The most famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) widower is back in the headlines, taking aim at the politicians who made his life hell in the weeks before, and even after, his brain-damaged wife was permitted to die. TerriPAC, a new politicial action committee, "would raise money to campaign against members of Congress, mostly Republicans, who drafted and voted for legislation to intervene in the case," according to the wire story picked up by the Boston Globe and news outlets around the country today. Yesterday's original piece in the St. Petersburg Times, quoted Michael Schiavo on the PAC's genesis:
The easiest thing would be to move on and let the headlines fade..... But my experience with our political leaders has opened my eyes to just how easily the private wishes of normal Americans like me and Terri can be cast aside in the destructive game of political pandering. The best way to hold them accountable is to make sure voters know where the candidates stand when they come looking for votes next November.
The Reuters story specifies three of the targets: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, all of whom have developed other troubles since the original Schiavo headlines.
Disappointingly, most of the news coverage doesn't go much beyond the quotes at the PAC's own site (not surprisingly, "the Republican National Committee did not return calls"), except for Salon, which broke the story in the first place. It also includes quotes from Ms. Schiavo's parents plus the tidbit that both Mr. Schiavo and his in-laws have books coming out soon. And though Mr. Schiavo "never showed any predilection for the limelight," it's obvious that he has become very media-savvy:
It would be easy to dismiss my actions as partisan. But I was a life-long Republican before Republicans pushed the power of government into my private family decisions.... And it is not so simple to forget those politicians who shamelessly sought to squeeze political leverage out of my family’s most emotional hour.