Item:
The Boston Globe reports:
Senator Rick Santorum, Republican of Pennsylvania, yesterday alleged that Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry of Massachusetts ''did nothing" about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in 2002.
''They spoke nothing. They sat by and let this happen," Santorum said.
Kennedy and Kerry blasted Santorum's comments in statements issued by their aides. Santorum's comments yesterday escalated the controversy about a 2002 article he wrote saying it was ''no surprise" that the abuse scandal occurred in what he called the liberal bastion of Boston.
''Senator Santorum's partisan, hate-filled comments do a disservice to the victims of abuse," said Kerry spokeswoman April Boyd. ''He's never failed to inject politics into these deeply personal and trying issues for Catholics everywhere. He owes an apology to the families of abuse victims and to the faithful who fill the pews of Massachusetts churches every Sunday."
Read it here.
So, Rickey is picking a fight with Teddy Kennedy and that Kerry guy. Wonder why?
And there's this.
The Philadelphia Daily News notes:
For most of 2005, Santorum has been in people's faces, on ABC's "This Week" yesterday, on all the cable-TV political shows and the cover of the New York Times Magazine, giving voice to his controversial views on homosexuality, abortion and the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case.
And of course there's the release of his new book, "It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good," a family-values tract that stakes out some highly provocative and unconventional social views.
Santorum blames radical feminism for helping to convince mothers to continue working rather than to stay home with their children. He compares abortion to slavery. And he defends home-schooling his own kids, writing, "It's amazing that so many kids turn out to be fairly normal, considering the weird socialization they get in public schools."
The book has stunned local political pundits, who say that Santorum is likely to alienate the key swing voters - especially middle-class moms in the Philadelphia area - whose support he needs to win his Senate race next year, when he most likely will face Democratic state treasurer Bob Casey Jr.
Read it here.
Let's go over this again:
1) Since last year's senatorial primary, when he knifed Pat Toomey's bid to unseat Arlen Specter, Santorum has had a big, big problem with his conservative base.
2) Polls show him running consistently ten to fifteen points behind Bob Casey in the runup to next year's elections.
3) It is obvious that Santorum has to mend fences with his base, and do so fast.
4) So he picks a fight with Teddy Kennedy and the Kerry guy, with Hillary Clinton, with radical feminists, abortion rights advocates, pedophile priests,and the teachers' unions.
And, according to the Philadelphia papers, this confuses political observers!
There is a trap here for Casey. So far, he has run only on his dad's reputation and all that voters know about him is that he is pro-life and anti-gun control. By stirring up this brouhaha, Santorum is not only highlighting his social conservatism -- he is trying to entice Casey into standing up for some of his left-wing and liberal Democrat supporters. If Casey is so stupid as to try to defend the public school system, or Hillary, or Teddy, or the Church's response to the pedophilia scandal, or any of the other hot-button issues Santorum is raising -- that gap in the polls will disappear overnight. And, if Casey says nothing, it leaves Santorum free to paint him as a closet liberal.
This is all about firming up his base. It has absolutely nothing to do with any possible presidential ambitions.
Now, I ask all you "political pundits" who are so "stunned" by Santorum's tactics -- was that so hard to understand? No, of course not.
UPDATE:
Fast Eddie Rendell, the current governor of PA, seems to be cooperating with Santorum. He recently used his veto to remove from the State budget restrictions on federally funded health, birth control and family planning services that had been included, and inserted instead a 6 million dollar subsidy to family planning centers. Catholic authorities are in high dudgeon over this. You can be sure that Santorum will press Casey to take a stance on Rendell's actions.
Read it here.
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