Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says the 2012 election is about freedom and stopping government interference in the lives of Americans. The former Pennsylvania senator spoke to about 500 people at a hotel in Perrysburg in northwest Ohio on Tuesday, a week before the state's primary. Santorum says oil prices are rising while the Obama administration blocks access to fossil fuels that could lower prices and help the economy.
He didn't mention rival Mitt Romney by name but referred to him as "uniquely unqualified" to unseat President Barack Obama. Santorum says Romney, as Massachusetts governor, and Obama, as president, are the architects of bad health insurance programs. He says the Republican Party needs a nominee with a "sharper contrast."
Santorum predicted his performance in Michigan's primary Tuesday will surprise people.