Evangelicals thumbing their nose at the GOP

Thompson stuck it to him in the SC debate; as evangelicals get to know Huck better, they will have more doubts about him.

I'm an evangelical, a pro-life candidate is very important to me, I'd still actually vote Giuliani over Huck, holding my nose the whole time, because we don't need another Jimmy Carter in the White House.

That being said, I think you're a little hard on McCain. He's not as bad fiscally as Hillary. He would make the Bush tax cuts permanent and cut pork. He would be tough on the war on terror. He's a patriot. And he has a 100% pro-life record. So he's better than the Dems.

Of course, on the issues, the two best candidates are Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney. They appeal to all parts of the base. While I like Thompson better on the issues, I like Romney better in terms of getting things done. He'd be a very effective executive. And an ethical one.

I am in the midst of reading your insightful article when I have to come to an abrupt halt when I read:
"Fred is the Long Shot and doesn't have a lot going for him at all.."

I'm Sorry, but What!?!. There are 47 primaries left. Fred took 3rd in one and 2nd in one. Endorsed by the National Right to Life, Human Events and is applauded by WSJ, Investors Business Daily, etc for have the most comprehensive plans of any candidate.

He has money, momentum and..did you catch the SC Debate? He can and will win South Carolina! Then, perhaps he can get a little respect.

Remember that all the primary/caucuses have so far have had different winners. The GOP nomination is wide open. Its time for Christians to support a man who supports their ideals and faith, as well as the fiscal/economic policies of a TRUE Conservative Republican and who can pummel any of the Democratic Nominees.

You are right on with your logic here! We need to work together as a party here and support a true fiscal conservative. Not doing so will create a huge dissapointment and lack of support in November for the majority of the party who are supporting Romney and Thompson values. If one counts the votes and delegates tallied in each state so far, this is the fact.
How can our nation survive militarily if our economy fails. Our enemies around the world are banking on our weakness economically. Let's let Mitt bring his real ideas, passion, brains and experience to Washington with Thompson at his side to implement his brilliant ideas for our nation's economy, immigration, health care, education and terror... all else will fall into place and our nation will shine again as a "city on a hill"

I can tell you this. I will never vote for Huckabee. It's either Mitt, Fred, or possibly Guiliani.

I simply won't vote if it's Huckabee or McCain.

I hope this idea catches on.

The thing that infuriates me is that many (not all) evangelicals are voting for Huckabee simply because he is evangelical and prolife. They certainly can't claim its because he has the highest moral values. His ethical lapses in Arkansas are serious and would be used by the democrats to beat republicans over the head. I'm not going to describe them here, there are plenty of articles about them. His defenders like to claim that he only had to pay a fairly small fine of a thousand dollars or less depending on the the violation, but the size of the fine is not what's important. What is important is that the ethics violations kept happening. The destruction of the hard drives as he was leaving office is still being investigated. His belief that the end justifies the means is going to cause the republican party untold grief nationally as it has in Arkansas.

Mitt Romney's has an unblemished record when it comes to integrity. That is a big reason why so many dems and the main street media are doing their best to get him knocked out now. They would LOVE to have Huckabee in their sights come November. So the evangelicals would not only lose the fiscal conservatives, they would end up losing those who place a high value on honesty and integrity, because by November Huckabee's ethical lapses would be a huge issue covered extensively by his current protectors in the media and by the DNC.

I wrote about Huckabee, now I want to turn my sights on McCain. At one time I thought I could support McCain, but over the last 8 years he has done everything he can to thumb his nose at conservatives. He has shown his contempt for the conservative base again and again on many issues. Issues like immigration, taxation, judges, etc. His desire to close Guantanamo and put terrorist prisoners into our justice system (essentially handing them over to liberal judges) is so far outside of the conservative base that it's unbelievable he is even a viable candidate at all. I believe that if McCain was our nominee we would all have to forget an awful lot to make ourselves vote for him. His continued opposition to Bush's tax cuts shows us that he is not to be trusted with the economy. AND WHAT IS GOING ON WITH HIS SUPPORT FOR THE GLOBAL WARMING ACTIVISTS? The damage he would cause our economy by forcing us to cut greenhouse gasses would be huge, and there is no evidence that it would make any difference at all to the weather. But again - we see McCain jumping on board a popular liberal issue at the expense of his conservative credentials.

Mitt Romney would be every bit as strong as McCain on Naitonal Security and much better on issues like Guatanamo and torture. McCain is against saving American lives by waterboarding. Mitt Romney has stated clearly that we cannot take it off the table. It has to be an option in extreme cases.

One of the best you've ever written. You express my sentiments, and the reality, exactly.

"Mitt Romney does not need the presidency. The Presidency needs him." --- John Nevin

When was the last time you have ever heard of a politician not taking a salary. That is exactly what we will get with Romney. He has not taken a salary in the Olympics, as governor, and has said he will not take the salary of POTUS.

Contrast that with Huckabee who wanted to "pass the plate" at the last debate because he felt he was not raising enough money and he was forced to give a sermon in response to a faith based question. This man went into politics to make money, pure and simple, just as the Clintons have. Look at the millions that they have unmassed as a result of their public "service". Mike Huckabee is in it for the money. Someone who feels that it is O.K. to get triple your salary in "gifts" is not making right choices. America needs someone who is there to serve America, not shake us down like the Huckster.

This is an excellent article. I believe the author has correctly identified the very high level of dissatisfaction and distrust that fiscal conservatives have for Governor Huckabee.

