert blogging community and expresses that expert's views alone.

What fast-growing companies need is strategic thinking--not strategic planning. Here are three things smaller companies can do to develop an adaptive, opportunistic approach to strategy.


If you want to witness true cultural diversity, watch Dubai International Airport come to life one morning. Every color, every language, and every custom you can imagine weaving through an Armani- and Rolex-studded mall.

We claim to celebrate diversity in America. But when it comes to companies, we prescribe one size fits all. This realization hit me hard this week. There is a disconnect. Something is wrong.

You see, most of what we learn in business schools and textbooks is written for large companies. There are many justifiable reasons for this. Jim Collins, business consultant, author, and lecturer on company sustainability and growth, once explained to me and a group of entrepreneurs that he studies large public companies simply because there is not enough information available for smaller private ones. And we make the erroneous assumption that since every small company wants to grow (it doesn?t), it should strive to adopt the practices of the large firms that made it.

I read a fascinating dissertation on my flight over to Perth, Australia this week that proves what I have suspected all along. Best practices for large companies dictate they should plan carefully. They should adopt an annual planning rhythm, survey their environments, build scenarios, set strategies, and monitor their results. But for small companies, the winning recipe may be precisely the opposite. Small companies should not do strategic planning.

I got off my flight at 6:30 a.m., rushed to my hotel for a quick shower, and by 9 a.m. was starting my first of three workshops, for a group of about 10 companies. As I listened to the CEOs share their challenges and plans, I saw the thesis of that paper coming to life. Strategic planning is inappropriate for small companies because:

  • No time: They don?t have the management time or resources to invest in days of planning.
  • Big cost: Because their top teams usually lead their sales efforts, taking them off the road has an immediate negative impact on revenues.
  • Small payoff: The payoff of strategic planning is often measured in millions of dollars rather than hundreds of millions, so it makes no financial sense to overinvest in the effort.
  • Short-lived: Smaller businesses must continually adjust their strategy so the strategies they develop during a strategic planning session are usually short-lived. They win because they are more nimble, quicker to seize unexpected opportunities, than their larger competitors. Long-term planning can slow them down and kill this advantage.

This doesn?t mean small-growth companies should fly blind. It means they should adopt an adaptive opportunistic approach to strategy. They should plan in the hallway, not the boardroom.?

Here is an example of what I mean. Over three days in Perth I worked with about 60 mid-market CEOs. One of them shared with me that three years ago, his friend showed him one of my books and he read about a strategy called ?befriend a distant enemy to attack one nearby.?

That gave him an idea. He was having trouble getting major distributors to give him the rights to distribute their skin and hair products in his beauty retail stores. Distributors viewed him as an ?enemy.? But he saw another player in the industry chain that was a ?distant enemy? and realized he could partner with them in a clever way to get the distribution rights he needed.

He implemented the strategy and today, that one idea produces 60% of his revenue!?That is how strategy is done with smaller, fast-growing companies. It happens in the moment; it is not planned.?

What fast-growing companies need is strategic thinking, not strategic planning, the practice of hitting every challenge and opportunity strategically. Here are three things you can do to turn your size into an advantage:

1. Plan in the hallway: ?Don?t expect your big ideas to come out of a formal strategy offsite. Instead learn to huddle with your team and--in five minutes--break apart whatever strategic challenge/opportunity you are facing right now. In my book, Outthink the Competition, I suggest you rapidly go through five steps (IDEAS): Imagine, Dissect, Expand, Analyze, Sell.

2. Ask (and answer) ?Why not??:?Small companies become big usually because they challenge industry dogmas. I once asked the CEO and cofounder of Urban Outfitters how he built his $600 million business. He said, ?Because we knew nothing about retail when we started.? Making choices that are inconsistent with accepted industry logic is the only way to get big quickly. So when you hear yourself think, ?This won?t work,? ask ?Why not?,? and write down the three reasons the idea won?t work (e.g., it costs too much, customers won?t like it, it?s not technically feasible). Then test whether those three reasons are true, and brainstorm how you can overcome them.

