I've been saying for some time that if Newt Gingrich is going to be the Republican nominee, we have some serious and difficult work to do to keep Christian conservatives from jumping ship or, more likely, quietly failing to work hard for the candidate.
Vander Plaats may just be the right man to do that work.
The endorsement of the major national Christian leaders would carry more weight, but many of them run nonprofit 501(c)3 organizations or pastor large churches and therefore routinely work “under the radar” with personal statements of who they will support rather than public endorsements which, though perfectly legal if done as private individuals, could attract unwanted IRS scrutiny of their organizations or churches. I don't see the major heads of organizations who have come out backing Santorum changing their endorsement anytime soon, and the smaller groups didn't come out very publicly after the Texas conference and can't be expected to do so now, either.
However, a decision by Bob Vander Plaats to switch his support to Newt Gingrich would attract my attention for three reasons:
1) The Vander Plaats endorsement was key to Huckabee and Santorum’s performance in Iowa.
2) It's not a new thing. Vander Plaats said months ago that while the former speaker's personal life was a consideration that lots of Christians were dealing with, “Since four or five years ago, he’s shown a very transparent grace and maturity... He’s been married to Callista for over a decade. He’s healed his relationship with his children.”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/12/20/santorum_surge_watch_the_vander_plaats_ening.html
3. Perhaps most important, those who are familiar with the Dutch Reformed world know the tremendous emphasis placed in those circles on marriage issues. Excommunication for unbiblical divorce used to be routine and sexual sins are still treated with great seriousness. That is not always the case in a significant part of the evangelical world.
I'm not trying to imply that the Dutch are better at saving marriages than non-Dutch evangelicals — I grew up in Grand Rapids, used to live in Iowa, and know very well that's **NOT** true — but I am saying that marital failures often get severely punished. Cheap grace is not something associated with the Dutch. For that reason, a Vander Plaats endorsement for Gingrich may carry significance with other conservative Christian leaders since it won't be possible to dismiss it as coddling sin or treating it lightly.
In summary: If we're going to have Gingrich as our nominee, I want Vander Plaats and a lot of people like him making that case loudly and clearly. Gingrich is going to need that to get and keep evangelical votes.
I’m Lutheran, but a close cousin married Dutch (Pella, Iowa) and my late father helped run some Dutch Reformed Cursillos (DeColores).
The very fact that BVP is willing to do this shows the character of the man.