Posted on 04/11/2005 1:10:23 PM PDT by NraFreedom
It would appear that Rick Santorum is trying to make himself appear as a closet Liberal. According to cited sources, he has "proposed raising the minimum wage; suggested that the death penalty be reserved for the most dangerous of killers; voted with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., on curbing sex and violence in the media; and sided with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on a bill protecting religious freedom in the workplace."
Of course his real turn coat action of late has been his suggestion Sunday that "embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay needs to answer questions about his ethics and "let the people then judge for themselves."
What a traitorist tactic to take toward the agenda of the US President; not to mention this attack on one whom the "honorable" Senator has called friend.
No wonder the Rebublican Senators are so lacking in backbone, when the third most powerful Republican in the US Senate is the first to cave to opposition forces instead of being a man and keeping his mouth shut!
There is nothing in the Delay accusations that can hold water. It is the Democrats and the way they work. It is too bad that the Republicans in the Senate have learned nothing concerning teaching the truth to the voting public instead of turning on each other.
In my opinion, Rick Santorum should be sent home with a good whipping and a real man sent from his state to stand up for what is right instead of selling his own for staying in office!
Sometimes hysterics, as you refer to them, is the way to get the dead wood off the bottom of the swamp.
I do thank you for your critisizing as it appears to be constructive. How would you have made it less "hysterical?"
The point is that Santorium is not just an average senator, but one of the best. Now, that might not speak much for that particular body but it is undeniable.
It is of absolutely no benefit if he goes and a extraordianary loss if his Dem opponent (a faux conservative Dem) replaces him
I bash my Senators mercilessly.
Santorum cannot even be mentioned in the same breath as your two senators. SPECTER could not even be mentioned in the same breath.
Washington's senators are the worst in the nation. Worse than Boxer & Feinstein. Worse than Kerry & Kennedy. The reason they win in your state is because "conservatives" there will stay home or vote third party rather than a flawed Republican.
I really don't want to lose Santorum to that type of thinking.
And as senators go, Santorum is almost flawless.
We NEED Tom DeLay, and if what Santorum did causes his removal, I will send money to support who ever seeks to recall/impeach or unseat him. He's a traitor, IMO!
The article very clearly states it is a vanity. :-)
Is Santorum Getting a Political Makeover?
In recent weeks, Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., has called on Republican leader Tom DeLay to explain the ethical questions surrounding him; proposed raising the minimum wage; suggested that the death penalty be reserved for the most dangerous of killers; voted with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., on curbing sex and violence in the media; and sided with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on a bill protecting religious freedom in the workplace.
Business as usual, explains Santorum, but pundits suggest the junior senator from Pennsylvania is shifting left while ramping up to his ’06 campaign for a third term, according to a report in The Morning Call.
Santorum, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, remains the Democrats’ top incumbent target in 2006 – with early polls showing Casey ahead or dead even with the incumbent.
As to his unlikely alliances with Clinton and Kerry, Santorum said no sea-change there: "If you find some common ground, you seize it.”
As to backing off capital punishment, Santorum explains that it had nothing to do with political expediencies but the number of convictions overturned with DNA evidence that convinced him the penalty should be used sparingly.
"I don't run around looking to do the politically sensitive thing or what the polls tell me,” Santorum said.
Such was apparently the case when Santorum visited the late Terri Shiavo’s father shortly before her death. Polls were showing that the majority of Americans opposed Congress getting involved.
"I did it because I thought it was the right thing to do,” Santorum said of his involvement. "That's what motivates me.”
But Democratic Party officials like Phil Singer, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, charge that the new face is all about next year's Senate showdown with Democrat Bob Casey, the state treasurer and son of former Gov. Robert P. Casey.
"There's a lot of talk aimed at softening his hard edges,” said Singer, "But when push comes to shove, he goes the other way.”
As to one of those reported hard edges, his support of cuts in Medicaid, Santorum doesn’t appear to be shifting anywhere. While seven Republican senators crossed party lines to restore the funding, Santorum has remained firm, saying Medicaid's growth is unsustainable.
"If governors are that pathetic in not finding savings in this program of four-tenths of 1 percent over five years, then shame on the governors,” Santorum retorted. "That's the way I look at it.”
Pennsylvania political analysts G. Terry Madonna and Mike Young dispute Santorum’s explanations that he simply votes his conscience, pointing out that in their opinion the senator has a history of moving to the left just before elections.
