A week ahead of the Republican straw poll, evangelicals in Iowa find themselves with no sure presidential pick.
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(Photo: AP Images / Jim Cole, File)Republican presidential hopefuls, from left, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.; former secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson; Sen. Sam Brownback R-Kan.; former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore; and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas; appear on stage before the Republican presidential primary debate hosted by Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., Tuesday, June 5, 2007.
Some believe the GOP presidential candidates have strayed from the moral issues that are essential to the Republican party platform, including abortion and same-sex “marriage.”
"The whole faith and values conversation is falling by the wayside," said the Rev. Mike Rose, senior pastor of First Federated Church in Des Moines, according to The Des Moines Register. "The country as a whole feels there are issues more pressing at this time. The war with Iraq is on everybody's mind. Right to life and gay marriage, which are important to Christian conservatives, aren't as big with the general public."
According to a poll by Pew Research Center, only 40 percent of all registered voters marked abortion as very important in their vote for president. Abortion was also a low priority among Republican-leaning voters (43 percent).
The top-tier issues American voters ranked are the economy and the war in Iraq.
Nevertheless, Americans are less likely to support a candidate who is pro-abortion rights (39 percent) or pro-gay rights (40 percent), a Time magazine poll found.
Congregants at Central Assembly of God Church in Des Moines are turned off by candidates who are ignoring abortion and same-sex “marriage” issues and are concerned that Republicans, who all describe themselves as Christian, will be distracted by Iraq and national-security issues.
"Morality is the No. 1 issue with me," said Ken Rogers, 62, of Central Assembly of God Church, according to the Register.
As more conservative Christians raise questions, GOP candidates will be forced to go into detail about how they feel about moral issues, Mary Tiffany, communications director for the Republican Party of Iowa, told the local newspaper.
"[T]hese issues are the heart and soul of the Republican Party platform, so we can't stray away," she said.
So far, evangelicals in Iowa are not rallying around top-tier GOP presidential hopefuls, citing "bad decisions" made by several candidates, including Rudolph Giuliani's three marriages.
While the evangelicals believe in God's ability to transform a person's life, the Rev. Jeff Bradley, pastor of Central Assembly of God Church, said, "we can't discount the decisions a person has made all through his life. Decisions made that aren't made in line with God's laws are bad decisions."
In a recent AP poll, Americans were given the choice to back any of the leading Republican front-runners currently up for the presidential bid, but nearly one quarter were not confident with the current list of candidates.
The recent poll reflects the strong evangelical constituency inside the party, and how the current hopefuls are not necessarily meeting their expectations. The poll may reveal an opening for current underdogs such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback to move forward.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is expected to finish strong in the Aug. 11 straw poll. He's the one top-tier GOP candidate that best aligns with conservative Christian values, some evangelicals say. But they have not overlooked his affiliation with Mormonism, which is a problem for some.
Lesser known GOP candidates, including Brownback and Huckabee, recently made serious efforts to reach out to Christians in Iowa. Aware of many undecided voters, they campaigned to pull in more of the evangelical and Christian vote before the straw poll, which could help boost their campaigns.
Brownback expressed confidence, saying his "pro-life/whole-life message" is resonating with evangelicals in the state.
Both Brownback and Huckabee oppose abortion and same-sex "marriage."
Some evangelicals, however, are wary of backing a second-tier candidate.
"People place their money on the horse they think will win," said Chuck Hurley, director of the Iowa Family Policy Center, told The Des Moines Register. "So the (straw poll) and primary are the places for people to stand on principle and work hard for a second- or third-tier candidate. They may become a first-tier candidate when their campaign catches fire."
In the meantime, Rose of First Federated Church reminds evangelical voters, "People need to remember we're not trying to elect a pastor, we're trying to elect a president."
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Ron Paul is the only choice for real Christians.
http://www.newswithviews.com/Mary/starrett70.htm
http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin394.htm
http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin350.htm
http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd268.htm
This quote comes from the last link.
"Right now candidates running for president from both major parties are pitching their same old worn out lies, the exception being Ron Paul. (How presidential candidates voted for the immoral, illegal invasion of Iraq.) Constitutionally challenged candidates like Duncan Hunter regurgitate that "we must stick with "tax cuts." The two debates between the Democrats and Republicans have been nothing more than a farce and clearly demonstrate that the machine running the parties is once again offering up sewage for the highest office in our land. Yes, Tancredo deserves all the credit in the world for his constant, persistent stand against the illegals invasion, but his position on taxes and unconstitutional cabinets is unacceptable; I would not vote for him."
Ron Paul would have the US return to original intent Constitutional gov. He wants to follow the Founder's advice on foreign affairs. He would return State's rights. There is more. All of it sounds good to me.
Nice to see the merger of the GOP and Evangelicals is finally complete. Have y'all officially declared George Bush to be the second coming, or is that just sort of an informal designation?
Before he was Governor in Arkansas for more than 10 years, Mike Huckabee was a Baptist Pastor for a dozen years. Mike Huckabee seems to appear more and more a good presidential choice for many Christian Conservatives.
After the Presidential Debate on Sunday, Mike Allen says that Fox News and Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster and political consultant gathered 29 GOP voter from the Des Moines area to share their opinions: "At the session’s start, only one participant picked Huckabee as the candidate he or she wanted to win. Nine chose former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, eight were for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, five were for the absent Fred Thompson, two were for McCain, and the remaining candidates were picked by one or none.
But when it was over (after the Debate), Huckabee had 14 votes, compared with 10 for Romney, three for Giuliani, one for Fred Thompson and one for Rep. Duncan Hunter of California."
To read the whole story, click here: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5257.html
For more information about Mike Huckabee click here: http://www.mikehuckabee.com/
As a Chritian, the only candidate I can support is Duncan Hunter. He is strong on everything, is a good Christian family man who came to WA with Ronald Reagan. His credentials and qualifications are list at www.gohunter08.com. I urge you all to check him out.
He is also the ONLY one who can beat whoever the Democrat socialists nominate.
It may be time for Brownback to break through as the surprise "underdog." He is solidly passionate on the pro-life issue.
While in agreement with kent, Ron Paul, so far, has made the most logical, believable, and othe most integral candidate of all. All right, so some don't care for him, but that's not the point. I won't for any of the current members running on the Republican bandwagon, including McCain, Romney, or Guiliani. None of them are qualified based on their histories, personal lives, and stands on the issues. Ron Paul has nothing to lose. But he does have conviction, and the fact that conservatives and Christians alike have been duped by the media into believing he is a non-candidate, as well as talk show hosts who have minimized him or even demonized him, shows that he is someone to take seriously. If not Ron Paul, then the Constitution Party. We need to get back to the roots of the Republic. The current slate of front runners in the Republican party sound and look and walk no different than the Democrats, and it's about time we dump both of those for someone else. I'm voting Ron Paul. If you do your homework, so will you!!
Maybe if we took a closer look at Ron Paul we might get a pleasant surprise. His record speaks for itself, he has never vascilated on moral issues and he is a man of above average conviction and integrity. I am surprised that he is passed over so easily by conservatives and Christians alike. Take a real look I think it is worth it.