A little leftover from before the holiday weekend — I think it would have gotten more media traction if Santorum’s campaign looked to be anything more than a trivia question. Also, there’s the terminology problem; I don’t think it’s quite “simony”, which only applies to the sale of religious office, and it’s only “barratry” if the secular office at issue can be successfully purchased. But whatever the technical term, this doesn’t sound like the sort of behavior that DFH Jesus would endorse. Via Laura Clawson at Daily Kos:
A bit of froth has been mixed up over what exactly Rick Santorum promised in exchange for the endorsement of Family Leader President Bob Vander Plaats. The Family Leader itself declined to endorse any candidate, but Vander Plaats came out for Santorum immediately after that non-endorsement was announced.
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Now there are claims that Vander Plaats essentially sold his endorsement—maybe for as much as a million dollars—and Santorum can’t keep his story straight as he tries to respond…
Further from ABC’s The Note, “Iowa Conservative Leader Mired in Controversy“:
… Though Santorum did not specify the dollar amount he and Vander Plaats discussed, multiple sources said he was soliciting as much as $1 million from Santorum and other candidates.
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In an interview with the Des Moines Register this week, Vander Plaats said that it was his “ethical responsibility” to essentially put some money where his mouth is…
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ABC News has learned that Vander Plaats tried to solicit money for his endorsement during the last presidential cycle too. A former staffer for Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential bid who is currently unaffiliated with a campaign said Vander Plaats came to them seeking money for his backing if he supported the former Massachusetts governor.
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“He wanted to be paid,” the former staffer said. “He was clearly looking for a paycheck. There was a conversation about him getting a title, but being a paid consultant was much more important.”…
Yutsano
:: snicker ::
Joey Maloney
Tonight on the air, Rachel Maddow referred to the possibility of a “Santorum bubble.”
Ew.
Villago Delenda Est
So, we’ve established what Vander Plaats is.
Now we’re just dickering over the price.
The Bobs
Wow, buying Vander Plaats is much more expensive than buying a congressman, who will become your thrall for maybe $10K.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Joey Maloney: Santorum has been a running punch line on Maddow’s show for months.
Citizen_X
Holy cats, that’s some Newt-sized brass ones.
Spaghetti Lee
Vander Plaats said that it was his “ethical responsibility” to essentially put some money where his mouth is…
That’s just…wow. That’s not just “When you buy him, he stays bought,”, it’s like “He goes around begging people to buy him, because he wants to stay bought.”
Mnemosyne
I’m going OT just because it came up on my iPod and I’m feeling random, but is there a better pop song inspired by a Stephen King novel than “The Stand”? There’s “Pet Sematary,” but that’s from the movie soundtrack so I’m not sure it counts.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Mnemosyne: I hadn’t heard The Alarm in years. They were Welsh, right?
Karen
Er….what is the big deal?
Isn’t that how the game is played? It’s money for an endorsement but hasn’t money been exchanged in politics to NOT run? Or if not money, aren’t people hired, projects approved, etc. If anything, the only difference is that it’s so blatant.
Jamie
@Karen,
Yes, money is all important, but the norms of the elite classes must be observed, don’t you know. (Actually, those silly norms are about all that is left between here and the simple auctioning of political seats. Come to think of it, maybe that would be better…)
Santorum gets to squirm around in the slime that has puddled around him and the holy rollers he likes to flirt with. Not that there is anything wrong with that, unless he gets the FEC into a froth.
JasonF
@Mnemosyne: It’s probably disqualified for the same reason you disqualified the Ramones, but I’m partial to Who Made Who off the Maximum Overdrive soundtrack.
MikeJ
@Mnemosyne: I always loved that song, but hadn’t read the book until last month. The lyrics certainly make a lot more sense now!
Linda Featheringill
I think Vander Plaats is in trouble. Santorum, not so much.
Vander Plaats is accused of trying to sell his endorsement. The news accounts say that he tried to use his position as Servant of God to make money. His little fiefdom might evaporate into the cold winter night. He could lose his position, his income, the respect of people who are important to him, and probably some friends.
And his relationship with God is probably so fraudulent, the Lord won’t offer him any comfort, either.
Santorum might run into some legal difficulties but that’s all.
Yutsano
@Linda Featheringill: His god is Mammon. He’ll be just fine spiritually.
Linda Featheringill
@Yutsano:
I had to chuckle at this.
Bubblegum Tate
Where did this guy get the idea that Rick Santorum has a million bucks?
Also: This whole Wingnut Welfare thing is a pretty lucrative career. If I lacked a moral compass, I’d try it out.
MikeJ
Interesting thing about the Perry ballot access lawsuit. Specifically, he’s complaining about the requirement that petition gatherers be at a minimum eligible to vote in Virginia. Claims it infringes his freedom of association.