"He's a cultural conservative,” Madonna said, "but people don't understand how pragmatic and politically opportunistic he can be.”
Furthermore, Madonna argues that Democrats underestimate his pragmatic side in their zeal to highlight Santorum as an ideological zealot.
That pragmatic side has thus far been useful to Santorum:
At least one pundit suggests that things just might be business as usual for Santorum. Charles Snelling, described by the The Morning Call as a LeHigh Valley GOP stalwart, suggests that Santorum’s voting record has always been more moderate than his public image suggests.
"Sen. Santorum is much more in the mainstream than people give him credit for,” he said.
voted with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y
Seems to be a growing trend. Lindsey Graham from South Carolina has decided to ride the Hillary wave.
And the Republicans are running from DeLay like rats from a sinking ship.
Hey boys! We didn't send you to Washington to become limp wristed pseudo-liberals cowering from Kennedy, Klinton and Kerry.
Grow a set (a least as big as Hillary's) or you'll be coming home after the next election cycle.
Thank you for realizing that I am trying to be constructive.
Since you asked, here's what I think. First of all, get rid of all the exclamation points. That's where it looks hysterical to me.
Then cut out the cliches and "catch phrases". You could easily make your point without them.
Honestly I'm not too bothered by Santorum saying that DeLay should answer the questions and let the facts stand.
If he's innocent, then that will clear him and if he's not, then that will be known also and then the voters will decide what to do.
But I do understand your underlying point that Republicans tend not to stand up for one another.
Anyway, that's what I think, cut the exclamation points and get rid of stuff like "closet liberal".
No, it doesn't. It is a well written, truthful, vanity, as it clearly states.
It doesn't look like it. Do you know how to make a hyperlink?
Also, I think my point is that one "good" guy is harping on another good guy
Actually your point is that "Rick Santorum should be sent home with a good whipping and a real man sent from his state", which is a very bad thing to bring up considering the effort being made by the left to get rid of him.
These are the same men who are threatening to "go nuclear" and change the rules of the Senate.
Now, Rick Santorum might not know how to defeat a filibuster but there are Republican Senators in that honorable body that do know how to do it. If they will just grow backbones and get organized and do it. And, I might state that if the Repubs do "go nuclear" and change the rules then there will be a time when they are no longer in power and will have to use the filibuster just as the Dems are now.
All this talk is nonsense! We did not send those men back there to jack their jaws: we sent them to do a job and to stand for what is right, not what is politically expedient at the moment.
And your "Santorium is one of the best Senators" assertion is only accurate if you're talking about the Senate as a whole. As far as GOP Senators are concerned, he's not even close.
fatnotlazy: Since Mar 23, 2005
Wow, nice response. I almost missed it in there with all the meely-mouthing going on about my post not being proper and all.
It is nice to gain the acquaintence of one who speaks his mind and puts his money where his mouth is.
BTW, I like your handle. Somehow, it seems a bit familiar. LOL
I don't disagree with you on most of that.
I don't see that comment from Santorum as being so bad, but do understand the context of your complaint.
Others might not understand the context, so maybe you could tell them?
It's a vanity and they don't have links. Santorum is NOT defending DeLay, he's sabotaging him.
Santorum is a good guy (as is Delay.) Rather than fall for the left's divide and conquer plan let's stick up for both.
Santorum is NOT a good guy. He's out to destroy DeLay who IS a Conservative and on OUR side.
There have been Freepers who have been harshly critical of Santorum in recent weeks. Some are Pennsylvanians still upset about the Toomey race. Some are just natural crumudgeons. Some are trolls. The left has made getting rid of him a high priority. This is not the time to help them or demand purity.
You want to bash Specter, feel free.
i vote republican.
but delay left himself open to attack.
a prudent person would have acted accordingly, regardless of what senator reid does. senator reid's a democrat and can count on the media to ignore his mis-doings. delay cannot.
Really? And I'm supposed to believe this because of a vanity? NraFreedom doesn't even provide a cite. He says he cited Newsmax & WND. I don't see it.
Is Santorum making speeches against DeLay or is he being sandbagged with questions from media-types? Or do you think that doesn't make a difference?
Sorry, I disagree.
Did you write this for WND or are you commenting on a WND article?
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