Schiavo forms PAC
The husband of the Pinellas County woman who became the focus of a national end-of-life controversy has started a political action committee to keep the heat on politicians who tried to intervene in the case and fight his efforts to remove her feeding tube.
"The easiest thing would be to move on and let the headlines fade," Schiavo said in a statement Wednesday. "But my experience with our political leaders has opened my eyes to just how easily the private wishes of normal Americans like me and Terri can be cast aside in the destructive game of political pandering."
The Schiavo controversy already had emerged as a political issue. Polls showed voters overwhelmingly supporting Michael Schiavo's position in the debate, and Democrats in Florida and elsewhere routinely bring up Schiavo to cast the GOP as out of touch.
......When courts consistently ruled in his favor, leaders in Tallahassee and Washington tried to step in to keep her alive. President Bush cut short a vacation in Texas last year to join more than 200 members of Congress who passed legislation designed to force the reinsertion of her feeding tube.
"Those politicians lost a basic respect for marriage, family and personal privacy," Schiavo said.
The new federal PAC, TerriPAC, will raise money to "educate voters on where their elected officials stood when they had a choice between individual freedom and personal privacy and overreaching government action."
Another political committee is planned to concentrate on state races in Florida.
TerriPAC will request donations through its Internet site (www.TerriPAC.org) which also will provide information on how members of Congress voted on the Schiavo bill and what they said on the issue. The site also will encourage people to obtain living wills.
......"It would be easy to dismiss my actions as partisan. But I was a lifelong Republican before Republicans pushed the power of government into my private family decisions," Schiavo said. "And it is not so simple to forget those politicians who shamelessly sought to squeeze political leverage out of my family's most emotional hour."
His critics remain unforgiving.
His endorsement of Virginia's new governor, Tim Kaine, drew attention. Now, TerriPAC's targets are Florida gubernatorial candidates, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., U.S. Senate Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, the embattled former House majority leader, said Schiavo's adviser, Florida-based Democratic political consultant Derek Newton.
Schiavo said he is channeling his "sadness, anger and worry" into defeating "politicians who shamelessly sought to squeeze political leverage out of my family's most emotional hour."
Others see different motives.
"He's exploiting a tragic situation and dishonoring Terri's memory," said Anthony Verdugo, director of Miami-based Christian Family Coalition.
December 11th, 2005 - 18:26
i think he did what he thought was right