WORLD has frequently covered one GOP presidential candidate, Rick Santorum. (See cover profile, April 30, 2005, and interview, Oct. 23, 2010.) In a recent conversation I asked the former Pennsylvania senator to describe what his campaign is trying to convey.

Please complete this sentence: Our mission is ___________. To reclaim America's first principles and apply those to the issues we have in hand. To reclaim those principles because we are very much at risk of losing them.

What's the story on which you want to campaign? To remind Americans who we are. We've forgotten how great this country is, how unique this country is. It's a story that resonates. America is not a country that is an ethnicity. It's not like France, or Italy, or Bulgaria. It's an idea. America to hold together has to emphasize a common set of values and ideas. We haven't had anybody who is willing to go out, paint that picture, and say, "Come join us as Americans. Come reclaim our birthright."