Did Evangelicals Hand McCain The Nod?
Posted by Andy on February 18th, 2008
Captain Ed has some interesting coverage that makes the case.
I’ll just say it too, religious bigotry handed McCain the nod. It is really sad that some on the right joined the left and MSM in the behavior I thought our side was better than. Some of you should be ashamed for letting the choice of a man’s religion disqualify him from public service.
McCain came out of nowhere. Some in my circles have some black helicopter theories on how a guy in last place rounded up so many powerplayers and establishment leaders behind him, but in the end, unlike the SuperDelegate proletariat of the Democrats, the grassroots Republicans could have made a difference. But instead they decided to back a candidate who is for all intense purposes a Pro-Life Democrat when it comes to foreign and domestic policies.
Now sure I think it is fair to share some blame for those of use who backed Fred, Hunter, Tancredo, and Rudy up to their ends. We also could have gotten behind Romney sooner. True. Speaking for myself, I still believe Fred was the best case for the broader conservative movement. Rudy and Romney were always my second choices. Once McCain came back from the dead and into the lead most of us got behind the only man left who could do a good job representing conservatives and still have the resources to stop McCain as well as give the Democrats a good battle.
Unfortunately, when it was a 2 man race between McCain and Romney, the evangelicals decided to support Huckabee who had no chance. I mean the Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman decided to go out on a limb and get the Huckabee campaign rolling in Minnesota when there was absolutely no conservative support for him early on. A move that many are still just dumbfounded and upset over. And the fact that Romney owned the Caucus Straw Poll should send a clear message to Pawlenty, Coleman, and Carey that the base has its own ability to choose candidates. (more on that later, I’m getting off track)
I guess this may be iladvised but I think it is a worthy question for the broader conservative movement as we move forward.
Are Evangelicals a reliable leg of the conservative movement since they seem to put Religion over public policy?
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February 18th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Yes. That’s the short answer. Evangelicals are the core of the conservative movement. Many of them are as interested in coservative foreign policy and conservative economics as they are in traditional values. The Republican platform prominently features those traditional values and, in fact, the very word “conservative” implies that traditional values are the essence of conservative thought AND the conservative movement.
If you are going to excuse those like yourself who found Fred Thompson or some other candidate better reflected their “conservative” financial or national security values, you ought to extend that same magnanimity towards the socially conservative evangelicals, right?
February 18th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
The only “religious bigotry” I saw was here against Huckabee and other who profess religious beliefs.
And which group of people is threating to pout this election and not vote (Rush, Ann Coulter, You).
So are fiscal conservatives a reliable group?
The answer to both is yes, when you have a reliable candidate.
Mitt Romney was neither fiscally nor socially conservative.
As for the “that the base has its own ability to choose candidates” - Actually what it shows is that a candidate who spends 5-10 times what the others did and has his campaign make three separates visit, is able to win a meaningless straw poll while the other candidates won actual delegates in states that mattered.
February 18th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I also should add that the basic premise of both this and Captain article are wrong.
If you look at Evangelical vote it tended to spilt across all candidates.
It was non-evangelicals that tended to vote against Huckabee (and flocked to McCain).
So in addition to the bigotry of the article it is also factually wrong.
Mitt problem is that he could not get people to vote for him. And it had nothing to do with Religion, it has to do with his record.