Rick Santorum Enrolls His Ailing 3 year old Daughter as a Lifetime Member of the NRA

Just Another Reason Why This Callous Man Should Never Be Considered for a Serious Political Office

After serving for two terms in the U. S. Senate from Pennsylvania, Republican Rick Santorum was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2006.  Ok, it was a Democratic year, but the defeat Mr. Santorum suffered, something like 18 points, was almost unprecedented for a sitting Senator. 

The explanation here is that the size of the defeat of Mr. Santorum reflected the fact that the citizens of Pennsylvania finally started paying attention to who their Senator was, and when they did they found out they did not like him very much.  A similar phenomena happened in the just concluded Republican Presidential nomination campaign.  Mr. Santorum had leads going into many Midwestern states, but once voters started paying attention he lost those leads.

A recent action illustrates the problems even some Conservatives have with the odious personality of Mr. Santorum.  His three year old daughter Bella has had and continues to have significant health problems.  Everyone wishes this little girl and long and healthy life, and regardless of any negative feelings towards Mr. Santorum.  No one wants he or his family or his daughter to suffer the tragedy of a child who is seriously ill.  And no one should doubt that Mr. Santorum cares deeply about the welfare of his daughter and loves her dearly.

But all of that has not stopped Mr. Santorum from also viewing his daughter as a campaign prop.  His campaign speeches in the past have featured stories about his daughter’s health issues.  The latest though seems unseemly even for Mr. Santorum.

Bella Santorum, Rick Santorum’s ailing 3-year-old daughter, is now a life member of the National Rifle Association.

The ex-candidate announced at the NRA’s annual meeting here Friday that he and his wife Karen have long been life members.

“Now Bella is a life member of the NRA,” he said. “And I hope it’s a long life!”

That’s right, in order to score political points Mr. Santorum has enrolled his 3 year old ailing daughter as a life time member of the NRA.  All of us want to express our sympathy and support for Mr. Santorum and his family with respect to his daughter’s illness.  He just makes it so hard for us to do so.