Santorum Runs Scared in Pittsburgh, P.A.
“What will you tell your kids?” Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania told a group of about 50 supporters and Federation types at a campaign appearance yesterday morning in Pittsburgh. “It’s your time, not just mine, to do something.”
Still lagging in polls against Democratic rival Bob Casey, Jr., Santorum was showing frayed nerves at the conclusion of his hour-long appearance with Senator Arlen Specter.
His pitch to the audience could be summarized as follows: Iran is a grave threat to world security – a greater threat than was Nazi Germany. We are in a “moment in history” that is akin to the 1930s, when a gathering storm went ignored. The United States and Israel will fight alone in the war against “Islamic fascism.” His Senate race, which he referred to as “his burden,” is about nothing less than world security.
He implored the audience to do whatever they could to help because, surely, one day their own children would call them to account for what they did or did not do during this critical time.
One audience member commented afterwards that he had never seen a politician so heavily rely on guilt as a motivator.
Specter, for his part, subtly or maybe not so subtly, tried to present Santorum as an free-thinking critic of President Bush. “This guy is very independent – I wish you could see him raising hell with the President,” Specter said at one point.
As Santorum hits the homestretch, he is clearly relying on Jewish support.On Wednesday night, he appeared at a fundraiser – with a $2,000 minimum donation and 35 to 40 people – that was hosted by Danny Shapira and his brother David, the head of Giant Eagle, Inc. Next Tuesday, he will attend a fundraiser with pro-Israel Republicans in Philadelphia.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
