WASHINGTON (AP) Sen. Rick Santorum delivered a reflective farewell speech on Thursday in which he thanked Pennsylvania voters for the opportunity to serve them in Congress for 16 years.
Santorum said he always understood that voters were his employers, but he acknowledged there were a lot of times he didn't agree with them.
"Maybe I spoke up too often, too loudly, too boldly on some of the things my employer didn't agree with me on," Santorum said.
"I hope they respect the fact I felt ... it was a heartfelt disagreement, and I did what I did and I said what I said because I believed it was in their best interest, even though they may not have thought so."
It was the first political loss for Santorum, a firebrand conservative never shy about speaking his mind.
From the Senate floor, he also thanked his wife, Karen, and his six children for their sacrifices. He also expressed gratitude to God, his staff and colleagues.
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Thursday, December 07, 2006
Santorum Thanks Family, Voters in Farewell Speech
The Senate's pro-life conscience says good-bye:
We have not seen the last of Rick Santorum I hope. Maybe a Brownback presidency opens the door to Santorum for VP... hey I can dream can't I?
ReplyDeleteGod willing, Rick Santorum will be re-elected in some way...we need some men with integrity in politics, now more than ever.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, here's a clip of his farewell speech to Congress... it's long, but worth it.
http://clipeditor.shadowtv.com/videos/clipeditor/client3563/stv_cspan2_20061207_164540_1165530003351.wmv
Oops. Let's try that again...
ReplyDeletehttp://clipeditor.shadowtv.com/
videos/clipeditor/
client3563/
stv_cspan2_20061207_164540_1165530003351.wmv
Youo have to take out the spaces to play it.
Hey I know John Doman! Small world eh?
ReplyDeleteWe have not seen the last of Rick Santorum I hope. Maybe a Brownback presidency opens the door to Santorum for VP...
ReplyDeleteIf we're going to give Hillary an enormous mandate, why settle for Brownback-Santorum: let's go with Keyes-Santorum and have the first more than two-to-one popular vote landslide since 1820. Or we could just go third party or write-in, vote for exactly who and what we want, and be under absolutely no illusion that our guy is going to win. Or we could try to find someone who is both acceptable and electable in the Republican party.
Publius...
ReplyDelete1-I was kidding.
2-This attitude that we need somone who can appeal to all people will lead to somoeone who appeals to no one.
3-People are either going to be voting for or against Hillary in '08 and for most people that vote is already decided. Why not try to get the best, as in most pro-life, candidate we can get?
1-I was kidding.
ReplyDeleteI though so, at least partially, but I've seen conservative Catholics pining for a Santorum on the bottom of ticket often enough to feel the need to respond.
2-This attitude that we need somone who can appeal to all people will lead to somoeone who appeals to no one.
I never said, and don't think, we need a candidate that can appeal to all people. I do, however, think we need a candidate who can appeal to winning coalition—which unfortunate means getting quite a bit more than just us social conservatives aboard.
3-People are either going to be voting for or against Hillary in '08 and for most people that vote is already decided. Why not try to get the best, as in most pro-life, candidate we can get?
That the race might turn out that way makes me very nervous. Elections that revolve around negativity towards one of the candidates tend to elect said candidate (look at 2004, and 1996 for that matter). Anti-Clintonism and anti-Bushism both lost, which suggests that anti-Clintonism could lose again. We need someone who can attract a broad enough coalition that Anybody But Hillary need not be the primary drive of the campaign.
And yet, Publius, it must also be a pro-life ticket. If once the GOP thinks it can win with pro-abortion nominees, there will never again be another pro-life nominee. The pro-life position will be deemed "unelectable".
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, Publius, it must also be a pro-life ticket. If once the GOP thinks it can win with pro-abortion nominees, there will never again be another pro-life nominee. The pro-life position will be deemed "unelectable".
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree. That's a big part of what I meant by "acceptable" in wanting a candidate who is "both acceptable and electable."