Posted on 01/31/2012 1:06:47 PM PST by jimbo123
Should Rick Santorum get off the campaign trail and go home to his ailing daughter? That’s the question many are posing about the GOP candidate, who has built his campaign on the idea of “faith, family and freedom.”
His three-year-old daughter Bella suffers from a genetic disorder known as Trisomy 18, and had a turn for the worse over the weekend when she contracted pneumonia. He says his daughter has had a “miraculous turnaround,” and returned to the campaign trail Monday on the eve of the Florida primary.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
If a father didn’t go to his child’s beside, he hasn’t enough humanity to lead others.
He needs to be “Courageous” and be there for his side of the dance. His daughter has no idea why he isn’t there.
He should do what he thinks is best for him and his family. If that is continuing because he thinks the role is best in the long run, so be it. We’ve had successful presidents before who have faced such issues and worse.
It’s interesting seeing so many former Palin supporters pushing that Santorum should drop out and care for his special-needs daughter. That was of course one of the many disgusting tactics used against Sarah Palin, that she wasn’t a good mother because she was running for VP instead of taking care of her son.
But I guess if a tactic works, you’ll use it no matter how disgusting it is.
While I would like to see Santorum back out of the race entirely and to give Gingrich his support, I don’t want the Washington Post (or anyone else) determining why he should back out. This seems very similar to the debate that was raging when Gov.Palin was running with McCain: “How can a woman with so many children be both a good/devoted mother and a VP?”
Rick is a good man and knows his family situation better than any other can. He should make his own decisions in his own time.
So much for being a family man. He should go home to his family...I WOULD! he is not soaring in the polls...he will be wiped out soon...
It would be a tough call if he had an actual chance of winning the nomination. As it is, he should go home.
Is that because you think he's a "big government" guy who wants to tell people how to live their lives and what's best for them and their families?
His daughter is still in the hospital with pneumonia. She almost died this weekend and is still in intensive care.
If Santorum was the nominee, how long before the "retard" and "Abortion would have been better" stories went up on The Daily Kos?
It is up to him, of course. But I just think IF she were to pass away from this illness or anytime in the near future, he will feel much guilt from having miss so much of the last 6 months or however long of her life and IF or when he goes on to lose, will think about how much time he missed with her. He might not say it out loud, but he will feel it. Again, his choice.
He is indeed faced with a dilemma. I know what my choice would be; on the other hand, it would be great if he scored well enough in Florida to stay in the race.
Can a political leader put politics ahead of family and stay in the race?
Rick returned home to be with his daughter and family this weekend. How much time to spend is nobody else’s business.
I agree
In simple terms, no.
I would like to see Santorum withdraw and endorse Newt, but that would be based on Santorum determining after Florida voting closes that he doesn't have a sufficient chance or that his campaign would do more harm than good. Failing that, if Santorum does particularly well, even if not as well as Newt, I would like to see Newt in a magnificent gesture withdraw and endorse Santorum "to stop the Romney/Obama leftists for the good of the country". But for Santorum to withdraw to be near his daughter, when there is nothing he can do for her? That makes no sense. If Santorum believes that he has a better chance of repealing ObamaCare than Newt does, then the best thing he can do for his little girl is to hit the campaign trail, all out, and try to win this. His daughter's life is on the line, and he shouldn't simply go home to give her a hug if he has a better option.
Note: simple economics shows that ObamaCare will bring medical progress if not to a screeching halt at least to a dramatically slower pace. Whatever might have been discovered to help his daughter under a sane and limited federal government will be at severe risk under ObamaCare. In his position, I would do whatever had the best chance of repealing that evil and destructive law. And those calling for him to withdraw because of his daughter's health? I hope he will politely ignore then, because they are wrong. The decision should be based on the good of the country in which his daughter will live and receive medical treatment, not how often he can read her a story face to face.
>> How much time to spend is nobody else’s business.
It’s my business if he insists on being Mitt’s VP.
Ditto. I think most citizens would give him extra consideration simply because he was at his baby’s side.
Family values, indeed.
I bet they have never asked that question about Obama
I see.....
If he wants to spend time with his sick daughter, you won’t support him for VP.....
Nice....
1) Both Rick and his wife earlier claimed and testified in court that she had a "permanent back injury that probably would result in a lifetime of pain medication and restricted mobility." Both Palins are physically fit and can cover for each other, but the Santorums have sued and collected large sums of money from a chiropracter because of a "permanent back injury."
Karen Santorum claimed that a Fairfax chiropractor had left her with a permanent back injury
2) Illnesses like pneumonia is of greatest risk to people with weak immune systems as in the young and elderly. It is pretty amazing that Rick would leave wife who supposedly has a "permanent back injury with a lifetime of pain" to tend to a young child.
Rick needs to go home for a number of reasons, including his sick daughter. He is needed at home, and has no reason to continue. It is all political now, he believes staying in helps him in the long run. He is wrong.
You beat me. I just can’t think of a rational response to such an idiotic post. I bow to your supremacy.
That's up to Rick. I would never deride him either way.
Not this one! I support Rick in whatever decision he makes. And if he wants to keep fighting in the primaries, then good for him.
