Presidential contender Rick Santorum told a crowd of 50 at a local coffee house in Des Moines, Iowa, that GOP leaders must “stop the insanity” surrounding the primary calendar, reports MSNBC.

“Stop the insanity, which is what’s going on right now,” the former Pennsylvania senator told listeners at Smokey Row. “We should be talking about the issues. We shouldn’t be talking about when caucuses and primaries are.”

The “insanity” that Santorum referred to was the calendar changes by the GOP in Florida and Nevada which forced the nominating contests in both states to move a month ahead of schedule. The Nevada caucus will be held Jan. 14 with the Florida caucus following on the 31st.

“This is the most important election in my opinion since the civil war,” Santorum said. “To push the nominating process for president in this watershed election into the middle of the Christmas season is unconscionable.”