Evangelicals and Romney's V.P. prospects
By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON -- An apparent effort by former presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee to diminish the chances of former rival Mitt Romney becoming the Republican vice presidential nominee is reviving questions about whether Romney's prospects are being damaged by opposition from evangelicals and religious conservatives.
Gary Bauer, an evangelical leader who is an informal adviser to John McCain's campaign, said in an interview today that evangelicals are divided, but discounted the idea there is an organized effort to stop McCain from picking Romney.
Bauer said he personally believes that Romney "would be a great running mate" and said he has conveyed that message personally to Romney. Bauer, chairman of the Campaign for Working Families political action committee, said he was not allowed to say whether he advised McCain to pick Romney.
Bauer said that he recently conducted an unscientific poll among activists about who should be picked for vice president and said that Romney won a plurality of votes. He said that "it was notable" that among those who backed Huckabee, "many of them said negative things about Governor Romney."
Some evangelicals have opposed Romney on the grounds that they believe his Mormon faith is a cult. Other conservative religious leaders have questioned whether Romney's switch to opposing abortion represents a genuine commitment to the issue.
Huckabee, who is now a commentator for Fox News Channel, on Thursday revived his criticism of Romney during the GOP primaries that the former Massachusetts governor has changed positions on abortion and other issues.
"I think there are better choices for Senator McCain that have the approval of value voters," said Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister. "The issue is that in many ways, Mitt Romney has had very definite swings of position. Not just on one or two things, but on many of the issues."
The former Arkansas governor declined a request for comment today, but analysts said his statement appeared intended to influence McCain as he nears a decision on a running mate. While Romney is frequently mentioned as a possibility, there has been no indication that Huckabee is under serious consideration.
Responding to Huckabee, Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said in a statement today, "The primaries are over. Now, the task of all Republicans is on uniting the party to help elect John McCain, not on sowing division."
John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, said he has seen an uptick in email traffic among religious conservative activists who oppose Romney.
"There is some behind-the-scenes maneuvering criticizing Romney on the same grounds he was criticized during the primary, that he flip-flopped on social issues," Green said in an interview yesterday.
But Green said that McCain was likely to make his decision based on his personal relationship and "how he gets along" with the possible running mate, not on opposition from evangelicals.
While Romney and McCain thrashed each other during the primaries, one of McCain's possible running mates is his close friend, Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, who opposes abortion. Pawlenty, who was raised as a Catholic, said in a recent interview that he switched to attending his wife's church to "reconcile our faiths" and now considers himself an evangelical Christian.
McCain has long had a stormy relationship with some evangelical leaders, calling them "agents of intolerance" during his 2000 presidential bid. While McCain has worked hard during this year's campaign to mend ties with evangelicals and religious conservatives, he set off a new round of concern this week when he suggested that he would consider someone who favors abortions rights as his running mate, specifically citing his close friend, former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.
"Tom Ridge is one of the great leaders and he happens to be pro-choice. And I don't think that that would necessarily would rule Tom Ridge out," McCain told The Weekly Standard.
The last memorable thing the Huckster did was make a despicable joke before a white, gun-toting NRA group about Obama fearing assassination. Media should reference that every time they quote the bigot.
The thing about Romney is his upstanding nature threatens to expose the pack of lies Baptists have been teaching for decades about Mormons. They are ready to believe anything about Mormons to avoid losing converts to what for years has been the fastest growing and now fourth largest Christian faith in America.
It is high time this behavior stops.
If teaching truth you have isn't enough to "compete", don't stoop to lies.
"Huckabee is the leader of what I call the Taliban wing of the party,"..."They would rather lose on some self-defined principle than put someone on the ticket who is honorable and would bring strength to the ticket."
Huckabee supporters really give conservatives and evangelicals a BAD name. Thanks a lot! Can you Huckabee supporters PLEASE do what is best for the country, inspite of your hatred for people who DO NOT BELIEVE THE WAY YOU DO? Could you take your prejudice out of this please? Deciding a VP should NOT be about religion - but Huckabee and followers just keep beating the hate speech and lies about Romney because he's Mormon. SO WHAT!! Talk about non-Christians. Huckabee is not Christian-like at all. He's disgusting and a hypocrite!
Romney is the best choice for VP and McCain can win the election with him on the ticket and the DNC is worried about that. The DNC and the Obama camp would like to keep Romney off the ticket because they know that ticket would win.
