Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (R) looks like he’s running for president. Or maybe he’s not. Either way, he’s reaching out to the average folk in Iowa and New Hampshire by declining to inform them of his love for Starbucks coffee. Otherwise they might think he’s an effete east coast liberal, or something.
In a long profile in the Washington Post today, Karen Tumulty catches up with Santorum in the nascent stages of his expected bid for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2012. Like most of his fellow would-be candidates, Santorum is making stops in the all-important states of Iowa and New Hampshire, dropping in to visit with local conservative groups, major Republican players and what Tumulty describes as “grass-roots leaders” (cough tea partiers cough).
It’s all pretty standard stuff — but with a Comeback Kid twist for Santorum, who lost his Senate seat to Bob Casey in 2006 after backing then-Republican and pro-choice Sen. Arlen Specter in 2004 over soon-to-be Republican Sen. Pat Toomey (who’s still very much anti-choice). Santorum has spent much of the early phase of his presidential run apologizing for that decision, which pitted the uber-socially conservative Santorum against his friends in the pro-life community.
But then comes the inevitable “how are you going to do this?” section of the profile. And that’s when we learn that reaching out to the grassroots includes sort of pretending you don’t really, really like Starbucks coffee.
From the Post:
He has already picked up some practical pointers. In New Hampshire, it’s best to keep his Starbucks gold card in his wallet. In this state - where Dunkin’ Donuts stores are as ubiquitous as Dairy Queens are in Iowa - people don’t like to see their candidates drinking designer coffee.
For those in the Dunkin’ Donuts set — or for those who didn’t realize this was a thing you could get — a Starbucks Gold Card entitles the bearer to “the exclusive VIP treatment.” According to the Starbucks website, it’s granted, it seems, to customers who make “daily visits” to the store.
What do you get for all those elitist coffee drink purchases? A free drink on your birthday, 10% off “most purchases,” special “offers and discounts,” a first look at “new coffees and beverages” and, of course, the cachet that goes with knowing you’ve spent a ton of money on hot water that’s been expertly pushed through dried up seeds that have been roasted and ground into a fine powder.
Apparently, if that that whole hot water pushing thing has happened at a Dunkin’ Donuts, you’re in the clear in the crucial early primary states, according to the Santorum school of presidential campaigning. If people were to find out that water was pushed through ground up seeds at a Starbucks, forget it. Maybe you can hold out for a spot in the next guy’s cabinet, but you’re through.
The Starbucks enjoyment obfuscation scheme isn’t the only advice Santorum has been taking lately, according to the Post. The paper reports that his wife has been offering her own suggestions:
But the most pointed advice has been from his wife, Karen, who issued a dictate she had never given in his earlier endeavors.“Do it right. Be serious about it,” Santorum recalled her telling him. “If you decide to do this, don’t embarrass me.”
Read the entire Post piece here.
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
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