Author Topic: Huckabee courts the Evangelical vote in S.C.  (Read 1788 times)

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Offline DixieBelle

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Huckabee courts the Evangelical vote in S.C.
« on: January 11, 2008, 12:50:33 PM »
Propelled in Iowa by evangelicals' support, Mike Huckabee is trying for a repeat victory in South Carolina, where religion is woven even more tightly into the fabric of life.

A win there in the Jan. 19 primary would keep the former Southern Baptist minister and Arkansas governor in strong contention for the Republican presidential nomination, no matter how he does in the Michigan voting that comes first.

"He is tailor-made for South Carolina voters, better so than Bush in 2000," contends former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley, a Huckabee backer. But Huckabee's hardly alone in seeking - and gaining - support from evangelicals.

Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson have won important endorsements. John McCain is trying to mend fences after a difficult primary experience in South Carolina in 2000.

As in Iowa, where he won the Republican caucuses, the cash-strapped Huckabee is relying on pastors to help get out the vote. And he also has the support of some in the political establishment - Beasley is one - giving him organizing power he lacked in other early voting states. That could make a difference to pragmatic evangelical voters, who want a candidate who could actually win the nomination.

His background has given him some advantages. He spoke in early November at a "pastors' policy briefing" similar to those staged in Iowa and New Hampshire, where local pastors can meet with national Christian Huckabee supporters.

"He's had wonderful opportunities to talk to the 'grasstops,' these pastors who preach to hundreds of people, while not spending any money," said Oran Smith, executive director of the Palmetto Family Council, an anti-abortion group that has remained neutral on the presidential race. "Being a Baptist minister and a candidate for president, no one would want to turn him away."

White evangelicals account for 53 percent of the state's likely Republican voters, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Still, they "are not a monolithic group here and don't always vote together," cautioned Danielle Vinson, a political science professor at Furman University in Greenville. "Their leadership isn't giving them very clear signals this time, either."

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080110/D8U39RA01.html

 :thatsright: Now I know why my mom is infatuated...... :whatever:
I can see November 2 from my house!!!

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