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Subscribe to RSSPHILADELPHIA, PA - Speaking from the hospital room where he said his ailing 3-year-old daughter is making a "miraculous turnaround," Rick Santorum said that he would resume his campaign on Monday with stops in western caucus states.
"She went through a very tough time the last 48 hours and this afternoon she made really a remarkable turn," Santorum told voters in Florida and Minnesota, via two tele-town halls Sunday night, of his daughter Isabella, who was rushed to the hospital the night before after developing pneumonia in both lungs.
Santorum said that Isabella, who also suffers from the genetic disorder Trisomy 18, was still in the intensive care unit and was not ready to be released home, but that doctors were encouraged by the improvements made over the past few hours.
"We've still got a long way to go here but she has without a doubt turned the corner and we are very, very grateful," he said.
Santorum had cleared his Sunday schedule in Florida to be with his daughter but will be back on the trail tomorrow afternoon with stops over the next two days in Missouri, Minnesota, Colorado and Nevada, all caucus states. He will not be back in Florida before its election on Tuesday, having cancelled an event in Boca Raton scheduled for that morning.
Instead, Santorum will hold a primary night party in Las Vegas, an indication the campaign has pulled its stakes from the Sunshine State where a recent NBC/Marist poll had Santorum in a very distant third place.
In fact, turnout at a Sunday afternoon event in Sarasota - at which Santorum's daughter Elizabeth filled in for her dad - served as an indicator to the campaign as to whether they would continue to stump in the state through Tuesday's primary. The rally, held in the same venue where Newt Gingrich drew more than 3,000 people, had a scant showing of fewer than 250.
Santorum also seemed to have already moved beyond Florida during the call with Minnesota voters in which he emphasized the importance of caucus-style contests to his campaign.
"We want the activists of the party, the people who make up the vast part of the Republican Party, to have a say in who our nominee is as opposed to a bunch of people who don't even identify themselves as Republicans picking our nominee," Santorum said, noting that only registered Republicans can participate in a caucus.
"I believe that a state should only allow Republicans to vote in a Republican primary. Why? Because it's the Republican nomination, not the independent nomination or the Democratic nomination."
Santorum refrained from making such a pro-caucus statement in Florida, which holds a primary, albeit a closed one in which only Republicans can vote.
"This is an election that's wide open; This race isn't going to be decided in Florida, it's not going to be decided for quite some time. But Florida can have a big say," he said to voters on the first call.
And while he didn't handicap his finish in Tuesday's primary, Santorum still predicted he would finish strong in the Sunshine State, thanks to an increase in donations which he said began after his victory in the Iowa caucus was confirmed.
"We're going to come out of Florida I think with a pretty good number, certainly dollars per votes we're going to run rings around the other candidates," Santorum said, referring to the amount of money candidates spend in a state divided by the vote percentage they receive.
A decent showing in Florida will allow him, he continued, to "come into states like Minnesota, Colorado and some of the other states that are having their caucuses and primaries and be in a much better position."
Santorum said he was hoping to "do very well" in Minnesota, adding "we're looking forward to getting up there tomorrow and spending a lot of time and trying to get folks in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes to join us."
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You liberal people are the most evil, unfeeling, disgusting people. Just remember one thing-your judgment day will come and oh will you be so surprised and so sorry!
so its perfectly okay for you and Santorum to judge others, and tell people there going to hell, that there sinners , that everyone has to believe in Jesus, and because people don't agree with you , and they call you out on your crap, than they are evil, unfeeling, hmm help me make sense of that , sounds very hypocritical to me, you need to come to grips with reality , everyone is going to have there own beliefs , there is nothing you or anybody else can do about that, so stop trying to shove your beliefs down everyone else's throats and then maybe others will stop shoving theirs down yours.
kanic --- as i see it, the same could very well be said of the party of "let them die".
kanic --- i probably should feel sorry for people like you. you feel such disgust for life and what transpires today that you wish for the end of the world. i have never felt that way in my worst of times. i consider myself lucky not to be in your shoes.
