Christian right weighs in on GOP nomination battle

WASHINGTON -- Most Americans know one thing about Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, if they know anything: He lost more than 100 pounds in a year, a triumph touted in a weight-loss book he has hawked around the country.

But evangelical conservative activists know one or two other things that make the governor a standout among Republicans who may run for president in 2008: Huckabee is a Baptist minister and a fierce defender of traditional family values.

''Let's face it," he recently told a crowd of Christian conservatives in Iowa, the state that holds the earliest presidential caucuses.

''In our lifetimes," Huckabee said, ''we've seen our country go from 'Leave It to Beaver' to 'Beavis and Butt-head,' from Barney Fife to Barney Frank, from 'Father Knows Best' to television shows where father knows nothing."

Huckabee's outreach to evangelicals, in Iowa and elsewhere, demonstrates the clout of the Christian conservative wing of the GOP. That faction was crucial to President Bush's reelection in 2004, and it is maneuvering to have a big say in who wins the party's nomination in 2008.

The Iowa Christian Alliance has invited potential Republican candidates to address voters around the state. Antiabortion activists have scoured the records of potential contenders. A coalition of national conservative groups has summoned potential candidates to a conference in September where 2,000 or more activists it calls ''values voters" are expected to attend.

Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts has disavowed past statements supporting abortion rights. Senator George Allen, Republican of Virginia, dropped his support for allowing gays to be covered by federal hate-crimes legislation. Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor who is considered to be a liberal on social issues, spoke recently at a meeting of evangelical leaders in the South.

The influence of social and religious conservatives may be limited by the fact that they have not rallied around a single consensus candidate. They view the potential candidates with the strongest showings in early polls, Giuliani and Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, with suspicion.

Those more closely aligned with the religious conservatives, such as Huckabee and Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, are relatively unknown to the electorate.

Some activists are urging social conservatives to close ranks behind a like-minded candidate, to maximize their effect.

''If we get together and get behind a single candidate, we can be formidable," said Paul M. Weyrich, a conservative leader. It is not clear when or whether that agreement will happen.

''Every named candidate is making a play for the right, and some seem to be doing a decent job of it," said Brian Hart, communications director for Brownback. ''A year ago you would've said, 'No way McCain would be courting conservatives.' You never would have said a Massachusetts governor would be courting conservatives."

Jennifer Duffy, who serves as an analyst for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, estimates that one-third or more of Republican primary voters are Christian conservatives.

Huckabee is building on ties he has established as an ordained Southern Baptist minister. He has endorsed South Dakota's new law banning abortion. He spoke in Florida recently at a gathering hosted by the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ.

Brownback appeals to social conservatives because he has made their issues -- fighting abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, and indecency -- central to his legislative career.

Some religious activists see Allen as a solid conservative -- and more electable than Huckabee or Brownback.

The Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, was among the first to call for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and has scheduled a Senate vote on the measure for June. But Frist's star has fallen among conservatives, over expanded federal backing for research using stem cells.

Romney is viewed with suspicion by many Christian conservatives. He has taken flak for saying in his 2002 campaign for governor that he supported a right to choose abortion. Now he says that his view has ''evolved."

Giuliani is widely viewed as the candidate who would have the hardest time winning acceptance among social conservatives because of his record of supporting abortion rights, gun control, and gay rights.