Just think if this same attitude had existed when Abraham Lincoln lost two of his children and then had to deal with Mary's mental illness. If he had quit, then the Confederacy would have won the Civil War!
Disclaimer: I am in no way comparing Santorum to Lincoln, but I'm finding these demands (for purely political reasons) that he quit the race to be with his daughter appalling, especially after what Palin just went through with Trigg.
I agree.
I don’t like much about Santorum, I don’t want him to be president and I would like him to drop out, now.
However, this has got to be a very difficult time for him and his family.
If he takes a few days off to be with his daughter, he will be accused of playing a sympathy card for votes. If he stays on course, he will be accused of being heartless.
I know what I would do if I were in Santorum’s shoes, I’d go be with my daughter and hope folks would understand. But I am not in Santorum’s shoes. Only he knows what’s right on this..... I will not judge him.
My prayers are with Santorum, his family and that darling little girl.
He's already done that... in fact did so immediately. Those saying otherwise on this thread and others are simply not being honest or didn't bother to pay attention to begin with - yet sure now how to cast disparagement regardless of the facts. It's pretty disgusting to use something like this to make a political point out of and attack someone's character with false statements about his relationship with a sick little girl. Santorum is one of the most solid family oriented individuals you can find - to say otherwise is lying.
The time he spends on the campaign trail is, politically speaking, “my business”.
I don’t trust Santorum’s motives. Sorry.
I am unclear about your post. Are you calling me a liar?
I know that he visited with his daughter... I wasn’t talking about then in my post, I was talking about now.
No. He needs to be with his family and disabled, ill daughter. I question his judgement.
Write to us in 1 year and tell us more about who you don’t trust.....
I have no doubt that Rick Santorum loves his family. He knows his situation with his little girl better than any of us and the way I understand it, Bella is out of the woods now. I’m sure he knows what he’s doing as far as his family goes. I want him to drop out as well as anyone who wants him to, but how he handles his family situation is his business.
You should have read the Yahoo comments this past weekend. I have never read so many cruel, heartless comments in my life in one place. Comments ranged from him using his daughter’s illness for political gain, she should have been aborted, comments on her looks, and so on and so on. It made my blood boil from these so-called “compassionate” liberal hypocrites.
Then he shouldnt use it when he is at political rallies or functions which he does and that makes it our business.
“If he had quit, then the Confederacy would have won the Civil War!”
As a person born and raised in the South, what’s wrong with that? (just kidding)
I’m for Gingrich, so I’d love to see Santorum back out for that reason.
But where his family is concerned, this is a decision he has to make. I feel for him, I feel for them. He and his wife have a tough row to hoe, and I’m glad I’m not in their shoes. I have to admire them for the grace with which they are handling this.
Whether he drops out of the race to spend time with his daughter? How did he use his daughter’s illness at political rallies? I thought that the issue was his spending time with his sick baby.
They love to hide behind their computers and throw their filth.
How has he “used it”?
He spoke about it during debates and rallys as one of the reasons he is running for president. I heard him speak about it last night on Fox news.
So you’re predicting Santorum will not win the primary? And the likelihood he’s peeling away votes from Newt is not a problem for you?
It’s delusional to believe Santorum can win the primary barring the unforeseen.
Rick has said that he is running to give voice to Bella and her concomitant issues, in a way that the other candidates can’t or won’t. I respect that. Someone must speak for the defenseless, and try to defend the great founding principles of the country in which I grew up. Rick Santorum is that man. Bob
Look, I am not hiding behind anything..I say the same thing face to face as I do online. Rick has mentioned that one reason he is running is for Bella. He has brought it up many times and in Iowa he brought it up before the vote...remember when his voice was choking and he spoke of his finances and daughter? that makes it an issue..whether we like it or not...sure it is his family...but I have my own views on what I would do if it was my child. If noone wants to talk about it..dont make it an ISSUE
Does he stand next to blow-ups of Bella and tearfully beg for prayers and good wishes? Does he wear lapel pins that say: "Ask me about my handicapped baby daughter"?
Ridiculous.
please decide whether you’re questioning a candidates motives or playing bookie?
I thought I had heard most of his speeches and I don't remember him talking about Bella until the last few days. If he did it doesn't impress me as a play for sympathy. Newt uses his daughters to defend him. I don't see the problem.
Yesterday, I posted on a Santorum thread, that this line of attack was being talked about in Florida, along with other attacks, by the romney staff and others... and I was accused of smearing Santorum by two of his supporters here... when my point was simply the latest in Florida is once they are done with Newt, this is how they supposedly would start to go after Rick. this is about santorum on the trail now; if he is the nominee, some of the stuff will be ‘do we need someone distracted with serious family health situations in the WH’... that is not a smear. I repeat that is not a smear.
Everybody says newt’s baggage counts because the media will use it. And one of the reasons they should vote Santorum is no baggage. This is some of the baggage they will put out front for santorum... not a smear, just another indication of how low romney can go...you can never think too little of him.
If a person with a politcal axe to grind tries to gin up phony outrage against the father of a sick child, using the sick child as a prop in her attempt to forward her own political agenda, she doesn't have any room to lecture anyone on "humanity."
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