McCain is in a bind. By listening to the "fiscal conservative" Republican establishment and its pundits who have destroyed the American economy, he has lost his maverick cachet. The result is that the Republican base is splintered. If he picks Mitt as his VP, a chunk of the evangelical vote will revolt. If he picks Huckabee, the Mormons who vote in lock-step for Mitt, will be disheartened.
How do you spell defeat? flip-flop. If Mac picks Mitt, this conservative republican from Iowa will write in his favorite candidate, Huckabee.
"Huckabee is the leader of what I call the Taliban wing of the party,"..."They would rather lose on some self-defined principle than put someone on the ticket who is honorable and would bring strength to the ticket."
Huckabee supporters really give conservatives and evangelicals a BAD name. Thanks a lot! Can you Huckabee supporters PLEASE do what is best for the country, inspite of your hatred for people who DO NOT BELIEVE THE WAY YOU DO? Could you take your prejudice out of this please? Deciding a VP should NOT be about religion - but Huckabee and followers just keep beating the hate speech and lies about Romney because he's Mormon. SO WHAT!! Talk about non-Christians. Huckabee is not Christian-like at all. He's disgusting and a hypocrite!
Romney is the best choice for VP and McCain can win the election with him on the ticket and the DNC is worried about that. The DNC and the Obama camp would like to keep Romney off the ticket because they know that ticket would win.
I want to personally say to those evangelicals that oppose Romney and act like children to pray to God for forgiveness because of their bad feelings toward their Republican fellowbeing and brother in Christ.Halleluiah and praise God he is the God of LOVE and not HATE.Amen and Amen.We are one in heart and in mind lets support our brother in Christ Mitt Romney.
The thing about Romney is his upstanding nature threatens to expose the pack of lies Baptists have been teaching for decades about Mormons. They are ready to believe anything about Mormons to avoid losing converts to what for years has been the fastest growing and now fourth largest Christian faith in America.
It is high time this behavior stops.
If teaching truth you have isn't enough to "compete", don't stoop to lies.
Secrets, there is a secret about the election, and I tell you this now Joe is a diabolical switch that will miss. Lieberman is a strike out! There is nothing more than a few good men that have posed a threat to him that has caused him to become lopsided and curious to those who he sees as voices of protection. But do not believe the rumor, for as I have said he will have a place, but not as high as people are prognosticating. There are orders from heaven that are not yet understood, but God says this now, cannot I make a lover of life from a man who once believed otherwise, you will see his face and you will know that his heart is solid for life and reverence for family like none other. A centurion, a gentile a man who understands authority! And many will know that even dogs get the crumbs from the master's table, says the Lord.
www.jcudell.blogsspot.com
"Huckabee is the leader of what I call the Taliban wing of the party,"..."They would rather lose on some self-defined principle than put someone on the ticket who is honorable and would bring strength to the ticket."
Huckabee supporters really give conservatives and evangelicals a BAD name. Thanks a lot! Can you Huckabee supporters PLEASE do what is best for the country, inspite of your hatred for people who DO NOT BELIEVE THE WAY YOU DO? Could you take your prejudice out of this please? Deciding a VP should NOT be about religion - but Huckabee and followers just keep beating the hate speech and lies about Romney because he's Mormon. SO WHAT!! Talk about non-Christians. Huckabee is not Christian-like at all. He's disgusting and a hypocrite!
Romney is the best choice for VP and McCain can win the election with him on the ticket and the DNC is worried about that. The DNC and the Obama camp would like to keep Romney off the ticket because they know that ticket would win.
Mitt Romney will be an oustanding Vice President for all Americans!
Gary Bauer is a Romney supporter. That's why he isn't going to say anything about how Romney supporters are putting false accusations out there to make it appear that the majority of evangelicals don't like Romney for his religion, calling us bigots. Most evangelicals have been fighting the media about this false claim, and have stated over and over again, it's not about religion, but it has everything to do with Governor Romney's lack of conviction on life and marriage issues, and the fact that he is not trustworthy. Gary Bauer is not going to admit that the Huckabee supporters have gone out of their way to be kind when telling why they don't like Romney, but Romney supporters have done a lot of name calling, slander, smearing, and twisting. I've seen it over and over and over again on the blogs and comments. It's disheartening. Most Huckabee supporters want a VP that has a proven record that they are prolife and pro traditional marriage. Most of us do not want someone that is prochoice, or flips and flops on the issues at the drop of a hat. If McCain wants to win, he needs to listen to the people that care about life and marriage issues.
