January 19, 2012 11:51 PM UTC

James Dobson: Santorum For Prez!

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• by: Colorado Pols

From the Colorado Independent’s John Tomasic:

James Dobson, founder of Colorado Springs-based evangelical Christian empire Focus on the Family, today endorsed Rick Santorum for president. The move comes a week after prominent conservative leaders met in Texas to choose one candidate to rally around in the so-far deeply fractious Republican primary. As a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and as a presidential candidate, Santorum has made stands on social issues his calling card, touting his opposition to gay rights, abortion and even contraception. Yet Dobson in his announcement cited Santorum’s expertise on foreign affairs as the main factor driving the endorsement.

“While there are other GOP candidates who are worthy of our support, Sen. Santorum is the man of the hour,” Dobson said in a statement released Thursday, according to the Washington Post. “His knowledge of international politics, especially Israel and the turmoil in the Middle East, is highly relevant to the dangerous world in which we live. This is why I am endorsing former Senator Rick Santorum for president of the United States, and urge my countrymen to join us in this campaign.”

We would call the South Carolina Republican primary electorate one of ex-Focus on the Family chairman James Dobson’s last bedrock constituencies–it’s no secret that the influence of the religious right in American politics is on the wane, one of the reasons why Focus on the Family has throttled back its budgets. But in such an arch-conservative state, a candidate like Rick Santorum could realize a critical boost from Dobson’s endorsement.