Par for the Course

Via Right Wing Watch, a perfect example of what a political interest group does:

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins announced that he will not challenge Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) in a Republican primary, giving the embattled freshman senator a key boost as he seeks re-election.

Louisiana Republican chairman Roger Villere, Jr. told POLITICO he received a letter from Perkins today informing him that he was not running and, more importantly, was endorsing Vitter.

"I am grateful for those who’ve encouraged me to consider returning to elected office, but this is not the right time. Along those lines, I would like members of the State Central Committee to know that I support Senator David Vitter’s bid for reelection in 2010," Perkins wrote in the letter.

Perkins’ support could help persuade social conservatives, turned off by the senator’s involvement in the DC Madam scandal, to back him for another term.

And what it seeks to achieve:

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., has unleashed an onslaught of legislation, filing 34 bills and resolutions, on the first day of the 111th Congress that convened Tuesday.

Beyond making plain his intention to seek re-election in 2010, Vitter's opening-day volley also amounts to a political manifesto, staking unambiguous claim to issues dear to Christian conservatives -- abortion, public prayer, stem cell research, home schooling, drugs, the death penalty, illegal immigration and protecting the American flag -- with a thoroughness that leaves little room for any challenge on those issues from the right.

It's like the mob. I wonder what else he had to promise in order to keep his head.