Santorum’s Daughter Improving

Apparently, some good news from the Santorum family:

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Rick Santorum said Sunday night that his daughter Bella has experienced a “miraculous turnaround” since being diagnosed with pneumonia earlier in the weekend.

On a telephone town hall for Florida voters, the former Pennsylvania senator said doctors predict that the 3-year-old will be released from the hospital two to four days from now.

“Life for the Santorum family has improved dramatically since this afternoon,” he said. “We’ve still got a long way to go, but she’s without a doubt turned a corner.”

Santorum canceled three Sunday campaign stops in Florida so he could care for his daughter. He announced on the call that he plans to return to the campaign trail on Monday if Bella continues to improve. But he was noncommittal about whether he’ll return to Florida, and specifically whether he’ll attend a scheduled event at a Boca Raton synagogue on Monday morning.

“We’re going to get back on the campaign trail probably later tomorrow,” he said.

Santorum suggested that he’ll head instead to the Midwest “and start campaigning in the next set of states as we move this campaign forward.” This tracks the campaign’s decision to look past Florida with Santorum placing third in the polls there.

Much like Ron Paul, there’s little reason for Santorum to return to Florida at this point. However, it’s good to hear that his daughter has apparently gotten beyond her health scare.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. grumpy realist says:

    Very good news! I’m sure Mr. Santorum and his family are feeling relieved. I wish the very best of continued health for his daughter.

  2. Just nutha ig'rant cracker says:

    @grumpy realist: This is a much better response than the one that started the previous report. Thank you for taking the high road (not that I expected that you wouldn’t, please understand)!

    Also, I convey my best wishes to the family on the occasion of this good news.

  3. David says:

    I hope she continues to improve and wish her the best.

  4. Franklin says:

    Good to hear she’s doing better. Hopefully Rick will have more time to spend with her soon.

  5. Neil Hudelson says:

    Fantastic news. I don’t agree with Santorum on many issues, but no family deserves this type of pain and hardship–especially with children.

    I hope she continues to improve.

  6. grumpy realist says:

    @Just nutha ig’rant cracker: Yah, well I think we can all agree that no matter how much we think that Mr. Santorum’s mentality is somewhere beyond the bonkers escape horizon and accelerating, his daughter and his family have nothing to do with any of this.

    (I do reserve the right to make catty remarks about Callista Gingrich’s hairstyle, however. What IS that animal that she has trained to sleep on her head?!)