The news yesterday that Rep. Eric Cantor had endorsed Mitt Romney for the GOP nomination caused a bit of a stir. Considering there are only two GOP candidates on Virginia’s ballot tomorrow, the chance that Cantor would endorse his colleague Ron Paul was somewhere between nonexistent and inconceivable.
No, the bigger news was that Sen. Tom Coburn endorsed Romney. It’s not the most electrifying of endorsements. Coburn seems to have come by it by process of elimination. Given Oklahoma’s competitive primary, where former Sen. Rick Santorum seems to be comfortably ahead, of Romney and the rest, then, makes his endorsement even more interesting.
What’s Tom got against Rick? It’s the “peripherals”:
The No. 1 issue facing this country is the economy, and the more time GOP candidates spend arguing about their faith or other peripherals, the less time they spend exposing this administration’s dismal economic record.
That’s sure to rub some folks the wrong way, but he’s right.
What of the others on the ballot? Rep. Ron Paul isn’t mentioned at all. But Newt is polling well — ahead of Romney, according to the Rasmussen numbers. Yet he’s mentioned only in passing.
We don’t have to dig very deep to know why. The Senator just doesn’t like him:
“I can’t support him,” Coburn said of Gingrich, who now holds second place in the ongoing Republican primaries. “I’ve been under his leadership.
“I don’t believe he has the moral rudder that is required to lead this country, and that does not mean I’m saying that somebody else does,” continued Coburn, who said later in the speech that he will not endorse in the GOP primary.
Well, now he has endorsed someone — again, by process of elimination.
In that way, Coburn is like other conservatives who have picked up the Romney banner only after surveying the rest of the field and finding it either wanting, or populated by their enemies.
It’s not likely to change the outcome in Oklahoma. But for Romney, even by default, to get one of the most spending-averse members of Congress on his side is a bit of a surprise.
