Rick Santorum Campaigns With Seriously Ill Daughter At Home

The Washington Post:

At the lectern in a packed convention center last month, Rick Santorum spoke haltingly, not for the first or the last time, about his seriously ill youngest daughter, Isabella , who has the genetic disorder Trisomy 18. Half of all children with the chromosomal anomaly, more common in girls, are stillborn. And of those who do survive, only one in 10 makes it to her first birthday.

Read the whole story: The Washington Post

 

 

Comments

[lafayette2009]

09:44 PM on 01/02/2012

I feel badly for his daughter and wife and belief there is another with a similar genetic disorder in their family. I don't feel for Rick or, to some extent for his wife, who decided to abort a pregnancy in October 1996 at 20 weeks because her life was in danger.

Seems what is good for the Santorums isn't good for anyone else.

Rick, you have no chance of the nomination so do the decent thing and go home to spend precious time with your daughter.

[nofeynman]

07:02 PM on 12/26/2011

Reading all the comments on this site makes me want to vomit!

You all are full of so much hate but you don't see it! So who is the one with the psychological problem?

[ndtovent]

05:44 PM on 12/06/2011

Ohh, that reminds me.. I just went to spreadingsantorum.com a few times just give it some clicks. I hope you will, too

[politicaljunkie41910]

04:42 PM on 12/04/2011

Santorum has to be the ultimate narcissist to believe that only he is capable of governing this nation at this time. So he thinks that his time is better spent in the 99 counties of Iowa than at home with his overwhelmed wife and his sick child who needs full time care not to mention the anxiety they must have all experienced with the child coming close to death twice in a hotel room.

I hate to seem judgmental but it seems to me that being on the rode may be his way of not having to face the reality of her almost certain demise. If its hard on him how much harder could it be on those left at home to deal with the pain every day, especially without him as the father and the head of the family. It would be different if he had to get up every day and go to a 'real' job while the wife and kids were the caretakers while he's away earning a living to put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, and medical insurance coverage for her. As a GOP presidential candidate he brings nothing unique to the debate that hasn't been brought by the others in this primary while trailing at the bottom of all the polls but somehow remaining convinced that he will eke out a victory in the end.

[The Canadian]

03:28 PM on 12/02/2011

I find the comments on this thread to be fascinating in light of Santorum's political career and Presidential hopes.

Anyone can sympathize with how terrible it is for parents to have a seriously ill child. So you can see people struggling to separate this feeling for Santorum's personal situation from his policies as a politician, which would inflict exactly this sort of horror on the parents of children who can't afford adequate healthcare coverage for even basic child illnesses.

If any good comes from this, it's the hope that the pain of losing a wonderful child will awaken something in Santorum's hard heart and he will then devote himself in his political career to doing whatever is necessary to make sure other parent's don't have to go through the same thing as his family.

Or will he continue to be like this:

"At a town hall meeting in Iowa (recently), Santorum decried government efforts to protect children from economic suffering. He said: “If you’re a Christian, suffering is part of life, and it’s not a bad thing. It’s an essential thing.”

Mr. Santorum, connect the dots and learn to cherish all children. Start there, and people might start to think you are fit to be a leader.

[ndtovent]

05:49 PM on 12/06/2011

I absolutely agree with you about having empathy for a seriously ill child, and I do. My heart goes out and God bless her..

That said, they had another child some years back who was still from the same or similar condition. I think it was their 4th or 5th. They knew there was a risk of the same condition happening with another child, but they just keep popping them out, one right after the other. There's something psychologically wrong with that.

[roostertatoo]

03:18 PM on 12/02/2011

We should feel sorry for him when he says things like this? I don't think so!

Rick Santorum sounded like a representative from the health insurance industry when he addressed a small group of high school students in Merrimack, New Hampshire this morning. The former Pennsylvania senator not only defended insurers for denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, he also argued that individuals who are sick should pay higher premiums because they cost more money to insure. Insurance rates shouldn’t pay for your general maintenance any more than they should pay for the general maintenance of your car. [...] Should they pay for the operation, well just as much as they should pay for the car accident.

America needs him like a hole in the head...

[jaabirllx]

03:13 PM on 12/02/2011

Santorum's hypocrisy is all-too-typical of the contemporary 'conservative', who prates about human dignity while assaulting the funding & institutional support that make it possible for people who aren't on the corporate payroll to take care of seriously ill children and help educate them.

[Jeff Bunting]

02:51 PM on 12/02/2011

I guess I'm supposed to feel sad... Okay I'm ready to move on now.

[Bodie1]

01:59 PM on 12/02/2011

He needs to be with his family.

[reggieb]

01:54 PM on 12/02/2011

Well. I've never run for president but I have buried a child who was born with a condition that had a very low survival rate. She lived 8 months. Take it from someone who has been there, Santorum should go home and be the father and husband his family needs him to be.

[palindrom]

12:04 AM on 12/03/2011

O how terrible that must have been. As a fellow parent I can begin to understand.

Santorum's priorities are especially screwed up because he has exactly zero chance of winning anything.

[ReMarker]

01:41 PM on 12/02/2011

Hey Rick,

Your skill sets are neither exclusive to you nor necessary for the betterment of America.

Go home to your lovely daughter and rejoice in the time and opportunity you have to experience a most pure love.

[StopMakingSense2]

01:35 PM on 12/02/2011

What does he have to worry about? God will take care of it right? Have you no faith? Despite all this nonsense I hope her doctors help her achieve a full recovery even though it means a childhood of brain washing and indoctrination at his hands.

[LogicalMathMan]

01:34 PM on 12/02/2011

Santorum said the campaign has been “incredibly hard” on his family — emotionally and financially.

I feel for this man's daughter, but believe he is setting the stage to drop out of the race.

[frankath]

01:19 PM on 12/02/2011

God bless the family. Go home, Rick and spend some time with your daughter and help with her care while you can. I think that you can see the writing on the wall that the nomination is not going to happen for you this time around. You gave it a good shot. It's time to be a fulltime Dad, now.

[desertdweller]

12:42 PM on 12/02/2011

My heart goes out to the Santorm family in this crisis. That being said, and at the risk of sounding nakedly partisan, I would be quick to point out that Democrats, not Republicans, favor the support of medical and genetic research that will someday help prevent, and in some cases, even cure, genetic disorders of this type. Republicans would rather put that money in the hands of defense contractors, and the over-burdened tax payeers of the 1%.