When Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) prayed with Terri Schiavo's parents last month, he was taking time out
from a fund-raising sweep of Florida that pulled in about $85,000 for his increasingly discordant 2006 race.
Altogether, Santorum raised almost $2 million between Jan. 1 and March 31 from the GOP's small-donor base
and political committees. Local luminaries on the Santorum contributor list include lawyers from Duane Morris LLP of Center
City, top Trenton lobbyists Dale Florio and Roger Bodman, the Chester County register of wills, and employees of the Delaware
County Christian School.
The Florida money has been causing him grief, with Democrats attacking him for being a phony about his support
for Schiavo's parents in their battle against her husband, Michael.
A day before Schiavo's March 31 death, Santorum prayed outside the hospice with her parents and throngs
of supporters. He and other GOP senate leaders had previously canceled, out of respect for the family, a town meeting in Tampa
on Social Security changes.
Democrats piled criticism on the two-term incumbent, focusing on the Florida trip.
State Democratic chairman T.J. Rooney, a state representative from Lehigh County, issued a news release
last week saying, "Sen. Santorum's conscience stops when it comes to campaign cash" and urged him to return the money.
In an interview yesterday, Rooney said the Florida trip illustrates how Santorum's "deeds and actions don't
reflect well on Pennsylvania."
Phil Singer, communications director for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, said, "There's something
remarkably disingenuous about a senator who will make a big deal about canceling a meeting on Social Security as inappropriate,
and then travel and raise money for his campaign the very next day. This is outrageous."
Santorum's presumptive Democratic opponent, State Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr., declined to comment. Long-time
Santorum media adviser John Brabender charged him with using surrogates to attack the senator...
Democrats also accused Santorum of taking a free ride on a Wal-Mart jet for his trip to Florida. But yesterday
Brabender said the senator's campaign fund paid Wal-Mart $3,300 for use of the corporate jet that took him to Florida. The
reimbursement did not appear on the latest campaign report; Brabender said that was because the check was written after the
March 31 cutoff date. Wal-Mart's federal political action committee has been a loyal Santorum supporter, giving him $36,500
since 1993, according to campaign documents.
Santorum has supported legislation helpful to Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, including limits
on overtime and on lawsuits.
The Outback Steakhouse restaurant chain hosted one of Santorum's four Florida fund-raisers just days after
the senator proffered an amendment to raise the minimum wage, but exempt restaurant workers. The amendment failed. Brabender
said the exemption for restaurant workers was intended to protect small businesses from the minimum-wage increase.
Casey, for his part, has raised $90,355 since formally announcing his candidacy March 4. Funds came from
Pennsylvania-based lawyers, lobbyists, public servants and family members.
The Casey campaign was buoyed by a Quinnipiac University poll earlier this week that showed Casey leading
Santorum 49 percent to 35 percent among 1,395 respondents interviewed between April 13 and April 18. The margin of error was
2.6 percent.
The race is widely viewed by Democrats as a chance to recover party strength after failing to oust President
Bush from the White House last year, and it could break spending records on both sides.
Santorum said earlier that he expects to raise $25 million.
Even candidates without an immediate threat are raking in the bucks. Quarterly reports show Pennsylvania's
19-member congressional delegation raised $2.2 million and New Jersey's 13-member delegation raised $2.5 million.
...Arlen Specter (R., Pa.), raised $37,946...