3. Try and adjust:?Big companies make big bets so it makes sense for them to conduct exhaustive analysis before pulling the trigger. You don?t need to. You can?t afford to. Instead, develop a ?strategic hypothesis? and test it out making very small bets. Try to sell the idea to a customer before it?s built, look for a supplier, ask a friend who has some expertise in this new area.

I want to dig deeper into this topic, so if you have ideas or challenges, please share them with me. If you are in California, come talk to me at one of the four short open sessions I am conducting there next week.

For more leadership coverage, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

[Image: Flickr user?casch52]

Source: http://www.fastcompany.com/1824084/why-small-businesses-should-scrap-strategic-planning?partner=rss

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Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at midnight!

It's a bit later than our usual weekly podcast, but that doesn't mean we'll be cutting down the intensity at all. In fact, shenanigans always seem to be in the mix this time of night. We're going to be getting things going at midnight, so definitely join Myriam and Brad in the fun, won't you?

March 10, 2012 12:00 AM EST

Continue reading Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at midnight!

Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at midnight! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 22:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/4wqVGIAj_Mo/

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PM vows revitalization of Japan after quake

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said, in comments made public late Friday, that his country will not forget the international support given to it in the wake of last year's deadly earthquake and vowed to revitalize the country's economy.

"We will not forget the loved ones, friends and colleagues lost in the disaster," Noda wrote in an op-ed article in The Washington Post. "Nor will we forget the outpouring of support and international expressions of solidarity that Japan received. For this, we feel deeply indebted and forever appreciative."

The prime minister assured his nation had the collective will to tackle the most pressing issues that had arisen in the aftermath of the quake: reconstruction of affected areas, full decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, decontamination of the affected areas and "revitalization" of the Japanese economy.

Japan was rattled on March 11, 2011 by one of the strongest earthquakes in modern times which sent a tsunami crashing into the Fukushima Daiichi plant, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee as radioactivity spewed into the air.

The nuclear crisis did not directly claim any lives, although more than 19,000 people were killed by the force of the tsunami in Japan's worst post-World War II disaster.

The prime minister said the Japanese people must draw on the unique strengths of the country's economy, seek open cooperation with their international partners, and exploit the promise of new growth areas.

"Sectors such as energy, the environment, health and nursing care hold significant potential as leading growth industries where Japan can tap innovative ideas and investment from the private sector, including foreign direct investment, and play a leading role globally," he wrote.

Noda added his government was aiming to support increased international investment in Japan, not only in business but also in tourism.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pm-vows-revitalization-japan-quake-054628588.html

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March 02, 2012 - President Obama Delivers New Habitat Tools for Pheasants, Quail

For Immediate Release

Washington, D.C. - March 02 -

Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever received welcome news about the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today. During the White House?s Conference on Conservation at the Department of Interior Building, the Secretary will announce the reallocation of one million CRP acres to the most popular continuous practices within the program. The President will also announce a significant increase for signing incentive payments from $100 per acre to $150 per acre to encourage landowner participation in CRP.

?No matter how staggeringly impressive the wildlife, water quality, flood mitigation and soil benefits of CRP are to society, the program needs to make sense to a farmer?s bottom line in order for CRP to succeed . Today, Secretary Vilsack and President Obama sent a clear signal that CRP is evolving into a more focused, strategic and financially competitive conservation option for farmers and ranchers. There is no doubt commodities are out-competing yesterday?s CRP, but it?s also clear these focused CRP practices are an asset to any farmer and rancher?s balance sheet,? observed Dave Nomsen, Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever?s Vice President of Government Affairs.

