Below is a letter I emailed to the LTE Newsweek tonight. Please feel free to edit, critique, or crib liberally to send to local media outlets.
A little more than a month and a half ago, Arlen Specter was in the race of his life against a state senator who had little name recognition and spent a fraction of the money in a campaign that only truly began in October. Even those of us who dusted off "I Remember Anita Hill" buttons every 6 years were too jaded to be optimistic before Nov 2, 2004. But after witnessing Joe Hoeffel come within striking distance, we have renewed hope, and we have identified our next fight. In 2006 Rick Santorum will not fare as well as his senior, moderate colleague from the state of Pennsylvania.
Howard Fineman's "Mister Right" has demonstrated time and time again that he is Mister Wrong for Pennsylvania. In one of the largest journalistic lapses to round out 2004, Fineman refers to Santorum's "six home schooled children," overlooking the fact that Santorum bilked a poor district in Pittsburgh out of $100,000 for cyber school fees. Despite being unable to produce evidence of residency within the school district (the Santorums' 2 bedroom modest house is rented to relatives), Santorum has not reimbursed the district for the cost of educating his children at the expense of hard working Pittsburgh families. Receiving $100,000 in tuition may be a good deal for the Senator and his family, but those whose taxes fund the Penn Hills School District know that it is wrong.
Perhaps the story would be different if Santorum actually lived in Pennsylvania, as required in Article I, Section 3 of the US Constitution. However, after lambasting his 1992 Senate opponent for living in Virginia while Congress was in session, Santorum quickly packed up his family to move to the Virginia suburbs year round, where his home, valued at over $750,000 is anything but "modest". That hasn't stopped the righteous Rick Santorum from claiming a Homestead Exemption on the $85,000 home he rents out in the Penn Hills school district. It may or may not be tax fraud, but one does not need the moral convictions Fineman ascribes to Santorum to determine that it is wrong.
Unfortunately, a separate set of standards shouldn't surprise Pennsylvania voters. Rick Santorum has crusaded to cap lawsuits that allow patients to seek redress from criminally negligent doctors (a tiny minority of the profession, and at a cost that adds only a fraction to the real cost of health care and malpractice insurance, according to the GAO) despite the fact that his wife sued a chiropractor for $500,000. While some may call Santorum's blatant self-interest hypocrisy, those of us who speak with the directness of authentic Pennsylvanians just call it wrong.
Mr. Santorum may be "right" for the radical ideologues in the Republican party, but he is wrong for Pennsylvania. Santorum should enjoy being "Who's Next in 2005" before becoming Who's Out in 2006.
*****
I think Fineman did some good work in handing us the "Mister Wrong" frame, but apart from that I'm out of deep thoughts. Seems to happen at 2:30am.
oh, and first entry. please be kind.