Santorum

I know him very well.  My Barbara worked for him for many years, and enjoyed it.  He’s a good boss, which matters.  He had relatively low turnover, especially among top staffers, which is rare on The Hill.  His chief of staff went on to become a real force in “the culture,” helping the production of morally admirable films from the C.S. Lewis fables to the one about Wilberforce and the abolition of slavery in Great Britain.

Of course Santorum’s been demonized, but the caricature of him is truly wicked.  He has faults, but he is one of the most tolerant men I know (Barbara disagreed with him on some core issues, but he cherished her work, listened–really listened–to what she had to say, and she was with him to the end.  We’re still friends.

I’m not a Republican, I don’t vote in the primary here in the People’s Republic of Maryland, but I have to say that as the Iowa results came in I felt really good, because I’d seen a good man have a moment of well earned satisfaction.

And you don’t see that very often in public life.  I thought his remarks afterwards were lovely.  And I’m happy that he has a voice in our national debate.