WWRSP? (What would Rick Santorum pay?)
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.
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. Though he's consistently denied having promised money, he's gone from claiming it wasn't discussed at all to saying that:
“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.”
As for Vander Plaats:
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.”
Apparently the thought that Santorum's campaign could spend money promoting the endorsement never crossed Vander Plaats' mind; he was just focused on what he could do with $1 million or so.