Rick Santorum's Secret Weapon The Duggars

As the results of the Iowa Caucuses continue to roll in, Rick Santorum clings to a narrow -- and surprising -- lead. Once considered a fringe candidate, the Christian conservative former Pennsylvania senator has come from nowhere to take the lead in the first race of the Republican race. Even if he doesn't come in first place, it's still a major win for Santorum.

His 25% of the vote is a marked improvement from his poll numbers from just a day ago, when The Huffington Post had him at an average of 17.2%. So, what's changed in the past few days? Sure, the ground game helped. But perhaps even more important was the support of Jim Bob Duggar, his wife and his 19 children.

The stars of "19 Kids and Counting" on TLC toured with Santorum over the weekend, including a stop at a well-attended rally at a pizza joint on Monday. Jim Bob made appealed to voters, saying, "I'm asking families, Christians all over American to get behind Rick Santorum for the next president of the United States."

While he admitted that Santorum isn't Jesus Christ, his preferred candidate, Duggar's endorsement of Santorum as a man who "just votes from his heart and votes on his convictions, votes on things based on the Constitution of the United States and the Bible," seems to have done the trick. And for those dubious about his impact, there's precedent here.

The white hot Santorum surge is a repeat of the 2008 Republican primary, when the Duggar-approved Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee surprised the nation and took home the Caucus prize. Now, Jim Bob is looking to take it one step further, learning his lesson from the limited Huckabee victory and hoping to repeat it nationally.

"The mistake we made was the whole political candidate field was splintered last time," Duggar said of 2008, according to the Washington Post. "A lot of Christians throughout the United States were supporting Fred Thompson and several other people. We don't need to make the same mistake."

Yep, make no mistake: the more kids your endorsers have, the more caucus supporters you're going to earn. As long as those endorsers are religious reality TV stars, of course.

Comments

[ms.understood]

02:17 PM on 02/09/2012

not sure why the duggars are a secret weapon.

[Karma2U]

04:07 PM on 02/04/2012

Santorum and the Duggers - the folks who took the fun out of dysfunctional.

[Teejaye46]

12:24 PM on 01/22/2012

Santorum's "secret weapon" is the Duggar's?? lol what a joke.

the country, for the most part, thinks the family is insane with the number of kids they have and Santorum's policies take the country backwards to the time before Roe v Wade

He should to go to Sears, buy a new sweater and go home...

[EllyB]

03:05 PM on 01/11/2012

I always knew the Christian right was trying to breed themselves out of the fringe of the GOP.

[meganmarieborn]

12:54 PM on 01/05/2012

Who cares what the Duggars have to say? They have their own television show only because they have an obscene amount of children. That doesn't make them qualified to be giving out political advice or even make their opinions relevant. Their show should be taken off the air.

[sfwomanvoter]

01:21 PM on 01/07/2012

Exactly what I thought...his "secret weapon"...for whom...the .0000001% of people who think you can never have enough children?

[meganmarieborn]

04:15 PM on 01/07/2012

I know. I do not understand how they are a secret weapon. People don't know who they are and the ones who do, don't like them.

[paid trawler]

12:53 PM on 01/05/2012

fake "christians" and their home schooled stepford children are repulsive

[Roberta K Hastings]

01:51 PM on 01/11/2012

how true and they must get great tax breaks for all children under 18 years. People say they are sefs-sufficient then why do they need a telvision program. The Duggers make me sick parading themselves and there children on televison

[Darlene Johnson]

02:02 PM on 01/31/2012

I am ashamed of all of you. How judgemental and unkind.

[maxout22]

12:53 PM on 01/05/2012

Spawn Stars.

[Antidiot]

11:08 AM on 01/05/2012

So what's his plan? All the Duggars vote for him and that is a significant enough number to put him in the lead?

[meganmarieborn]

12:54 PM on 01/05/2012

Probably. They're overpopulating the world.

[skeeterandbucky]

10:52 AM on 01/05/2012

In this case Ricky's secret weapon shoots blanks.

[Martha57]

09:43 AM on 01/05/2012

well, that's it...the Duggar family will put him over the top and he will win, I wonder how they felt about Sarah Palin!

[maxout22]

05:49 AM on 01/05/2012

They will probably name their next kid after him. Jick head.

[Teejaye46]

12:25 PM on 01/22/2012

lololol awesome!!!!!!! best laugh of the day!!!!!

[dinaos37]

11:50 PM on 01/04/2012

What are these Dugers doing in a political thing. Wy aren't they at home in bed making more children to vote for the Christian right. Oops.

[coachnelly]

09:45 PM on 01/04/2012

I admit it - I watch the Duggar's show and I like what I see on television but this declaration makes me sad. They obviously do not have Google on their computers.

[DevonTexas]

05:30 PM on 01/05/2012

typical "homeschool"thing. They block google so the kids won't be exposed to real life and facts. LOL

[Teejaye46]

12:25 PM on 01/22/2012

did you ever google "santorum" it's scary...

[cuttingman]

09:43 PM on 01/04/2012

Grouch Marx had a TV show, You Bet Your Life. A contestant, Mrs. Story, relayed to him that she had 10 children:
Groucho: "Why do you have so many children? That's a big responsibility and big burden"
Mrs. Story: "Well, because I love my children and I think that's our purpose here on Earth, and I love my husband."
Groucho: "I love my cigar too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while"

How would we know that the Duggans would show up 40 years later?

[safeinhell]

02:37 PM on 01/05/2012

Thanks for the reminder of a great line from a brilliant artist! Groucho's corpse would make a more viable candidate than the parade of nitwits we're being offered. I try, with difficulty, to take the high road with "19 and mounting," but this endorsement is breaking me bad.

[Effren Hernandez]

09:18 PM on 01/04/2012

MITT ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT.

[slickbottom]

10:55 AM on 01/05/2012

And Mickey Mouse for Vice-President !!