Fairwell to Rick Santorum

So, Rick Santorum has honorably and face-savingly withdrawn from the Republican primary because his daughter Bella has been ill and needs him. Let us all give our best wishes to Bella. And let us salute Rick as an excellent father.

It seems mean-spirited (and no longer relevant) to raise the question, but really it must be raised. Most people, I trust, would agree that we should be concerned about the health of Presidential candidates. Certainly there are many medical problems that should not be disqualifying and may be treated as purely private matters. But a candidate who has a very serious health problem and is in danger of dying in office or becoming incapacitated should be rejected. (See Paul Tsongas).

So perhaps we should ask the same question about family members. If a presidential candidate has a seriously ill family member who is likely to require a great deal of his (or her) time and attention, is that, after all, grounds for choosing someone else? Family comes first, after all, but for a President it is not so easy. Maybe I'm wrong. After all, Abraham Lincoln's son died while he was in the White House and Lincoln, though devastated, managed to carry on during our greatest national crisis ever.

But perhaps the subject is worth at least thinking about.