Rick Santorum Response

The proposed fictional scenario is that one of republican candidate Rick Santorum's seven children has recently been involved in a homosexual relationship. The relationship became public, and his son Joshua (let's just say hypothetically is now age 18) has has appeared to be unapologetic. This has occurred at the peak of Santorum's campaign, and he had been doing fairly well in the race thus far. This is my take on his response to the public:

The media allegations regarding our beloved son Joshua Santorum, are completely false.  Last November as you know, our family suffered a very difficult loss when Joshua's mother suffered her miscarriage.  Joshua has since developed a very crippling depressive disorder, and has been receiving extensive treatment for this unfortunate trauma. Our recent loss has been very difficult for the entire family, and we ask you to join us in prayer for Joshua during his extreme time of need.

It's hard to pinpoint just what Mr. Santorum's rhetorical response would be.  I believe that it would probably be in his best interest to completely deny the allegations of homosexuality.  Due to his extreme hard right ideals and significant criticism of the homosexual community, it would make sense that he should would not even use the word homosexual in his response.  This complete dismissal would ideally give the impression that the accusation is simply too ridiculous and unrealistic to even acknowledge.  Instead, Santorum simply reinforces his role as a dedicated father, inciting sympathy by mentioning his wife's miscarriage, and displaying his loyalty towards his family.  The request for prayer is a final reminder of his Christian/Catholic values.

Realistically, the miscarriage happened long ago, and I do not know the ages of Santorum's children.  But while this response is obviously fictional, it offers a glimpse of the kind of strategy he would possibly employ.