CRP is split between two forms of enrollment; a) general signup periods and b) continuous practices open as long as there are allocated acres available in the practice. Earlier this year, Vilsack announced a new CRP General Signup slated to begin on Monday, March 12th, as well as a separate continuous signup for 750,000 acres of Highly Erodible Cropland. Vilsack?s announcement today addressed the continuous side of CRP. Following are the details of the 1 million acre announcement today:

? 400,000 SAFE Acres. The State Acres For wildlife Enhancement CRP practice, also known as CP 38s or SAFE acres, is designed to address state and regional high-priority wildlife objectives. South Dakota, for instance, has a fully enrolled SAFE project targeting more than 50,000 acres of pheasant nesting, brood-rearing and winter habitat. Likewise, Missouri has a 17,000 acre SAFE project focused on enrolling habitat for bobwhite quail. Many of these SAFE initiatives were at, or near, the allocated acre budgets.

? 100,000 Pollinator Acres. Pollinator provisions within CRP first appeared during the 2011 general signup. Today?s pollinator focus stresses the importance of pollinator habitat to both agriculture and wildlife. Not only are pollinators critical in the production of America?s food and feedstock, but wildlife need bugs for food themselves. Pheasants and quail share a common need for habitat featuring a diverse forb (flowering plant) component with pollinating insects like honey bees, butterflies, beetles, and bats. Following a pheasant or quail nest's hatch, young chicks survive almost exclusively on a diet of insects. These insects, which are critical to a game bird's life cycle, are also dependent upon a diverse mix of forbs. Likewise, these flowering plants create fantastic brood cover allowing chicks to move through habitat at ground level, while having protection from avian predators in the sky.

? 150,000 Habitat Buffer Acres for Upland Birds. Also known as Conservation Practice 33 (CP 33), this initiative is focused on the creation of early successional grass buffers along agricultural field borders. It is a favored program of landowners concerned about improving their land as habitat for America?s bobwhite quail. Until today?s announcement, CP 33 only had 350,000 acres available for nationwide enrollment.

? 150,000 Duck Nesting Acres. The Duck Nesting Habitat Initiative, also known as CP 37, aims to restore wetland and associated uplands located outside of the 100-year floodplain in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Restoring these wetlands will provide nesting ducks with critical habitat, nesting cover, security from predators, and food. The initiative is estimated to increase duck numbers by 90,000 birds annually. Prior to today?s announcement, there were 200,000 acres available in this practice with over 175,000 of those acres already under contract.

? 200,000 Wetland Restoration Acres. CRP?s Wetland Restoration Practices address two initiatives known as CP 23 and CP 23a. CP 23 is designed to restore the functions and values of wetland ecosystems that have been devoted to agricultural use. This initiative enrolls wetlands and buffers within the 100-year floodplain. These wetlands prevent degradation of the wetland area, increase sediment trapping efficiencies, improve water quality, prevent erosion and provide vital habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife. Prior to today?s announcement, there were 500,000 acres allocated to this practice. CP 23a is designed to restore wetlands and playa lakes, which are shallow, depressional wetlands located outside the 100-year floodplain. This initiative provides vital habitat for many wildlife species, filters runoff, recharges groundwater supplies and sequesters carbon. There were 250,000 acres allocated to CP23a prior to today?s announcement.

CRP is a voluntary program designed to help farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers protect their environmentally sensitive land. Through CRP enrollment, eligible landowners receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term, resource conserving covers on eligible farmland. Landowners interested in learning more about these continuous CRP practices or the upcoming General CRP signup are encouraged to contact a Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologist. For additional inquiries, please contact Dave Nomsen, Pheasants Forever?s Vice President of Government Affairs at (320)491-9163 or via email.

Pheasants Forever, including its quail conservation division, Quail Forever, is the nation's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have more than 130,000 members and 700 local chapters across the United States and Canada. Chapters are empowered to determine how 100 percent of their locally raised conservation funds are spent, the only national conservation organization that operates through this truly grassroots structure.