"Some evangelicals have opposed Romney on the grounds that they believe his Mormon faith is a cult".
Huckabigot would never support anything Mormon, regardless of who it is. He is the worst kind of bigot. Southern Baptist's have produced more literature on how to hate Mormons (and still feel Christian) than Brigham Young had wives.
Besides, who gives a rat's behind what the wacko Evangelicals think anyway?
Interesting how Huck will attack pro-life Romney on a daily basis regarding social issues, but he has only praise for Ridge and Lieberman. The mask is off, Huck's just a bigot plain and simple.
The anti Romney people shouldn't judge Romney just because of that particular switched from prochoice to prolife years ago.They should be happy and appreciative that Romney belive what they(anti Romney) are fighting so hard to protect and work very hard to preach the sanctity of life.Aren't they happy about that or are they using the abortion issue to argue their anti Mormonism,this is a disgrace to those that are involved in this group instead of having the guts to spit it out their true intention they politicise this very abortion issue that they are so darn sweat in their a..es preaching.In the name of God not some anti Romney nuts professing to be evangelicas but are acting like kindergarten kids I pray this group will learn their fate sooner than later.
In my opinion Romney is the only VP candidate who can assure a win for McCain
and the Republican Party in November.
I hope McCain has the wisdom to choose Romney!
I would just like to voice my opinion which is in line with what many of you have already said. Romney could help the McCain ticket in swing states of Michigan, Nevada, Colorado and Florida. More than any other VP canidate. And so what if McCain and Mitt attacked each other in the primary. So did Reagan and the first Bush. (Remember voodoo economics?)
Obama says that he wants to reform health insurance. Mitt has already done that. Obama says that he will work across party lines, even though in the last 4 years he has voted with his party 98% of the time. McCain and Mitt both have a history of working across partylines. So who are you going to believe, the people who have actually done it, or the politician who promises?
Mitt Romney is, without a doubt, the best choice for VP among all the others.
He's a man of character, very strong on the economy, and would make the ticket very strong.
I'm afraid that anti-Mormon bias is going to ruin his chances, as it did in the
primaries. This is just such ignorance and it makes me angry.
As for the "flip flopping", there was only ONE issue upon which he changed his mind, and that is abortion. People who say that he's changed his mind on a number of issues.are incorrect, and should be called on it.
A McCain/ Romney ticket would be very strong, and I fervently hope that that is
what is going to happen.
Well, now that Steven Strang has left a vacancy for a religious endorsement, on the stage at Barack's coronation ceremony, maybe Barack should come out of the closet and recruit the religious leaders who have always supported him ... and, who Barack has always supported. Pastor Jeremiah Wright ... Father Phleiger ... and the rest of the radicals. But, we know Barack won't do that, because even though that represents who Barack truly is ... it wouldn't help Barack deceive us ... and get him elected. In November, vote for Senator John McCain, a man who truly loves America, with over 40 years of service and sacrafice ... not Obama, an inexperienced, incompetent, empty suit, who is being agressively packaged, promoted, and sold to the American people.
Gina, you are blind as a bat and goofy as a monkey. The racist-right poured over thousands of hours of Rev Wright's audio and video recordings accumulated over the past 25 years and all that they managed to come up with is the same 71 seconds of bits an pieces strewn together and presented on every channel in America for a solid month, 24-7. In other words Rev. Wright was preaching and teaching that which was not worthy of embarrassing Obama or calling his faith into question. John McCain lost my respect when he dumped his longsuffering wife in exchanged for a much younger, wealthier hoochie whose daddy was so well politically connected that he literally catapulted Johnny boy into his political career. Both Cindy and John were screwing around while he was still married to and living with wife #1. Trashy, nasty people - won't get my vote.
Just curious how Huckabee claims that he knows very little about the Mormon church when he flew to Utah to hold an anti-Mormon rally and then had his followers go knocking door to door to harass the Mormons.
I think it is sad that Huckabee and his Baptist followers are totally doing what Satan would have them do. They are such liars! While Mormons are taught to love their neighbor- the Baptists teach hatred against the Mormon faith. I think it is pretty simple. A REAL Christian would follow Christ through an example of love and charity. JESUS LOVES EVERYONE (not just Baptists)! Those that follow Huckabee thrive on hatred and lies... that doesn't seem very "christian" to me!
I, and many others, are only supporting McCain if he chooses somebody other than Romney as his running mate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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