WASHINGTON (July 16) - The Massachusetts congressional delegation Friday sent a letter to a Pennsylvania senator demanding an apology for what they called his "outrageous, erroneous and insensitive" comments in a column linking Boston's liberalism to the clergy sex abuse scandal.
"We are deeply disturbed that you would offend Massachusetts by using an abuse scandal, one that has been mirrored in your state and in others, to score cheap political points with far right political groups," said the 10 lawmakers in a letter to Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.
A spokesman for Santorum said Friday that the senator stands by his comments.
Spokesman Robert Traynham said it was very sad that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and other Democratic liberals "have decided to politicize comments that were three years old."
Santorum wrote in the July 2002 column for Catholic Online that promoting alternative lifestyles feeds such aberrant behavior as priests molesting children.
"Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture," Santorum wrote. "When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm."
Something tells me that Santorum is goading the Democrats into attacking him for his remarks in an old, conservative column. Then Santorum can feign innocence, claiming he was just telling the story, and his opinions, as it was when the clergy sex abuse scandal was raging. Thus, Santorum can claim he was the wounded victim in the liberal PR campaign as the 2006 midterm elections start to gear up. There's another little dirty trick that Santorum can use. He can take this publicity and claim that the "seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism" of Massachusetts power--Senator Ted Kennedy--is trying to use their power and the power of the liberal media to influence Pennsylvania elections in a deliberate smear campaign against Santorum. Of course, this type of campaign PR by Santorum would be directed at Pennsylvania's conservative base--are you going to let the evil Ted Kennedy and his minions in Massachusetts take over the elections in Pennsylvania?
I'm not sure how far Santorum can get with this type of counter-attack. His public opinion polls have already started dropping, and the starting of the 2006 midterm election campaigning is at least 6 months away. The Bush White House and Republican Party is already caught in the scandals of Karl Rove, and the public's unease with the Iraq war. Santorum is certainly one of the high-profile Republican politicians, in the nation, that the Democrats will target in 2006. Whatever the outcome, this Senate campaign in Pennsylvania will be especially nasty, and closely watched.
No comments:
Post a Comment