-30-

Source: http://www.quailforever.org/page/1/PressReleaseViewer.jsp?pressReleaseId=106709

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Real Estate Marketing Tools: Screen Capture

Real Estate Marketing Tools

Don't Be

Real Estate Agents, imagine for a moment you are a consumer. There yet? OK. Let?s say you and your spouse and your 2.2 children spent your Saturday open house hopping. It started out as an innocent trip to the grocery store and turned into a full fledged open house binge. In one house and out the other, you were on a tear! In every home you saw there was something called a real estate agent AKA ? SALES PERSON. They all wanted the same thing ? your precious contact information: name, email, phone number, blood type ya know the normal.

Still with me?

OK. They ask you all kinds of questions ?how are you today?? ??Do you live in the neighborhood? The Area? Would you like the tour? eventually leading to the big daddy: ?Are you working with an agent?? All the agents seem like they are reading from the same scripts and dialogues. ?You are asked the same questions at open house after open house.

?how are you today?? ??Do you live in the neighborhood? The Area? Would you like the tour???Are you working with an agent???

?how are you today?? ??Do you live in the neighborhood? The Area? Would you like the tour???Are you working with an agent??

You have become quite good at dodging the questions. You answer: Good, No, Yes, No Thanks, Not yet, we were just in the area. Over and over again.

The Value

The real estate agents know they cannot ask for your email address and or phone number without the promise of VALUE. The problem: the best they can come up with is a list of homes for sale in the area or the opportunity to be notified when a new home goes on the market. They all say the same thing, they all have the same value, they are all vanilla

Then it happens

You walk into an open house, the real estate agent says ?hello?, and invites you to take a tour around the home. As you take the tour you hear the real estate agent talking to someone. Weird because you are the only ones in the home. To make it stranger, the language you hear is nothing like you have heard before from a real estate agent. Instead of the TYPICAL talk of ?comps, days on market, pre qual, listing agent, etc. you hear a conversation taking place. You turn the corner to see the real estate agent finishing a video of some kind.

It went like this:

Who is this guy? It?s Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy! Who was he talking to? It sounded strangely like a different level of service than you were used to from a real estate agent, not only that ? this guy just raised the bar ? significantly.

How did he do it?

With an underused real estate marketing tool: Screen Capture.

Screen Capture is a great way to convey value ? your value ? visually. How many times do you as a real estate agent send a vanilla, plain, bland, plano to a prospective buyer and HOPE they not only like the home but call you back? How many times do they? Not many right?

Why?

Could it be because real estate agents appear to be a commodity? Could it be because they don?t know where you begin and another real estate agent ends? Could it be because they do not see a difference between YOU ? real estate agent A ? and real estate agent B? I mean ? WHO doesn?t know a real estate agent?

There are over 30,000 real estate agents here in the Phoenix metro area, you can stand out from your competition, you can demonstrate your value and service without talking about how ?AWESOME? you are ? how many homes you sell ? your designations ? your awards ? through real estate marketing tools like screen capture. By the way: if you are talking about yourself, you can?t be talking about the needs of the consumer. . .

VANILLA is the kiss of death in real estate marketing. VANILLA is boring. VANILLA doesn?t stand out or get found. No one goes out of their way for VANILLA. Is your real estate marketing VANILLA?

Are you a Phoenix real estate agent that wants help growing your real estate business? Work smarter. As the Director Of Sales Technology for Lawyers Title I help real estate professionals like yourself grow your business with technology. From WordPress to Screen Capture, Indexable IDX Solutions to video I can help you grow your real estate business. Check out our HOW TO real estate marketing classes. Yes, we cover Screen Capture too.

Let?s talk. Please fill out the form below.

