Fairfield, Iowa (CNN) - Prior to making his endorsement, influential Iowa conservative Bob Vander Plaats approached Rick Santorum and asked him to consider dropping out of the Republican presidential race, the candidate said Wednesday.
CNN first broke the news Tuesday evening that Vander Plaats, the president and CEO of The Family Leader, asked Michele Bachmann to consider dropping her bid or joining forces with another candidate.
On Wednesday, Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, also said he understood Rick Perry and Bachmann were approached by Vander Plaats.
Although The Family Leader did not make an endorsement, Vander Plaats announced his personal support of Santorum Tuesday. His efforts prior to the announcement have been the focus of much
attention, including from a questioner at a Santorum town hall in Fairfield, Iowa.
"There are reports that Vander Plaats asked Bachmann to either dramatically change or drop out of the race," the questioner said Wednesday. "If that's true are you willing to disavow those actions by Bob Vander Plaats?"
Santorum did not directly address whether he would disavow anything and instead told the questioner he was the recipient of a call similar to the one Vander Plaats had with Bachmann.
Santorum: Faith leader asked me, others to consider dropping out – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs
He also asked Rick Perry to consider getting out of the race. What is amazing is that he endorsed Santorum after asking him to drop out???
How crazy is that?
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
