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Bush Abandonment Watch, Part 7Rick Santorum pulls a Kilgore.

By Timothy NoahPosted Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005, at 4:50 PM ET

President Bush likes to belittle people by giving them nicknames. Perhaps it's time to assign our commander in chief a nickname of his own: "Typhoid Dubya."

First it was the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Virginia, Jerry Kilgore, who declined to appear with Bush, pleading a previous engagement when Bush gave a speech there. Kilgore later relented and let the president stump for him, only to get whupped by his Democratic opponent on Election Day.

Then (as I noted earlier today) Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., when asked on Imus in the Morning whether he would want Bush to campaign for him in Arizona, answered, "In a word, no."

Now Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., is begging off an appearance with the president. Bush will be in Wilkes-Barre Nov. 11 to give a speech about the war on terrorism. Santorum can't make it because, um, he has to give a speech to … the American Legion. Yeah, that's it. The American Legion. Sorry, Mr. President. Love to Laura and the girls.

Bush Abandonment Watch archive:

Nov. 10, 2005: J.D. Hayworth
Nov. 3, 2005: William F. Buckley
Oct. 31, 2005: Silvio Berlusconi
Oct. 13, 2005: Margaret Thatcher and Ari Fleischer
Oct. 21, 2005: Lawrence Wilkerson
Oct. 25, 2005: John Sununu

Correction, Nov. 10, 2005: This article originally identified Rick Santorum as a senator from Virginia. He represents the state of Pennsylvania.

E-mail Timothy Noah at .

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Timothy Noah is a senior writer at Slate.
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