Source: http://mytitleguy.com/2012/03/real-estate-marketing-tools-screen-capture/

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Katy Perry Planning New Album

Singer Katy Perry has announced that she is planning a new album and will begin work in the studio shortly. Get the details below on her forthcoming LP, and how Perry plans to return to her musical roots. Teenage Dream singer Katy Perry has told MTV she is going to be working on a new album soon. The singer says that after she finishes up promoting the The Complete Confection edition she’ll head back into the studio where she’ll return to her musical roots. By the sounds of it Katy plans to nix the funky hair colors, and possibly some elements of her pop music, opting for a more basic and natural collection of tracks. “I don’t want to jinx myself ’cause I haven’t stepped into the studio. I have an idea ? I always have an idea. Like, I have an idea for the next two records; it just depends,” she shared with the music network. “What I say is, I’m gonna kind of put my finger out there and test the pulse or test the waters of what the world wants, or what I need to say, which is probably most important rather than what the world wants.” [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/VZ6h_vFA1HQ/

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Playseat Limited Edition Gran Turismo? 5 Revolution Gaming Seat ...

By admin ?http://www.gamerzcrib.com/playseat-limited-edition-gran-turismo-5-revolution-gaming-seat/

Playseat Limited Edition Gran Turismo? 5 Revolution Gaming Seat

Rating:?

Price:?$599.00 $499.99. You save:?$99.01 (17%).

THE NEXT LEVEL IN PLAYSEAT RACE SEATS! Consisting of several new enhancements and modifications not found on the original Evolution, the next level in Playseat race seats, the Playseat Revolution ? Gran Turismo? 5 edition, includes a new, leg friendly design for free range of leg movement and center mount wheel support, elevating the in-home Gran Turismo? 5 racing experience to new levels when combined with a Logitech wheel/pedal set of choice for PlayStation?3 (PS3?). This dynamic race seat is modeled after real, rally and stock car seats, complete with helmet stabilizers and a new, patented, fully adjustable steering wheel support with aluminum quick release handle for easy slide adjustment for height and depth, and now accommodates even more third party wheel/pedal hardware sets (on the market). Featured in a very nice Alcantara fabric, similar to suede in look and feel, with newly designed extra strong, powder coated hollow triangle tubing for wire concealment and additional PU protection to avoid scratching rounds out this dynamically eloquent sim-racing chassis, making the Gran Turismo? 5 edition Playseat Revolution the perfect gaming performance enhancer, and the only way to bring the ultimate Gran Turismo? 5 edition racing experience home! Accessories are also available: Playseat Pro Kit, Playseat Gearshift holder, Playseat Seat Slider, and Playseat Floor Mat (each sold separately).

  • Product Dimensions: 52 x 20 x 39 inches ; 44 pounds
  • Shipping Weight: 52.9 pounds
  • Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
  • Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.

    ASIN:

    B004N0HHV8
  • Item model number: 72018

Source: http://www.gamerzcrib.com/playseat-limited-edition-gran-turismo-5-revolution-gaming-seat/

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Better Jobs, More Jobs - Joblink

Question: Is this the biggest lie by the Mass Media & the US government ? Americans can?t create Corporations & Jobs ??

so we need these geeks to create jobs for us?

Answer:

problem is..they are doing everything they can to make sure they do

Tags: Americans, biggest, can't, corporations, Create, Government, Jobs, Mass, Media, this

Source: http://www.joblink-inc.org/government-jobs/qa-is-this-the-biggest-lie-by-the-mass-media-the-us-government-americans-cant-create-corporations-jobs

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Santorum pushes social agenda in Ohio

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, insists on paying for his lunch, Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Wilmington, Ohio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, insists on paying for his lunch, Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Wilmington, Ohio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, waves to workers as he prepares to order lunch, Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Wilmington, Ohio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks at a rally at the Crowne Plaza in Blue Ash, Ohio on Saturday, March 3, 2012. (AP Photo/The Cincinnati Enquirer, Jeff Swinger ) MANDATORY CREDIT; NO SALES

(AP) ? Rick Santorum sees an America in need of more than economic recovery, warning Saturday that the nation's inattention to conservative social values is "damning people."

