Why did Republicans embrace the Duggars in the first place?

By Dana Milbank Opinion writer May 29 at 9:59 AM WashPost

Rick Santorum no longer digs the Duggars.

Back in 2012, I watched the Republican presidential candidate campaign in Iowa alongside Jim Bob Duggar and several of his 19 kids — the celebrity Christian family behind the hit TLC series — en route to Santorum’s victory in the Iowa caucuses.

But after announcing his 2016 presidential bid this week, Santorum cut the Duggars loose. “I was sickened by it, just sickened by it,” he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday of the news that Josh Duggar, the eldest Duggar son, had molested several girls as a teen.

Santorum’s response contrasts dramatically with that of another 2016 contender, Mike Huckabee, who enjoyed the Duggars’ support in his 2008 bid but didn’t run in 2012. After the news broke (and Josh Duggar apologized), Huckabee posted a message on Facebook to “affirm” his support of the Duggars. “Good people make mistakes and do regrettable and even disgusting things,” he wrote, calling Josh Duggar’s response a “testament to his family’s authenticity and humility.”

(More here.)