He’d rather not associate with voters in Virginia and is going to federal court to make sure he doesn’t have to.
I’m beginning to wonder if the VA GOP might tell the state that they don’t want a primary at all and privately hold a caucus so they can include all the candidates they want. Of course it would cost the state party a bit of money to do it, money that couldn’t be spent on GOTV or anything else in November.
If I still lived in ffax I’d be going to the local committee meetings to suggest it. Leaving out the last bit, of course.
Amir Khalid
If Mr Frothy’s popularity is such that he must buy supporters at a million dollars a pop, he might want to reconsider this whole running for President lark. Alas, if his judgement is such that he would even consider buying supporters at a million dollars a pop, let alone do it, that might not occur to him.
Bob Vander Plaats (shouldn’t that surname be spelled “van der Plaats”?) must think that the Republican presidential campaigns are all run by complete idiots. After what we’ve seen so far, especially from the Perry and Noot outfits in the wake of their inadvertent pwning by a Republican named Ozzie Osborne, I suspect he’s on to something.
Triassic Sands
Where the hell would Santorum get $1 million? It’s not like there’s some Man-on-Dog PAC that’s got lots of extra cash.
Or is there?
The great thing about Santorum, besides his love of doggies, is the expression that seems permanently affixed to his face — he always looks like he’s on the verge of bursting into tears. I’m not sure why, but the answer might be found in the wardrobe choices of Hazel Motes (Brad Dourif) in John Huston’s film “Wise Blood.” Under his conventional shirt, Hazel favored wearing barbed wire wound tightly around his torso. What the outfit lacked in comfort it more than made up for by delivering huge doses of God-loves-you pain for the well-dressed zealot.
freelancer
@Yutsano:
Y, You’ll have to let me know next time you’re in the valley visiting friends. I finally did it. I took the plunge and relocated to AZ, successfully so far!
jayjaybear
The thought of little Ricky Santorum as a lone Warlock sitting in Goldshire /yell-ing “10g if you sign my charter!” over and over and over is kind of pathetic.
Very amusing, but still pathetic.
Scott P.
It’s strange that this is the second time in a week that I have ever come across the word ‘barratry’, and that it is used differently each time. The other meaning is the deliberate destruction of a maritime vessel for fraudulent purposes.
Tone In DC
@MikeJ:
Somewhere Angus Young and Brian Johnson are grinning.
“Chase the Ace” is cool, too.
Rick is paying for endorsements to a grifter ho makes Sarah Palin look subtle. This so-called candidate is as full of shit (pun intended) as I thought he was.
Nemesis
Santorum and froth in the same sentenence?
Where have I heard that before? Hmmm…
Villago Delenda Est
@Amir Khalid:
Lots of those funny foreign names got “anglicized” back in the late 19th/early 20th centuries to something less jarring to WASP sensibilities.
Villago Delenda Est
@jayjaybear:
OK, I just did a spit take of my morning cuppa.
Villago Delenda Est
@jayjaybear:
Oh, and in Little Ricky’s case, he’s probably an orc warlock looking for sigs in Goldshire…
Palli
Press Release 12/22/11CLARIFICATION from FAMILY LEADER http://www.thefamilyleader.com/endorsement-decision-clarifying-statement:
“The allegation by an unnamed source that Bob Vander Plaats asked any campaigns for money in exchange for his endorsement is absolutely false.”
“The allegation that Bob Vander Plaats asked Congresswoman Michele Bachman to drop out of the race to join with Rick Santorum is completely false.”
but there is more:
“The truth is that after much prayer and discernment, The FAMiLY LEADER board members directed Bob to contact Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum to present the concept of merging in order to provide a solution to the fractured vote of caucus-going conservatives. The board’s request is reflective of the broader caucus community. At no time did Mr. Vander Plaats make any specific demands in regard to who should merge with whom. The action to contact the campaigns was at the request of the board, not an action Vander Plaats initiated on his own.”
my question: Is this a tax exempt organization?
Will the FAMiLY LEADER offer to endorse another party’s candidate? Of course not. So why can they say the following?
“The FAMiLY LEADER champions the principle that God is the ultimate leader of the family. Our goal at The FAMiLY LEADER is to honor and glorify God – not a political party, not a candidate and not a program. The FAMiLY LEADER is a Christ centered organization that will lead with humility and service to strengthen and protect the family.”
How can transfer of payola, or bribery, from a hopeless vanity candidate be proven? Surely there is no there logical reason-Iowa caucuses don’t deliver presidents: isn’t it just a part of the grande Republican money laundering scheme?
Where the hell is the IRS?
kvenlander
How the hell do you “merge” presidential campaigns? Can you put Perryfrothbachmann on the ballot line?
Palli
@kvenlander:
The whole cabinet or executive branch?