Santorum's troubles: For once, it's what he didn't say

The Bush loyalist claims he has raised questions about the war in Iraq. His spokesman can't find any proof.

By T.g.

Published August 25, 2005 7:11PM (EDT)

Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has had a lot to say about a lot of things: He's said that "standing up and defending marriage" is the "ultimate homeland security"; he's said that decriminalizing sex between consenting gay men would lead to adultery, bigamy, polygamy, incest and bestiality; and he's said that liberals in Boston are somehow to blame for the pedophilia scandal that has rocked the Catholic church nationwide. But when Santorum claimed last week that he has, in the past, publicly expressed his concerns about the Iraq war -- well, maybe he finally found something on which he's had nothing to say.

As the war in Iraq becomes increasingly unpopular, Santorum has come under fire from his likely Democratic challenger, Robert P. Casey, Jr., for failing to "ask tough questions" about the war. In response to that charge, Santorum claimed last week that he has, in fact, raised questions about the war both publicly and privately. But as the Philadelphia Inquirer reports today, Santorum's office is now admitting that it can't find any record that Santorum has ever done any such thing.

The Inquirer reports: "Robert L. Traynham, Santorum's spokesman, said a search of Nexis, a news database, and the office's press clippings had not turned up any account of those comments." Traynham and Santorum both say, however, that Santorum may have made comments about Iraq that just haven't shown up in any record. "I do a lot of interviews on TV, on radio, with print reporters who don't happen to write everything I say," Santorum told the Inquirer. "The fact that it hasn't turned up in print doesn't mean I haven't said it."


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Iraq Middle East Rick Santorum War Room