Long before Rick Santorum arrived, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine was outside waiting.
He was asked why Santorum changed the time of his visit from 2 p.m. to 10 a.m.
"Well, this is campaigns," DeWine said. "But I think it's important that Rick came here to Steubenville in eastern Ohio. Because I think there's a real appeal for the people in eastern Ohio for Rick Santorum. He is pro-life. He is pro-gun. He understands the importance of exploration."
Inside, hundreds packed the event room of Froelich's Classic Corner.
Many Franciscan University students attended.
"He's an excellent Catholic candidate," said Drew Sacksteder, a student at Franciscan. "He's at least getting the views out there. It's very counter-cultural. For many of us, we kind of feel repressed by views we get from the media. At least in this way, we have a voice."
A Santorum volunteer from Steubenville said he was impressed with the speech for another reason.
"Yeah, I was just impressed that he spoke for over an hour and didn't use any notes," said Mark Nehrbas. "And it really spoke to me that he must believe everything he says."
In his hour-long speech, Santorum criticized the high rate of divorce and out-of-wedlock births, and opposed any regulation of the hydraulic fracking industry.
The clearly conservative audience approved.
"I consider myself a diehard conservative and I really like the senator," said Sam Taliani of Weirton.
There were a few protesters outside.
But inside the building, there were no dissenters.
The audience members were all on the same political page.
And that made it easier for Steubenville Police to keep the peace.
"It was a large group of people, but everybody was here for the same reason so no problems," said Captain Joel Walker of the Steubenville Police.
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