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Santorum: Hoisted on his own back yard
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What goes around, comes around.
Sixteen years ago, Republican Rick Santorum went after a longtime Washington lawmaker in a vigorous campaign that rested on two pillars.
One was a call to make seasoned politicians illegal. Congressman Doug Walgren had been in office for 14 years, and Mr. Santorum proposed a constitutional amendment to limit U.S. senators and House members to 12 years.
Mr. Santorum also said Mr. Walgren did not live in his district, and pledged "my primary residence will be in suburban Pittsburgh -- unlike the incumbent, who lives full-time in Virginia and maintains no residence in Allegheny County.''
Funny how what sounds good as a challenger can come back and bite you after you become a big-time Washington power broker.
One of the great non-issues of the Iraqi War Era has been the recent charge by some Penn Hills Democrats that the little home that U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum owns in a quiet neighborhood there is vacant and unfurnished.
Instead of ignoring it, the Santorums have made a federal case of it. When I drove to the house yesterday morning, two television crews were preparing for a noontime report about Capitol Police coming to make a security evaluation. The Santorum campaign Web site had the statement that a KDKA report "revealed the shocking news of a [Democratic candidate Bob] Casey campaign operative peeking into the windows of the Santorum home.''
KDKA never said that, as morning radio host Marty Griffin told Mr. Santorum in a cordial on-air conversation yesterday. The senator responded that peeking in windows was a reasonable inference when a man says there's no furniture in a house set so far back from the street.
His Web site should have said that.
I didn't wait for D.C. heat to arrive, but did walk up to the house, ring the bell and, when no one answered, walk back down the driveway. Mind you, I didn't expect the Santorums to be anywhere but Washington, with a war on and all. As it happened, though, people from three nearby homes were out enjoying the glorious sunshine, and so I asked what they knew.
Two women were pretty sure the house was vacant. One said there were no drapes until recently. Another saw moving trucks haul stuff away in late March or early April. Neither wanted her name in the paper.
Joe Pizzuti, working in his yard down the road, couldn't say either way, but said the Santorums' kids came around on Halloween a few years back, and once played with his chihuahua, Chi Chi, but that's been a good while.
"What a day to do my yard,'' Mr. Pizzuti said, looking down at the television trucks.
God help America if anyone plans to vote for or against Mr. Santorum based on the proximity of his children to the chihuahua, Chi Chi. There's a war in Iraq. There's not enough money for infrastructure at home. There's more than $8.3 trillion in national debt -- that's trillion with a ''t'' -- which we seem all too willing to casually pass on to our children, as we've jacked the debt up 47 percent in less than six years.
That a member of Congress might stick close to Washington, D.C., to do his job should surprise no one. But Mr. Santorum can hardly complain that this has become an issue, as challenger Santorum beat this same drum madly to get to Washington in the first place.
Back in October 1990, Mr. Santorum closed a debate at La Roche College by dramatically holding up what he said was a copy of the deed for the address that Mr. Walgren listed as his Mt. Lebanon residence.
"His name is not on it,'' Mr. Santorum said.
Mr. Walgren, who grew up in Mt. Lebanon, used to stay with his parents when in the district, but the Walgren children were growing up in suburban Virginia. He was open about that. Seeing the future, Mr. Walgren said:
"I can guarantee you that if Mr. Santorum is elected to the House of Representatives, and if he has children, he will bring those children to Washington and he will stay with those children in Washington during the week. Because if he doesn't, he will never see them.''
Mr. Santorum's campaign press secretary, Virginia Davis, said this was not a comparison of "apples to apples.''
That's right. We're comparing road apples to road apples. The home issue was mostly horse flop then and it's mostly horse flop now, but you can hardly blame the opposition for trying something that both sides know has been a slick way to win.
First Published May 25, 2006 12:00 am
