If voters in early primary states haven’t seen Rick Santorum with their own eyes, they might have no way of knowing he’s considering a second bid for the GOP presidential nomination.
The former Republican senator from Pennsylvania is busy touring the early primary states. He was at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Summit on Saturday, along with 2016 hopefuls including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Less than two weeks ago, he was in South Carolina. He has plans to visit New Hampshire in May.
And yet Santorum, who won the 2012 Iowa Republican presidential primary caucus, has almost disappeared from the national media’s spotlight.
Last December, the Washington Post declared that Santorum “is running for president again — and says this time will be different.” Since the start of 2015, the Post has only published eight articles that center on Santorum as a possible candidate. (He has yet to officially declare a campaign.) In that same time period, the New York Times has only had three. USA Today: just one. The Associated Press did two.
ABC, NBC and CBS News devoted similar coverage to Santorum’s potential candidacy.
Even a debate between Santorum and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean in California last Friday went entirely unnoticed by the press, other than a writeup in the local Long Beach Press Telegram.
Though more experienced in national politics, Santorum is receiving roughly the same amount of news coverage as businesswoman Carly Fiorina and former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, both of whom are expected to make their own campaigns official in early May.
A Nexis search for Santorum news articles since the start of 2015 renders 510 results. Carson has been covered in 456 articles. And Fiorina netted 318.
Most of the other top-tier candidates, like Rubio, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have closer to 1,000 results each.
Santorum did not respond to requests for comment.
