Santorum Daughter's Illness A Test For Candidate

[General Mung Beans]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/us/po ... F72A254554

Santorum Daughter’s Illness a Test for Candidate
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and SUSAN SAULNY
Published: January 30, 2012



She came down with pneumonia over the weekend, a frightening turn of events given that Bella, as she is known, received a diagnosis of a fatal chromosomal disorder called Trisomy 18 shortly after her birth and has lived longer than most babies born with the illness. About two weeks after her birth, doctors sent her home from the hospital on hospice care, which is usually reserved for the end of life, not the beginning, saying her condition was “incompatible with life.”

Bella’s condition is a constant challenge for the entire family, especially for Mr. Santorum’s wife, Karen, and their six other children.

But her health issues present another kind of challenge to Mr. Santorum. As a presidential candidate, he is constantly traveling and must devote considerable time and energy to his campaign. Yet he is still a father. And ultimately, voters may judge him on both of his roles — as a candidate and a parent.

“I think his priorities are right, if you have a sick child — whether you’re running for dog catcher or president of the United States — your family comes first,” said Gail Hebert, president of the St. Petersburg Republican Club in Florida.

By chance, Mr. Santorum was already with his family when he and his wife noticed that Bella had fallen ill; he had returned home from the campaign trail to retrieve his tax information.

But politically, the timing was awkward. Despite his victory in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, Mr. Santorum has not come close to winning anywhere else and is trailing badly in the polls here for the Florida primary on Tuesday. He has been trying to beat back rumors that he is aiming for the vice-presidential slot or that he will quit the race and urge his conservative supporters to back Newt Gingrich in an effort to stop the more moderate Mitt Romney.

To that end, his campaign moved quickly Sunday — even as Bella was still in the hospital wearing an oxygen mask — to assure his donors and supporters that he was pressing ahead. In a conference call from her hospital room on Sunday night, Mr. Santorum said that Bella had a “miraculous turnaround” and that he would rejoin the campaign trail on Monday.

By Monday afternoon, he was in Missouri giving an economic address and had planned other events in Colorado, Minnesota and Nevada through Tuesday.

The situation bears some similarities to John Edwards’s presidential bid during the last election cycle, when his wife, Elizabeth, had a recurrence of cancer that had been in remission for years. At the time, aides insisted that Mrs. Edwards’s condition did not alter the course of her husband’s campaign, although his decision to continue running ignited widespread public debate while her plight often threatened to overshadow his candidacy. Mrs. Edwards died in December 2010.

Similarly, Bella has emerged as the emotional centerpiece of Mr. Santorum’s campaign. His references to her are easily the most riveting moments of his speeches, usually leaving audiences silent and weepy. He has even built entire speeches around Bella’s story, telling certain audiences, especially those in churches, every painful detail of her birth and how the family has embraced her as a blessing.

On the campaign trail, the Santorums share the lessons they have drawn from Bella. Mr. Santorum told a church gathering in Charleston, S.C., that Bella can never “do” anything in her life in the traditional sense, except love him.

“She is a font of love,” he said. “And she made me understand that that’s how the Father looks at me. I’m disabled and unable to ‘do’ anything for him — except love him. And he loves me unconditionally.”

Many in the congregation wiped away tears.

Mr. Santorum concluded that he had decided to run for president even with a child who needed so much “because we wanted to make sure we had a health care system and we had a society that respected the dignity of every human life. And what better way to go out and defend that than by talking about the dignity of every human life in our own lives?”

Victoria Miller, executive director of the Trisomy 18 Foundation, said that many pregnancies involving the disorder result in miscarriage and that half of the babies carried to term are stillborn. Only 10 percent of babies with the condition live past the first year.

“The child who makes it to 3 is a rare child, but also has had really good access to medical care,” Ms. Miller said. She said that children who live longer often have parents who opt for surgery or other treatment to prolong life as long as possible and have health insurance to pay for it. Some families, for philosophical or other reasons, opt mostly for palliative care.

Those who survive usually have severe developmental delays and may need home nursing and occupational and physical therapy. “The best-case scenario is lots of intervention therapies to help them master some of the milestones like sitting up and holding up their head,” Ms. Miller said. “They may be on oxygen. They may have feeding tubes. Most children are not ambulatory and are not verbal and require lifetime care.”

Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist, acknowledged that some people may consider Bella’s illness too much of a distraction for someone seeking such a high-profile office. To those people, he said, he would offer the example of President Abraham Lincoln.

“Lincoln lost a son in 1862 and became one of our greatest,” Mr. Schmidt said.

Pam Belluck contributed reporting from New York City.

Not a particular fan of Santorum but I sympathize with Senator Santorum and little Bella here.

[Kuja]

Cold as it may be to say, it makes for a good excuse for the guy to drop out of the race. I mean, he has to see the writing on the wall by now, and a grieviously ill family member (a child no less) is something that nobody would question as a reason to-

To that end, his campaign moved quickly Sunday — even as Bella was still in the hospital wearing an oxygen mask — to assure his donors and supporters that he was pressing ahead. In a conference call from her hospital room on Sunday night, Mr. Santorum said that Bella had a “miraculous turnaround” and that he would rejoin the campaign trail on Monday.

...what the fuck, dude.

Your reputation's already spent most of this race trying to crawl out of the homophobic gutter, do you really think the Amen Chorus is enough to spirit you into the White House?

Maybe he's angling for a possible VP spot but I think the guy really needs to wake up and smell the coffee.

[madd0ct0r]

I ain't a fucking fan of santorum, but i wouldn't wish this on anyone.

either way she shouldn't be used for capital either way - Gordon Brown or even David Cameron both give reasonable examples.