WASHINGTON -- Rick Santorum is trying to bring back a version of George W. Bush's compassionate conservatism, with one major difference: very little talk of government programs.
Bush's version was a government-centric model, which his campaign brain trust used to differentiate him from the stereotype of the free-market conservative who cared little about the circumstances of the less fortunate.
"We had to face reality: The Democrats had been wildly successful in painting the Republican Party as a natural home for right-wing lunatics and nutballs of all stripes. And the party hadn't helped itself with antics like shutting down the government," wrote Stuart Stevens, a strategist for Bush's 2000 campaign who is now running Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, in his 2001 book "The Big Enchilada."
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