I speculated earlier today that an endorsement from the influential Iowa social conservative group The Family Leader could be Newt Ginrich’s saving grace in the state. But unfortunately for Gingrich, he had no such luck. The Family Leader announced today that it’s staying neutral in the race, but the group’s prominent leaders, Bob Vander Plaats and Chuck Hurley, declared their support for Rick Santorum:
Iowa social conservative leaders Bob Vander Plaats and Chuck Hurley backed Rick Santorum for president Tuesday, giving the Pennsylvania senator’s tortoise-like campaign a nice boost in the run-up to the caucuses.
The Family Leader, the group led by Vander Plaats, is remaining officially neutral, though it suggested in a muddled statement that the endorsement has the implicit support of the group’s board (via Reid Epstein): “The Family Leader will remain neutral in this presidential campaign cycle, though the board has made a unanimous decision to allow Bob Vander Plaats and Chuck Hurley to make personal endorsements which reflect the board’s unanimity.”
This is all the more devastating for Gingrich because Vander Plaats had reportedly been leaning toward endorsing him. By supporting Santorum instead, Vander Plaats is basically acknowledging that it would be too controversial within the evangelical movement for him to publicly back Gingrich.
The endorsement is also something of a rebuke to Rick Perry, who has recently been playing up his social conservative credentials in Iowa with a spate of culture-warrior-themed TV ads.
As for Santorum, the endorsement could be the spark he needs to catch fire in the state and fill the “not-Romney” void left by Gingrich’s ongoing downfall. Voters are hungry for someone to replace Gingrich — only 35 percent of Iowa voters have settled on a candidate, according to the latest CNN poll — and with the caucuses just two weeks away, the timing couldn’t be better for Santorum.
After The Newt implodes and Santorum/Bachmann exhaust resources, Perry will become the anti-Romney.
CNN can't be expected to much right. Remember their major blunder with Dr. Gupta covering the hoax called Amanda Baggs? Yep, CNN has NEVER corrected this colossal media f up. Nor has Gupta apologized for his error in being DUPED by amanda baggs. CNN never fereted baggs. Never even took time to look at her simple open background to see she's a drug induced psychogenic case of someone who thinks she has autism. She clamis to have been diagnosed at 20, yet the American psychiatric associtaion states, "Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder and must be present from infancy or early childhood…" Sometimes kids are diagnoses a bit later, but certainly not in 20's and certainly not after you discover baggs did tons of drugs and was in a mental ward in her teens, never showing signs of autism. Way to go Dr. Gupta and CNN. n n