Posted on 03/06/2008 9:56:03 PM PST by kingattax
Evangelicals sent a strong message in Tuesday's Republican primaries in Texas and Ohio by voting overwhelmingly for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, while almost every other Republican demographic group chose Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), exit polls show.
This was despite the fact McCain had already been dubbed the "presumptive nominee" of the Republican Party by the national media and political pundits. As predicted, Huckabee was soundly defeated in all four of Tuesday's primaries and caucuses and subsequently withdrew from the race.
Some analysts say that if McCain expects to capture evangelical vote in November, he must tailor his approach toward conservatives.
Exit polls provided by MSNBC reveal that the most devout Christians voted for Huckabee in large numbers. In Texas, for example, 60 percent of Christians who attend church more than once a week voted for Huckabee, while only 33 percent voted for McCain. In Ohio, 54 percent of church-goers voted for Huckabee compared with 45 percent who voted for McCain.
"McCain can get that vote in November but he is going to have to work for it," Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council told Cybercast News Service." It would be a mistake to assume the conservative vote is just going to gravitate to the Republican nominee."
Perkins of the Family Research Council told Cybercast New Service that McCain must be more proactive in reaching out to conservatives if he expects evangelicals to come out to vote for him in November. "He already has the voting record to back up his claim to be a conservative," Perkins said, "But he has never led on evangelical issues. He is going to have to lead if he wants to get the socially conservative vote."
Perkins said McCain must convince conservatives that their issues are important to him and that he will advance them as president. "Really, it just depends on him, whether he moves towards them and communicate to conservatives that he really cares about them," said Perkins.
Keith Appel, senior vice president of Creative Response Concepts Public Relations, told Cybercast News Service that the exit poll results should tell McCain he must "actively pursue social conservatives. I have a feeling in the coming months he is going to make a substantial outreach to all types of conservatives, and if he does actively run on a commitment to conservative principles, I think he will find enthusiast evangelical support," Appel said.
Scott Skeeter, the director of survey research at the Pew Research Center, told Cybercast News Service that evangelicals will prefer McCain to the Democratic candidate. "It does not appear that McCain is unacceptable to conservative voters. When you offer him to evangelicals against the Democrats, they don't have trouble voting for him rather than Obama," said Keeter. "The real question is, how much enthusiasm is there for John McCain? He needs to stress the things that connect him to that constituency"
The MSNBC exit poll also substantiated the link between evangelical, churchgoing Christians and people who consider themselves to be "very conservative." People who considered themselves to be "very conservative" were the only other group, aside from evangelicals, who voted for Huckabee in significant numbers in Tuesday's contests.
In Texas, 50 percent Republican voters chose the former Baptist minister compared with 38 who voted for McCain; in Ohio, 51 percent of Republicans chose Huckabee compared with 41 percent who voted for McCain.
Putting your trust in one who betrays will only allow him to betray again, only with much more power. He is without honor, and is unworthy of trust. To defend him, and his ascent, is to accept defeat of principle for an hollow and ignoble 'win'.
Vote Third-Party. You are you're own man, right? Or are you a party slave? You only have one vote, make it a principled one.
If others followed your lead instead of you following theirs we might get somewhere.
Nothing in the Constitution about only having two options for every office.
I think Ari has good intentions. He'll/she'll get there. Good nite everyone.
If you actually fear them, you are a total wuss...and you probably fear McCain too, just not as much. Reject all of them, and you'll find yourself less afraid.
If the democrat wins the conclusion will be that mccain wasn’t liberal enough because conservatism in this country must be dead. Nobody likes Bush. Nobody liked the republicans when they had congress. This is a bad situation right now.
By Republicans, silly! That is what they are supposed to do. Not agree and appease, but OPPOSE.
The White House is lost. Take it to the bank. The Conservatives will never enthrone this scurrilous swine. It's a write off, barring an independent dark horse.
Take the hit, and concentrate on getting Conservatives elected to the House and Senate. There is your opposition to the forces of evil.
Pumping McCain is just polishing the turd. He won't win anyway.
I don’t fear them personally...I don’t want to risk national security and abandon our troops or have everyone lose their life savings right before the baby boomers retire.
how are republicans in congress supposed to oppose obama when he gives in to achmedinijad or cuts and runs from iraq?
Same ol' song... that was not the conclusion when Conservatives sunk GWHB, nor Dole, Nor the 2006 losses... Everyone knows what happened.
It’s hard to get people to vote for you, when you hate them.
The only people who will come to this conclusion are those who don't have your best interests at heart to begin with. According to that mode of thinking, any loss means the candidate wasn't far enough to the left. Keep going down that route and you end up with simply proposing another left-wing candidate to oppose the Democrats' own left-wing candidate... you end up with a candidate just like John McCain.
What you lack right now is the confidence that conservatism unmodified is a winning agenda. To restore your confidence, look at the record of confident conservative candidates in the general election vs. that of the mushy middle types. The latter type, being difficult to distinguish from a Democrat, loses reliably. The last example of the former type we have is Reagan, who crushed the opposition.
Conservatism wins, it really is that simple. But we do require someone to actually advocate it. John McCain has stated in no uncertain terms that he will never be that person. At this point a decision has to be made by the individual as to which is more important, the cause of the political party or the cause of the ideology. I say that the party is not useful if it does not serve as a vehicle to advance ideology.
If simply being on a winning team is the most important, then the best bet is to sit out the election entirely and join up with whichever side wins. That way you can always be on the side of the winner.
He who holds the purse has great power.
Regarding the WOT, It will not end because the troops are withdrawn. This is a Crusade, whether people will admit it or not. The cowardice of the new leadership will be met with more terrorism, and probably on our shores. I would rather that occurred under a Democrat reign than under a pseudo-Republican one.
If the WOT gets really scary under the dems, where is the vote gonna go in two years?
But if a device gets smuggled over that damnable open border under Shamnesty McShame's watch, tell me when Republicans will ever be elected again?
BUMP.
W Bush was much more liberal than Dole. Dole wanted to abolish 4 cabinet depts and he understood foreign affairs.
W advocated “compassionate conservatism”, expanded the size of govt and gave up on the balanced budget. The republican agenda shifted from the contract with america to giving pork to local districts to keep incumbents in power. The Chris Shays of the 90’s was more conservative than the Tom Delay of the 00’s
= Badge of Honor....
But that is not what was peddled at election time. All was Conservatism. People were willing to bet on W, even after his father, because he sold himself as a solid Conservative. By his second election, the only reason he got in is because of the war. The same with the House and Senate. They sold Conservatism.
The difference is the tone in leadership, and the control of the leadership in getting seats elected. It is the Baker "Big Tent" you are complaining about, and you are about to vote for yet another Baker moderate, and Bush's heir apparent.
the only way to get what you want, the Reagan Conservatism, the Contract with America, is to burn that big tent down.
what crusade? al qaeda will be cheering the day obama enters the White house. He won’t even have to lift a finger. It will be over and Americans will be killed. I don’t want that just to blame the democrats
That’s going to happen regardless of which of the candidates wins. Would you prefer the GOP or the Democrats be holding the bag when the bill comes due?
“Big Tent” = sacrificing principles in order to pander for votes, no more, no less.
yes he did peddle compassionate stuff at the 2000 election. Just because he called it conservative doesn’t mean it actually was. And he had no clue about foreign affairs.
Now McCain is a guy who voted to cut medicare and bring school choice but the anti-mccain conservatives had no problem with Romney who wanted mandated universal health care that subsidized abortion or Huckabee who cozied up to the NEA and raised taxes and wanted to pay college tuition for illegals...and none of them had a clue about national security. Why is that ok?
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