During an appearance yesterday on The Laura Ingraham Show, Rick Santorum expressed regret for remarking that John F. Kennedy’s speech on religion during the 1960 presidential campaign made him “want to throw up.”

Unfortunately for Santorum, his penance was a day late and a Hail Mary short.

It is one thing for Santorum to disagree with the substance of JFK’s speech but it’s quite another thing to say it wanted to make him hurl chunks. That’s not exactly an image Santorum should want us to remember him by and he knows it.

For all of JFK’s falleability, details of which are still being revealed nearly 50 years after his assassination, he remains one of our most admired Presidents. According to a Harris poll taken in January, JFK was considered the third best President since WWII (behind only FDR and Ronald Reagan) and the fourth best in American history (behind only Reagan, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln). It just isn’t smart politics.

While history is important and can be relevant to matters facing us today, Santorum cannot afford to dwell on them at length. He needs to look ahead rather than behind. Besides if Santorum were to go door-to-door how many people would he find whose foremost thoughts are on a half century old speech by the 35th President of the United States?