"Folks if we know what works, why don't we talk about what works? Why don't we encourage it in our schools? Why don't we encourage it in our culture?" the Republican presidential candidate asked hundreds of people gathered at the Allen County Lincoln Day dinner. "Why are we damning people? Why are we condemning them to a life just because we won't talk about ? we'll talk about childhood obesity until the cows come home. But we won't talk about one of the great underlying causes of childhood obesity, which is the instability of the community, the neighborhood and the family."

Campaigning across Ohio this weekend, the former Pennsylvania senator has been calling for fewer children born out of wedlock and fewer single-parent families. He argues that communities where mothers raise children by themselves have less freedom than those where two-parent families are the norm.

The comments underscore Santorum's commitment to social issues, which helped define his 16-year congressional career and distinguish his candidacy from that of rival Mitt Romney. Despite a pro-choice past, Romney is now just as socially conservative as his opponent on paper, but the former Massachusetts governor has almost singularly focused on the economy while campaigning.

By contrast, Santorum's views on morality sometimes overshadow his prescriptions for the nation's economy. And some Republicans ? even among the hundreds waving signs at Santorum's rally in Blue Ash Saturday morning ? fear he's gone too far.

"He needs to start talking more about the economy and get off the social issues, because I don't think that's what's going to make him president. The economy is going to make him president," said Joan Conradi, a 50-year-old nurse from nearby Mount Healthy, who was holding a "Santorum for President" sign.

Cincinnati-based conservative radio host Bill Cunningham, who like Santorum is Catholic, raised the same concern directly with the candidate during a broadcast Friday.

"When my wife goes to bed at night, and she has rosaries in her hands, I pray as a practicing Roman Catholic you win the presidency," Cunningham said, suggesting that Santorum's focus on social issues would limit him to being a "niche candidate" at best. "I want you to win, but I think the tactics you've employed are not going to result in victory."

Santorum fired back that Cunningham was falling victim to the "media hype."

"They try to say because you have deeply held religious beliefs that somehow or another you're going to impose that on everybody else. That's a bunch of crap," Santorum said. "It didn't happen during my political career, and this is the media again, trying to tarnish anybody who has real strong convictions. Don't you buy in to their fraud."

It wasn't all family values in Blue Ash, where Santorum discussed his plans to improve the nation's manufacturing sector, highlighting his "Made in America" plan that would reduce corporate income taxes on manufacturing from 35 percent to zero. But he returned repeatedly to social issues during the 43-minute speech, as he did the night before in a speech outside Cleveland.

"We can cut government; we can grow the economy. But unless the basic building blocks of our society are strong, then we will not be able to sustain it," Santorum said.

He campaigned Saturday alongside Tony Perkins, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council, who offered Santorum an indirect endorsement.

"I have seen Rick, who I've worked with in Washington for a number of years, never back away from defending the American family," Perkins said at the Blue Ash rally. "We've got to elect a candidate who understands the connection between our economy and our family."

Santorum did not say specifically how the federal government could address family values. He recently released a tax plan he plans to implement in his first 100 days that would triple the personal deduction for children and eliminate the marriage tax penalty throughout the tax code.

On Saturday, however, he simply called for a national conversation of the nation's top minds to determine how to "reconnect fathers with children" and bring "mothers and fathers together." And he promised not to shy away from talk about God while campaigning.

Another audience member, 48-year-old Kurt Daum, said that he agrees with Santorum's positions. But he isn't sure they'll resonate with the broader electorate in a general election matchup against President Barack Obama.

"I'm worried a candidate like this may polarize too much," said Daum, who was wearing a Santorum sticker on his shirt but said he hadn't determined whom to vote for Tuesday. "I agree with what he has to say there, but when we get to the general population, how much are they going to agree. And can he beat Obama? That's what it comes down to."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-03-03-US-Santorum-Social-Issues/id-91c4ae4d92904cb4bcbcef6a579c92b2

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