KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Rick Santorum suggested Saturday the Republican National Committee shouldn’t be involved in 2016 presidential primary debates altogether, rapping the Washington-based committee as its chairman addressed attendees at a conference here.
“Look I’m not particularly excited about the RNC sanctioning anything. I don’t see anything out of the RNC that makes me excited that they’re going to do something to position itself to put the most effective leader forward,” Santorum told reporters before he spoke at the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference.
In the wake of the bruising 2012 GOP primary process overloaded with debates, the committee is seeking to limit the amount of televised battle royales in 2016. But Santorum seemed skeptical of the idea.
“I don’t know how you put a cap on free speech,” he said, turning to a wider critique of the RNC’s proposed reforms that grew out of a 2012 post-mortem report.
“If you look at their post-mortem, it’s very much skewed to what I expected, which is what the establishments on the coasts of this country want to see done with the Republican Party. I’m not particularly excited about that. I’d like to see the people who are represented here from the heartland of the country have as much say about what happens as the people in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and New York,” he said.
Each state elects two members as their representatives on the Republican National Committee.
One reform Santorum does support is moving the Republican National Convention to June, to give the nominee more time to prepare and marshal resources for the general election.
“Of the reforms he’s looking at, it’s the one that makes the most sense,” he said. ”I don’t think it’s as important when there’s an open seat, but it’s vitally important if a Democratic president is in place. I think you tremendously handicap the nominee by starting so late in the game.”
The RNC has appointed a committee to produce a report on holding an earlier 2016 convention. The committee’s findings are slated to be unveiled in April.
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