Santorum reflects on toll of presidential campaign on his family

Hours after quitting the presidential race, Rick Santorum sat down with one of his biggest supporters, Dr. James Dobson, to reflect on the day’s events.

“I can't say it was an emotional moment for me,” Santorum said of his announcement in Gettysburg. “I know it was a little tougher for the family, always is tougher for the family."

His wife Karen had also been scheduled to appear at the Lancaster Bible College forum, but Dobson told the audience before Santorum took the stage that "she just didn't feel she had the emotional strength to come" given the turn of events with the campaign and their daughter Bella’s bout with pneumonia.

Standing next to her husband at Gettysburg, Karen had been seen with tears in her eyes.

“When you’re out there in the arena, and the adrenaline is flowing, and you’re getting hit, and you’re hitting back, and sort of going back and forth It's different than being on the sidelines and seeing the people, the person you love being hit. It hurts more,” Santorum said of the campaign’s toll on his family. “And so it was a little tougher for Karen and the kids. They did an amazing job as they always have in standing behind me in every sense of the word."

Santorum called the process of running for president a “miraculous experience,” and recalled the days in Iowa when only one person might show up to a campaign event and the campaign registered in the single digits in polls.

“It really was a great blessing to be involved in this campaign and to see…all of the things we were able to accomplish in standing up and speaking up for those who don’t have a voice,” he said. “And that really was the focus of the campaign.”

Dobson asked the former Pennsylvania senator, “What’s next for you?”

Santorum joked, “I’d like to get some sleep,” drawing laughter from the pews. He didn’t specify any particular next steps.