That's funny! Because in my eyes Liberals, progressives, independents, atheists and Dems come across as better Christians than all the Republicans put together! They have big hearts! They care about everyone! Kanic...........PEOPLE should not stand in judgement of each other........isn't that GOD's job?
Rick Santorum is the guy Mitt Romney's pretending to be. The latest poll taken indicates that 61% of the voters feel that Mitt Romney would say ANYTHING to get elected. In an effort to appease them, Mitt Romney whole-heartedly agreed with them. I don't want an elitist millionaire deciding the fate of the American people.
Newt Gingrich has just been around for a hundred years. These OLD-TIMERS, that have made a career out of politics, have lost the fact that we are not here for them; they're here for us. Now, he doesn't want to debate President Obama because it would seemingly involve more than name calling.
Hang in there, Mr. Santorum. You're the only candidate, I believe, that will allow common sense to prevail.
Santorum deceived his way through his life with his bull$hit and he is the guy that is milking our system, what a phoney this Rick is.
Once or twice in a lifetime, a person gets a chance to run for president: Only if all of the barriers to entry to that challenge are at the right level. I wonder how many of the other candidates would risk a resounding defeat for their family? At some point in all of our lives we have to make a choice between our private life and our career. In some cases it is made fo us, in others it is a gut wrenching experience. I hope his little girl recovers and that he will continue to follow his heart not the polls. The same goes for the others in the race.
Some real bright people on this site.
If Rick had $2.00 and Mitt had $2,000,000.00, how much would their total together be?
$2.000,002.00....damn straight we're bright :>)
Mr. Santorum,
First of all, I hope your daughter is doing well. I have two children myself, one of whom almost died of Wegener's last year. He, too, is doing better now. I know politics pales in comparison to our children's well being, but I want to ask you to consider something political. Your numbers in South Carolina and Florida, unfortunately, tell me you really don't have a chance of winning. I have watched your campaign, and I admire your intelligence and your, well, chutzpah for lack of a better word. However, it's now evident that because you remain in the race, the party is probably going to nominate Mitt Romney. He is not a conservative, and he will get crushed by Obama as many of his positions, especially health care, mirror Mr. Obama's positions. Therefore, sir, in deference to your party and your nation, I respectfully ask you to drop out of the race and throw your support to Newt Gingrich. He will then be able to defeat Mitt Romney, who is now succeeding by splitting the conservative vote. Mr. Paul, I ask you to do the same. Staying in the race will only end up getting Obama re-elected, and if you are true to your beliefs, as I feel you are, you must realize that would be the worst possible outcome from a monetary policy standpoint. Mitt Romney would be second worst.
Thank you,
Tom Grady
Rick,
I'm more than glad that your little girl is going to be OK. She's obviously a tough cookie, and well loved.
The problem, Rick, is that all that wonderful healthcare that she received is not something that you want the rest of us to have. You care about your own, but not any other's, and that's the real difference between the likes of you and the likes of me: I would be more than happy to help pay for your little girl's medical treatments, by paying a healthcare tax that enables all americans regardless of age or medical status to get medical care.
You, on the other hand, are not willing to do the same for others.
This is the reason that you will not ever be POTUS.
Too bad she recovered. The world doesn't need child from horrible parents.
Santorum: Go be with your daughter and help take care of her and don't just focus on you! You are a very ignorant and unintelligent person and to many of us Americans see and hear it. Wish the best for his daughter but this man also said that women of violent crime -being rape- should "make the best of a bad situation" and avoid abortion if raped. So ignorant! I can't stand this guy..... and he can't think for himself when the GOP forgets to put a hand up his *** ( butt =)
I think Santurm and Paul should drop out and let us decide between Newt and Romney who should go against Obama in 12-2-2012 .