Repub Evangelical leader and powerbroker Bob Vander Plaats endorsement in Iowa

[thompson]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/10/politics/ted-cruz-bob-vander-plaats-endorsement/

Ted Cruz picks up Bob Vander Plaats endorsement in Iowa

By Betsy Klein, CNN

Updated 2:10 PM ET, Thu December 10, 2015

Des Moines, Iowa (CNN)Evangelical leader and powerbroker Bob Vander Plaats gave Ted Cruz's campaign a boost Thursday morning with an endorsement as the Texas Republican fights Donald Trump for the lead in Iowa.

"The extraordinary leader that we need for these extraordinary times is U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz," Vander Plaats. the president and CEO of the conservative Family Leader organization, said at a press conference at the Iowa state Capitol.

Vander Plaats is seen as one of the most influential kingmakers in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. His close alignment with political networks and activist followings could help tip the scales in the Iowa caucuses. Vander Plaats endorsed Iowa caucus winner Rick Santorum in 2012.

The Family Leader did not have consensus to make an endorsement, but the board unanimously released Vander Plaats and his colleagues Robert Cramer, Bill Tvedt and Chuck Hurley, to endorse the senator independently.

Vander Plaats evaluated candidates on character, competence, the company that they keep, and an infrastructure "that can go the distance and become the nominee."

"We will be going all in for Sen. Ted Cruz," Vander Plaats said. "We have found him as a man of deep character. A man that we can fully trust, who has a consistency of convictions, who loves his god, loves his spouse, and who loves his family. We also see him to be very, very competent. Not always popular, but very competent. He has challenged both sides of the aisle. He understands what it's going to take to get the country out of the mess that we're currently in. We believe that he is exceptionally competent and that adds to his extraordinary leadership."

The endorsement comes as Cruz has surged in the polls. Trump has 33% support among likely Republican caucus-goers, with Cruz at 20%, according to Monday's CNN/ORC poll. But a Monmouth University survey that relied only on registered voter rolls has Cruz with the lead: 24% to 19%.

Cruz has ramped up his organization in the Hawkeye State in recent weeks. He has visited Iowa six out of the last eight weekends, and he is more than halfway through an Iowa feat called the "Full Grassley," an homage to the state's senior senator which involves visits to all 99 counties in the state. In a recent visit, the campaign held 14 stops over three days.

And in Des Moines last Saturday, Cruz announced the "Cruz Crew Strike Force" and opening of "Camp Cruz," rented apartments to lodge hundreds of volunteers from across the country coming to campaign for Cruz in Iowa.

Cruz has also locked up the endorsement of Rep. Steve King, another influential Iowan among social conservative voters.

Christian conservative leaders have been split between Cruz and several other candidates including Ben Carson, who has not made much noise within the two Iowans' circles despite leading the field in recent state polls. And in recent months, the Republican hopefuls have come in droves, meeting privately with the pair at Family Leader headquarters or in King's congressional district -- often multiple times.

Vander Plaats praised other candidates in the race. He said he met with Santorum and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to discuss his decision, and called Trump, whom he said was "disappointed" but has "brought a lot of value to the race."

He said that while past caucus winners Huckabee and Santorum are "dear friends who we love deeply," the race calls for new leadership.

"For whatever reason, the dynamics are such today that it seems like people are moving on, they're looking, saying what is that fresh, what is that bold, what is that courageous leadership?"

It is Vander Plaats' hope that his decision will encourage conservatives to coalesce.

"We have believed for a long time if we're united, we will win, if we're divided, we're going to repeat 2008 and 2012," he said. "We will be uniting, and we will be going all in for Sen. Ted Cruz."

 

[thompson]

It's pathetic when you have to buy your 'friends' and 'supporters'. Why would this election cycle be any different?


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politic...-controversy-after-rick-santorum-endorsement/


Iowa Conservative Leader Mired in Controversy After Rick Santorum Endorsement

December 23, 2011
By ABC NEWS

ABC News' Shushannah Walshe and Michael Falcone report:

DAVENPORT, Iowa - An Iowa Christian conservative leader who bestowed his highly sought-after endorsement on presidential candidate Rick Santorum this week is now at the center of a controversy over whether he asked for cash in exchange for his public support.

Less than 48-hours after receiving the backing of Bob Vander Plaats, the head of the prominent evangelical group The Family Leader, Santorum disclosed that the prominent Iowan told him he needed money to make the most out of the endorsement.

And sources familiar with talks between the conservative heavyweight and representatives from several of the Republican presidential campaigns went a step further, describing Vander Plaats' tactics as corrupt.

"Clearly the endorsement was for sale - without a doubt," one source said.

It's a charge that The Family Leader flatly denied.

"The allegation by an unnamed source that Bob Vander Plaats asked any campaigns for money in exchange for his endorsement is absolutely false," according to a statement issued by the organization on Thursday. The Family Leader said Vander Plaats was unavailable for an interview Thursday.

But even Santorum acknowledged in an interview with CNN that money was among the topics he and Vander Plaats discussed last weekend ahead of Tuesday's endorsement press conference.

"What he talked about was he needed money to promote the endorsement and that that would be important to do that," Santorum told CNN. "There was never a direct ask for me to go out and raise money for it."

The former Pennsylvania senator's statement differs from what he told ABC News on Monday night - just hours before Vander Plaats endorsed him. At a campaign event in Indianola, Iowa, Santorum said the issue of money never came up in his conversations with the Christian leader.

In a statement Santorum's National Communications Director Hogan Gidley said, "I don't know about the discussions other campaigns had, but we did not, nor would we ever agree to raise a single penny for another entity. We're focused on our own campaign and that's where our resources will be spent."

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.

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.

"You can't say, 'We endorsed you. Now see you later,'" Vander Plaats told the Iowa newspaper. "That's not going to do a lot in the long run."

But one long-time Iowa conservative activist told ABC News, "There is no way he could buy enough ad space in Iowa for a million dollars - couldn't buy that much advertising in a week and a half in Iowa."

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.

"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."

The aide said they offered him a title, but never seriously considered paying Vander Plaats. He ended up endorsing Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee over Romney.

Unlike four years ago, when members of Iowa's evangelical community helped then-candidate Huckabee to a first place finish in the caucuses, no candidate appears to be drawing the same kind of support from the important group of voters.

A well-known conservative figure in the state that ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2010, Vander Plaats' endorsement had been seen as a key indicator of social conservative sentiment.

At a press conference in Urbandale, Iowa on Tuesday, Vander Plaats called Santorum, "the Huckabee in this race."

"I saw him as a champion for the family in the U.S. House, I saw him as a champion for the family in the U.S. Senate. I saw him as a champion for the family on the campaign trail," he said. "I believe Rick Santorum comes from us, just not to us, he comes from us."

Though Thursday's statement from The Family Leader noted the group's board was "was unanimous in their personal support for Rick Santorum," there was no organization-wide endorsement. Instead, Vander Plaats and another Family Leader official Chuck Hurly, both publicly backed Santorum.

But Vander Plaats tried to exert his influence in other ways, suggesting to Michele Bachmann combine forces with another candidate in order to make it easier for social conservatives to rally behind one candidate ahead of Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses.

"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," according to the group's statement. "At no time did Mr. Vander Plaats make any specific demands in regard to who should merge with whom."

Bachmann did not take him up on the offer. She has separately won the backing of the former head of The Family Leader as well as more than 100 Iowa pastors.