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I just got off the phone with James Muffett, President of Citizens for Traitional Values, a Michigan-based organization working to create a grassroots movement to defend Traditional Values.
First, Muffett explained something to me that is very important to understand about tonight's election. According to him:
It's very important to realize Michigan is not a winner-take-all state. Each Congressional district is like a mini-state. So a candidate could win the majority of the statewide vote, but not get the majority of delegates because each Congressional district will award all three delegates to the winner of that Congressional district -- regardless of the margin of the vote within that district.
Regarding the Evangelical vote in Michigan, he admits, "I've never seen that group of people as split as they are right now."
In fact, the reason his organization has not endorsed a candidate is that he has three different board of directors supporting three different candidates.
Regarding the choice Michigan conservatives are about to make today, he tells me that one of the homeschool leaders in Michigan recently sent out a letter outlining all the problems with each Republican candidate running for President. Through the process of elimination, this leader -- at the end of the letter -- finally endorses Romney. Muffett's point is that this leader wasn't voting for Romney, he was voting against the others...
While this division has some negatives, Muffett doesn't see this split among Evangelicals as all bad, either. For example, he sees it as a sign of encouragement and maturity that the homeschool movement is now big enough to have a division among them.
When I asked him why Huckabee isn't running away with the social conservative vote, he tells me:
"I don't think Evangelicals are single issue the way people portray them to be ... I think the greatest majority of them are also fiscally conservative, and have a libertarian streak -- especially the homeschoolers."
Muffett predicts McCain will win, but says it will be close.
Stay tuned to the blog for more Michigan info ...
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