Along with the fiscal/economic conservatives, we can expect the mass mutiny of GOP voters who have illegal immigration as their top issue if Huckabee or McCain is on the top of the GOP ticket in 2008. That is a huge, vocal voting block this election cycle. Huckabee's record of coddling illegal aliens is atrocious, notwithstanding his recent get-tough statements which have zero credibility.

On a personal note, I have already issued an ultimatum of sorts to the Pastor of my evangelical Christian church in Texas. If there is even the slightest hint of an effort to forward the candidacy of Huckabee using the leadership or resources of our church, my family will leave the congregation permanently.

Words can't adequately describe my disgust with the way Huckabee has used religion and identity politics to introduce bigotry into the 2008 presidential race while feigning ignorance of his agenda.

I firmly believe Huckabee will lose in a landslide in the general election. He will destroy the successful GOP coalition of social, fiscal, and foreign policy conservatives, and cripple the credibility and influence of conservative Christian voters in national politics.

Huckabee truly is the GOP dream candidate for the liberal, secular Democrats to run against in 2008.

Ryan, thought you'd like to see this article, http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/43aba933-6972-4a36-a 25f-a2973e69e4ee, as written by Patrick Ruffini where he quoted a clipped article from a magazine in 2002.

By the way, rabwrite, please understand that I like Fred very very much, and I would be very happy to vote for him. But Ryan is correct in that his campaign is struggling. In fact, soon after he declared his full attention to Iowa (before their caucus), he suddenly ran out of money for TV Ads. He has to pull back for a day or two, before he got some donated money. He does not have sufficient fund to be competitive on the national level, other than Iowa and SC. He needs to have the national organization full fleshed by now, but he cannot. And he won't be able to, because, after SC, he will only have 2 weeks until SuperTuesday. It is not enough time for him (or Huckabee and McCain) to work in 22 states who will vote together on a single day.

I am still hoping for a Mitt/Fred ticket, though! I think Fred has much he can offer to Mitt, especially with his sound understanding of the conservative principles, and his tendence to be frank, which Mitt wants from his staff.

It is remarkable to me that many of my conservative friends continue to lump Mitt into the “conservative” column with Fred. I want to believe it, but if we are honest with ourselves about him liberal - opportunist Massachusetts record he clearly doesn’t belong with the likes of Fred.

It’s clear to me that the conservative establishment has turned a blind eye to his record while taking aim at Huckabee & Mccain’s. But I think we loose a lot of credibility like-minded conservatives when we hammer away at Huckabee & Mccain on their liberal records and ignore Mitt’s (i.e. romneycare, judge appointments, flip-flops on 2nd amendment, life, bush tax cuts, the surge, etc). I know he is saying all the right things now, but by changing his stripe he has created a credibility problem that splinters the party and will ultimately lead to defeat in the general. (a la the last serial flip-flopper…John D Kerry).

In my view Fred’s biggest road block to the nomination is Mitt not Huckabee & Mccain. If we all stopped drinking the “Romney is a conservative” cool aide I think Fred could have a shot.

Fred is the only candidate that can keeps the conservative coalition together.

Believe it or not, Fred supporters, when you do an objective side-by-side comparison of Mitt and Fred's platforms and records, they are both equally conservative. The one exception is the federal marriage amendment, which Mitt supports and Fred doesn't. Marriage is in my top 3 most important issues, so I have to go with Mitt on this one. When you do your homework on Mitt's policy platform and record, and don't buy into the media's portrayal of Mitt (surely they've "mis-portrayed" Fred too at times?), you actually find a true conservative platform and record, combined with someone who has the skills to accomplish exceptional things as President.

Thanks for this great article - it says exactly what I've felt and thought for the past month!

any general election.

Huckabee: If we are going to have another Jimmy Carter, it should be another democrat. If Huck did get elected, it would turn the Christian and social conservative movement into a joke. A Huckabee administration will guarantee democrat presidents for the next twenty years (think Jimmy Carter without MSM support).

McCain gave us McCain-Feingold (restricting political speech), McCain-Kennedy (providing amnesty to all illegal immigrants), McCain-Lieberman (imposing a global warming tax on American companies), McCain-Kennedy-Edwards (for trial lawyers), McCain opposition to Bush Tax Cuts in 2001 and 2003, and the McCain Gang of 14 (preventing approval of judicial nominees).
To top it off, McCain supports the granting of constitutional rights to foreign terrorists and has repeatedly called for the immediate closing of Guantanamo.

McCain is a liberal democrat and gives me no reason to vote republican.

Please do not think I am being disrespectful toward them, However, those who claim to be Evangelicals and are voting for McCain are really voting for Hillary. Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore are all Baptists. Sorry, I have zero, zero respect for them. Huck from Arkansas is not the answer for a president. People of integrity from Arkansas have told me they wouldn't vote for him in a minute. He did not do anything for their education system while he was governor. Let's face it, McCain's ego is so huge that he will do and say ANYTHING TO BECOME OUR PRESIDENT. Just google McCain the Liar and read all about his liberal votes, friends, policies, and how he feels about conservative judges. MITT ROMNEY has shown integrity, moral stature, honesty, self-control, that he is well-informed on issues, and extremely sharp-witted. I am Presbyterian, and I believe strongly that Mitt Romney is not going to mix religion and presidential decision making as our next President. He strongly defends our Constituion, and I admire his courage in having to day in and day out having to listen to the Liberal Media analyze what it means to be a Mormon. I pray that the Evangelicals will decide that it is best for our country to vote for Mitt Romney.....GOOD LUCK MITT ON TUESDAY