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Evangelicals See Donald Trump as Man of Conviction, if Not Faith
NY Times ^ | MAGGIE HABERMAN and THOMAS KAPLAN

Posted on 01/18/2016 4:12:06 PM PST by mandaladon

Buford Arning, a retired building-supply executive in Statesville, N.C., went to church each week until a pinched nerve made it hard for him to leave his house. He believes in living a faith-filled life. But he does not demand piety of his preferred presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump.

“Am I a Bible toter that gets out and preaches on the side of the street and tries to convert everybody? No,” said Mr. Arning, 62, who calls himself an evangelical voter. He said he believed that Mr. Trump was “a Christian man,” and that was good enough.

Mr. Trump may not be as spiritually minded as former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who was a Baptist minister, “but I think his values are very much the same,” Mr. Arning said.

“His personal life is saintlike compared to Bill Clinton’s,” he added.

Brash, thrice-married, cosseted in a gilded tower high above Fifth Avenue and fond of swearing from the stage at his rallies, Mr. Trump, who has spent his career in pursuit, and praise, of wealth, would seem an odd fit for voters who place greater value on faith, hope and charity.

Yet polls increasingly show Mr. Trump well in front of the crowded Republican field among white evangelical voters, despite competition including Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, whose father is an evangelical pastor; Mr. Huckabee, the 2008 Iowa caucus winner; former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a Roman Catholic whose story of raising a daughter with a disability struck a chord with voters and helped vault him to victory in the 2012 caucus; and Ben Carson, a Seventh-day Adventist who brought prayer into the operating room as a neurosurgeon and has spoken frequently about his Christian beliefs as a candidate.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Georgia; US: Iowa; US: New York
KEYWORDS: 2016election; 3marriages; 4bankruptcies; bully; election2016; elections; evangelicals; evangelicaltrump; gingrich; iowa; nasty; newt; newtgingrich; newyork; newyorkvalues; nyvalues; saintdonald; sainttrump; stdonald; sttrump; trump; trump4trump
A New York Times/CBS News poll last week showed Mr. Trump, a Presbyterian, dominating the field with 42 percent of evangelical voters; Mr. Cruz was second with 25 percent............................Trump will win Iowa!
1 posted on 01/18/2016 4:12:06 PM PST by mandaladon
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To: mandaladon

Evangelicals are a disparate, varied culture who focus locally with no headquarters. Who are these so-called reps who speak for them and their political affiliations?


2 posted on 01/18/2016 4:14:24 PM PST by lurk
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To: mandaladon

Shh, do not tell Mark Levin.:)


3 posted on 01/18/2016 4:14:29 PM PST by TornadoAlley3 (I like Trump and Cruz. Leave me the heck alone.)
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To: mandaladon

Iowans won’t caucus for the Canadian Cruz.


4 posted on 01/18/2016 4:15:28 PM PST by calisurfer
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To: calisurfer

Then who is your conservative alternative?


5 posted on 01/18/2016 4:17:21 PM PST by Lexinom (New York Values == AIDS and dead babies)
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To: lurk
That's a good question. Also... just who qualifies to be "evangelical?"

Baptists? Methodists? Seventh Day people? Catholics? Mormons? Presbyterians? Messianic Jews?

6 posted on 01/18/2016 4:17:52 PM PST by TontoKowalski (Satisfied Customer #291)
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To: calisurfer
Iowans won’t caucus for the Canadian Cruz.

His Holiness Trump?

7 posted on 01/18/2016 4:22:27 PM PST by Starstruck (I'm usually sarcastic. Deal with it.)
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To: mandaladon

I don’t always agree with Trump, but he’s been faithful to wife, lives a decent life and has beautiful, successful kids and grandkids.

He works hard and he has high standards. And he’s proud of our country.

Can’t say that of a lot of people these days.


8 posted on 01/18/2016 4:28:05 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: mandaladon

A lot of truth to the headline. Sums it up for those are Christian and
support Trump.

Just heard on CNN(Don’t Support Faux News Anymore)
That Trump leads Cruz nationally with evangelicals by 2 points,
excluding Iowa.

If this is true, pretty impressive by Trump.


9 posted on 01/18/2016 4:29:56 PM PST by tennmountainman ("Prophet Mountainman" Predicter Of All Things RINO...for a small pittancez)
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To: goldstategop

Do high standards include paying politicians for political favors? That’s illegal and Trump has boosted about it.

How about deciding abortion was bad because a family he knew was going to abort their kid but the kid turned out to be a “superstar”. When asked if the kid had turned out to be a “loser” he said he would not changed his mind on abortion...

Those are some standards.


10 posted on 01/18/2016 4:38:31 PM PST by DB
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To: TontoKowalski
That's a good question. Also... just who qualifies to be "evangelical?"

Who ever the liberal press says is an evangelical.

11 posted on 01/18/2016 4:58:51 PM PST by aimhigh (1 John 3:21)
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To: goldstategop

For crying out loud, Man, he’s been married three times and had at least one mistress.


12 posted on 01/18/2016 5:01:48 PM PST by Oklahoma
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To: mandaladon

I don’t care if he is a Christian as long as he doesn’t promote Islam.


13 posted on 01/18/2016 5:04:43 PM PST by ilovesarah2012
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To: Oklahoma

I think people are more concerned about what the guy will do for the country. jFK,LBJ and Clinton were only married once but were all perverts that screwed around constantly.


14 posted on 01/18/2016 6:37:15 PM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: Georgia Girl 2

We’ll find out in March how many Southern Baptist Republicans think multiple marriages and affairs, abortion support and New York values are important in a presidential candidate.

It’s not what Trump will do for the country......it’s what he’ll do to the country. In my book he’s just as sorry and worthless as Clinton, Johnson or Kennedy. A megalomaniac and narcissist and fool is not what we need in the office.


15 posted on 01/18/2016 9:01:25 PM PST by Oklahoma
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To: Oklahoma

I’m in the deep South and the SEC is going Trump. Georgia is all in for Trump.

I hate to tell you that the only people who don’t think the polls are accurate are the ones who are not doing well in the polls.


16 posted on 01/19/2016 6:30:41 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: goldstategop

lmao...what?


17 posted on 01/19/2016 8:01:51 AM PST by I got the rope
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To: TontoKowalski

Anyone who goes forth and spreads the Gospel per the instruction of Jesus Christ.


18 posted on 01/19/2016 9:13:48 AM PST by R Rogers
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