Evangelicals flock to Huckabee

By LEE BANDY

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Why should evangelical Christians support Mitt Romney, a Mormon, for the Republican nomination for president when they can have the “real deal” in Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist preacher?

They shouldn’t, they’ve decided.

Evangelicals consider the former Arkansas governor an authentic Christian leader. He speaks their language. They don’t have to ask what he stands for.

Huckabee’s recent rise is partly because of uncertainty among activists about former Massachusetts Gov. Romney’s social conservative credentials.

Huckabee, a Southern Baptist preacher before entering politics, is viewed by evangelicals as solidly with them on issues such as abortion rights and gay marriage.

He openly campaigns as a “Christian leader.” He speaks passionately about family and the need to secure “a better America” for future generations, a message that resonates with evangelical voters.

“He knows how to speak their language,” said Oran Smith, president of the Palmetto Family Life Council.

Huckabee told a gathering of Christian South Carolina conservatives recently that he had the toughest position against gay marriage of any Republican candidate.

“Unless Moses comes down with two stone tablets from Brokeback Mountain to tell us something different, we need to keep that understanding of (heterosexual) marriage,” he said, referring to the movie about two gay cowboys.

The audience loved it.

“That comment is worth 10,000 votes in South Carolina,” remarked Clemson University political scientist Dave Woodard. “Every time he speaks to these social conservatives, he peels the paint off the wall with his comments.”

Social conservatives

In recent days, social conservatives have been flocking to Huckabee’s campaign in Iowa and South Carolina.

In just a few short weeks, the folksy, if underfunded, Huckabee has vaulted from single-digit figures to the lead spot in opinion polls in the crucial states of Iowa and South Carolina.

Until recently, the Republican Party’s conservative Christian base had sat back observing, hesitant to unite around a single candidate, including Huckabee, viewed as a long shot at best. They wanted to see how the field was going to develop. They wanted to hear what Romney was going to say about faith in politics.

Well, they heard and were disappointed. The next day, Romney’s numbers tumbled as conservative Christians flocked to Huckabee’s candidacy.

“We’ve been swamped with calls from people wanting to join the campaign,” said Mike Campbell, a son of the late governor and South Carolina campaign director for Huckabee. “It’s like drinking from a fire hose.”

Social conservatives, a voting bloc that make up from 25 percent to 40 percent of the Republican electorate, are active politically and well connected to a powerful network that includes a number of megachurches.

These religious conservatives now are operating on the newfound belief that Huckabee can win the GOP nomination, and their efforts on his behalf will not be wasted.

Other Republicans — including those who fear that Huckabee is pro-tax and favors too big of a government — want to think Romney’s religion isn’t an issue. He’s an appealing candidate with a compassionate, conservative allure.

But a recent poll found 17 percent of Americans said they would have qualms about electing a Mormon to the White House.

For many evangelicals, supporting Romney is doctrinally difficult, based on very specific theological disputes that can’t be overcome by personality or charm.

To evangelicals, Mormonism isn’t just another religion; it’s a cult. The Southern Baptist church — the largest denomination in South Carolina — has branded it as such.

Many evangelicals are taking the high road, avoiding any public attacks on Romney or his faith. Many remain tight-lipped on the issue.

But they make no secret of what they will do when they walk into the voting booth on Jan. 19, when South Carolina holds its Republican primary.

They will vote for Huckabee.

X Lee Bandy, now retired, worked 40 years at The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., as a political writer. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.