Santorum Continues Distancing Himself From Bush

[JABBS]

President Bush will appear at a Veterans Day event in Pennsylvania tomorrow, minus Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA).

It's hard to believe that Santorum -- a lackey who has spent four-plus years pushing the Bush agenda -- is steering clear of the president. But this is not an isolated instance.

"If President Bush was popular, Rick Santorum would be standing right up next to him," said Jay Reiff, campaign manager for Santorum's likely Democratic opponent, Pennsylvania Treasurer Bob Casey Jr. A Quinnipiac University poll last month showed Santorum 18 points behind Casey.

As JABBS has been reporting since August, the more Santorum trails Casey in the polls, the more times he tries to suggest that he is not joined at the hip with an increasingly unpopular president.

In August, Santorum said he has raised various questions about the Bush Administration's handling of the Iraq War -- although his own staff couldn't find any examples to back up the claim. In September, Santorum took issue with how Bush had tried to rally Americans behind his Social Security privatization plan.

Then last month, Santorum didn't endorse Harriet Miers, Bush's first nominee for the Supreme Court, and criticized Bush's defense of Miers, which essentially consisted of advertising her faith.

Now, Santorum won't make time in his Veterans Day schedule to be seen with Bush.

It's a far cry from in June, when Bush raised $1.5 million for Santorum at a Pennsylvania fund-raiser.

To steal a line from former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY), this is a guy who has carried more water for Bush than Gunga Din, leading him to say some outrageous things about Democrats, such as May 19 on the Senate floor, when he used a reference to Adolf Hitler to describe Democratic complaints about the "nuclear option" to ban judicial filibusters.

***

This item first appeared at Journalists Against Bush's B.S.

[skypilot]

1. Now if only he'd distance himself from the rest of us.

*

[napi21]

6. Noooo! You want him out there for everybody to see!

The more the People of Pa. see and hear him, the more they dislike him!!!!

Hey Rickey?? How about writing another book? That last one, where you think all women should spend their lives barefoot and pregnant, really let people get to know you!

[Punkingal]

2. It's too late...

They have been joined at the hip far too long.

[calico1]

3. He is deplorable enough on his own.

He doesn't need bush for that.

[kentuck]

4. Character.

Fair weather friends. Traitors to their own.

[yellowcanine]

5. We need a new DU category -" Turd Polishing Activities by Pubbies."

This would fall under that, imo.

[JABBS]

8. LOL

[underpants]

7. Why would someone not want to be close to our fearless leader?

I don't understand. Is it not the greatest of honors to be associated with his honesty and convictions????

[rkc3]

12. That's one thing the repubs are famous for - their convictions.

Hopefully, we can add Libby and then Cheney to that list.

[readmylips]

9. AZ :JD Hayworth on Imus show said NO to bush....

I laughed so hard. I hope the AZ person running against JD Hayworth next year, will use the Imus clip. Imus asked JD a few times, if he was inviting bush to Arizona to campaign for him. JD tried not to answer but Imus kept pressing for an answer. Finally, JD broke into a huge laughter and said the answer is 'No.'

JD Hayworth is a spoiled connected rich guy, just like bush.

[Nikki Stone 1]

10. Now if only Santorum could distance himself from himself!

Then, he might be a viable candidate. :)

"I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving." –Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Sept. 6, 2005 (Source)

Rick Santorum recommending jail time for people who don't or can't evacuate in the event of a hurricane.

[JABBS]

11. JABBS wrote about that, too

You should know he sort of retracted the comments -- the "I didn't mean that" defense -- a couple of days later.

If you search the JABBS archive, you can find a link with video from the Pittsburgh television interview in which Santorum makes the initial dopey comments.

[Nikki Stone 1]

13. The guy just shoots his mouth off, doesn't he.

Thereby shooting himself in the foot.

Has he retracted his insults about the National Weather Service? The only government agency that actually did its job well during Katrina was the NWS.

[meow2u3]

15. Santorum ought to distance himself from PENNSYLVANIA!

Oops! Wait a sec! He already has. He lives in Virginia and is now posing as a Pennsylvania senator.

[Nikki Stone 1]

16. "I'm not a Pennsylvanian, but I play one on TV"

:)

[kurth]

14. Lower forms of life have strong self-preservation instincts

[yellowcanine]

17. That explains the longevity of insects of the cockroach persuasion.