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News & ArtsFriday, December 23, 2011
Crime / 2012 / Politics Santorum Had a Million Dollars?
Posted by Dan Savage on Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 12:36 PM
Um... wow:
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....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.... 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.
Vander Plaats also asked Michele Bachmann to drop out of the race, in an effort to improve Slicky's chances in the Iowa Caucuses. If Santorum knew Vander Plaats was going to do that, or if that was part of the alleged deal, it isn't difficult to imagine a scenario where both men wind up going to jail.
Merry Christmas.
2
So... if one or both men go to jail, how many poor, elderly or people of color will need to be disenfranchised to protect the vote from such abuses?
8
Santorum had a million dollars? (Santorum had a million dollars)
He'll buy an endorsement (He'll buy an endorsement)
Santorum had a million dollars? (Santorum had a million dollars)
He'd buy some press for that endorsement (Maybe send Bachman back to the kitchen)
Santorum had a million dollars? (Santorum had a million dollars)
He'd remove some sites from the 'net (Also a SOPA-pia)
Santorum had a million dollars, he'd buy your vote
He'll buy an endorsement (He'll buy an endorsement)
Santorum had a million dollars? (Santorum had a million dollars)
He'd buy some press for that endorsement (Maybe send Bachman back to the kitchen)
Santorum had a million dollars? (Santorum had a million dollars)
He'd remove some sites from the 'net (Also a SOPA-pia)
Santorum had a million dollars, he'd buy your vote
9
Paying an illegal $1 million dollar bribe so that you can place second or third in the Iowa caucus instead of dead last doesn't seem like a very smart move. Only somebody with santorum for brains would do a thing like that.
10
Santorum had a million dollars
He'll build a chapel in your uterous
Santorum had a million dollars
You could help it wouldn't be that strenous
Santorum had a million dollars
Maybe would could put the government in there
Wouldn't that be fabulous!
He'll build a chapel in your uterous
Santorum had a million dollars
You could help it wouldn't be that strenous
Santorum had a million dollars
Maybe would could put the government in there
Wouldn't that be fabulous!
11
@9 it keeps Santorum "valid" in the conservative public's mind, and sets him up for something like a Fox News contract, or as a high-priced social conservative lobbyist. He probably saw it as an investment.
If he ends up in jail, it truly would be the best possible way the Santorum story could end.
If he ends up in jail, it truly would be the best possible way the Santorum story could end.
13
Interesting how all of Santorum's allies are corrupt. Santorum's "traditional values" date back to the Middle Ages practice of purchasing indulgences, apparently.
16
I find it hard to imagine anyone going to jail over this, but I don't begrudge Dan having a rich fantasy life.
Not that I find it implausible that this Elmer Gantry-style preacher would try to shake down a juicy 'donation' in exchange for his support.
But there's too much hearsay, wiggle room, and room for convenient lapses in memory for it to be at all easy for a prosecutor to build enough evidence for a criminal indictment. Most if not all the potential witnesses have an interest in this story fading away, and its hard to see what leverage a prosecutor would have to force those people to talk.
Not that I find it implausible that this Elmer Gantry-style preacher would try to shake down a juicy 'donation' in exchange for his support.
But there's too much hearsay, wiggle room, and room for convenient lapses in memory for it to be at all easy for a prosecutor to build enough evidence for a criminal indictment. Most if not all the potential witnesses have an interest in this story fading away, and its hard to see what leverage a prosecutor would have to force those people to talk.
17
@16 Just like an atheist, not letting anybody believe in a xmas miracle... though I do agree with your argument
18
Is it actually illegal to "make a donation" in exchange for a personal endorsement from a religious leader?
(Serious question here -- what laws are we talking about?)
And is it actually illegal to pay someone to "ask an opponent" to quit the race for you?
(And again -- under which laws?)
Slimy as it is, unless Vander Plaats spoke from the pulpit asking his congregation to vote one way or another, I suspect they're both in clear legally.
Morally on the other hand...
(Serious question here -- what laws are we talking about?)
And is it actually illegal to pay someone to "ask an opponent" to quit the race for you?
(And again -- under which laws?)
Slimy as it is, unless Vander Plaats spoke from the pulpit asking his congregation to vote one way or another, I suspect they're both in clear legally.
Morally on the other hand...
19
I'm with @18. I don't see how I could be breaking the law if I accept money for publicly supporting a candidate. Wouldn't that also make every celebrity testimonial for a product illegal? Or is there something special about politics that makes it illegal to sell my public support?
Can someone cite statute and (hopefully) the court case that ruled that first amendment rights don't cover paid speech?
Can someone cite statute and (hopefully) the court case that ruled that first amendment rights don't cover paid speech?
20
I'm pretty sure that's the McCain-Feingold Act, but I haven't had my coffee yet and my eyes aren't focused enough yet to look it up.
21
@19 Laws about this sort of thing are complicated and the penalties for breaking them are rarely severe. I don't think Santorum is going to jail, but if he gets fined or reprimanded or whatever that will farther sully his not so good name.
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