Goodbye Rick Santorum

Ex-Presidential candidate, Rick Santorum

Well, I am not sitting here in glee over the fact that Rick Santorum has recently dropped out of the presidential race for 2012.  I am not gloating, by any means.  But, I am not sad that he has dropped out.  Of all the candidates running for president, he was my least favorite.  I don't believe he represented enough Americans in the U.S.  His following was too small to me and of a special interest group, the religious evangelists.  While I have nothing against religion, I do believe in a separation of church and state and a candidate such as Santorum gives me reason to be concerned that this separation would be breached during a possible presidency of his.  So, the fact that he ran out of money, and perhaps that means supporters, is not a sad day for me.

I commend Santorum for the lovely family he has, and I am touched about the fact that he has a special needs daughter.  I saw their photograph together for the first time just last week.  She is a lovely, precious child and is fortunate to have such loving parents.  All the Santorum children seem to be well brought up, well adjusted and contributing members of society.  His beautiful family is a plus.  He is truly a family man.

But, his ferverent religious beliefs cause me concern.  I know he is God-fearing and many of his supporters are also.  But, I don't believe religion should be the main focus of our presidential candidates.  I don't believe Romney's Mormanism should be a factor either.   These men should be judged on their ability to lead our nation and do what has to be done to preserve our economy and standard of life we now enjoy.  We need someone to lead us in job creation, green environmental concerns, foreign policy, infrastructure of our nation, education etc.  These are the important issues to focus on, not religion and I feel with Santorum there is too much religious focus.

Therefore, I am not sad to see him leave the presidential race.  I feel we need more well-rounded candidates - those who are concerned about all Americans, not just a select few.  Hopefully, our political process of choosing a president will give us the two best possible candidates to run for the office.  But, I am not sure we will have a great choice in candidates for the 2012 presidential election.  At least one of the least favored and suited for the office has gone by the wayside.