Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum served as United States Senator from Pennsylvania from January, 1995 through January, 2007. During that time, Santorum was known for his staunchly conservative political views. For instance, he has held that Intelligent Design ought to be taught along side evolution in public school classrooms. Claims by liberals that he was out of the mainstream appeared to have been validated in 2006, when Bob Casey, Jr., the son of a popular former Pennsylvania governor, defeated Santorum by capturing 59% of the popular vote for U.S. Senator. Unfortunately for Santorum, his 2006 reelection bid was one case study of many in which ideologues must come to terms with the fact that the majority of Americans are moderates.
Santorum and the National Weather Service Debacle
In 2005, Santorum made a failed bid to pass legislation that would have limited the information the National Weather Service could provide to the public, with the intention of promoting the Pennsylvania-based firm AccuWeather[1]. Though the bill died in comittee, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans later that year, and Santorum resumed his criticism of the NWS, saying that the organization gave New Orleans residents "no warning, or not sufficient warning" about the brutal potential of the storm. The NWS countered these claims, saying that they had been warning of widespread devastation as early August 26, and cited an Urgent Weather Bulletin issued for New Orleans on August 28 that predicted in unusually vivid language and with remarkable accuracy the extent of the potential damage:
"EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE KATRINA CONTINUES TO APPROACH THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA... DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED... MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER... PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK [by flying debris]... WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS."[2]
Santorum nevertheless stood his ground, saying "I continue to believe that we need a robust National Weather Service that is focused on its core mission and committed to getting it right."[3]
