E-mail
Print
RSS
G-bookmarks
Live
TechnoratiWASHINGTON - The presidential election is far from decided, concluded several prominent Christian public policy leaders last week after analyzing the New Hampshire primary result.
(Photo: AP Images / Charles Krupa)Republican presidential hopefuls participate during a Fox News Republican Candidate Forum in Manchester, N.H., Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008. From left: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
“This is a wide open race on both sides. I can’t remember a time when neither side had a clear frontrunner,” said Tom Minnery, vice president of public policy for Focus on the Family (FOTF), during an FOTF Citizenlink special broadcast.
Minnery added that the nation was in “unchartered territories” as Super Tuesday, when more than 20 states will vote on Feb. 5, looms ahead.
“So who knows what lies ahead and who will benefit or suffer because of the very unusual circumstances,” he added.
Last week, both political parties experienced an upset in the presidential race when Sen. Hillary Clinton won the New Hampshire primary despite trailing Sen. Barack Obama by double digits in polls taken days ahead of the primary.
Likewise, Sen. John McCain’s win, although less dramatic than Clinton’s, also helped revive a faltering campaign that came in third in Iowa. Clinton had also come in a disappointing third in the Hawkeye State after Obama and former Sen. John Edwards, respectively.
“Who knows what will happen?” Focus on the Family’s Dr. James Dobson, who has yet to endorse a candidate, had said in October to Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“You do not know what’s going to happen in a presidential election,” said the conservative Christian leader, who had refused to support pro-abortion former Mayor Rudy Giuliani when he was a “shoo-in.”
Dobson has been courted by many Republican contenders but has played hard to get, explaining that he wants to watch the election carefully before supporting any candidate. The endorsement of the influential radio broadcaster could help throw hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of his evangelical Christian listeners behind a candidate.
“We have no idea right now who will be facing off on Nov. 4,” said Gary Schneeberger, vice president of media relations for Focus on the Family Action. “That’s because it’s not the pollster or analysts who elect the president – it’s the people. And the people are taking a long, hard look at the candidates to see which ones best reflect the values they hold dear.”
Yet Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council Action, points out that the fields on both sides have narrowed.
“I think the Republican race is down to a three-man race,” the FRC president said on the Citizenlink special. “The bid on both sides is down to three candidates. I think [for] Giuliani, it was a bad strategy for him to try to sit out until Florida. I think he will get lost in the headlines.
“New Hampshire was a place he should have been able to compete. He was probably intimidated by both Romney and McCain.”
Giuliani had come in fourth in New Hampshire behind McCain, former Gov. Mitt Romney and former Gov. Mike Huckabee, respectively.
“I think the fields are narrowing. Same thing on the Democratic side,” Perkins added. “I think it will be a horse race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.”
A new nationwide poll released Saturday found that a hypothetical match-up between the Republican and Democratic frontrunners would see Clinton in the lead with 50 percent support, according to the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll. Obama follows in second with 49 percent support. Continue »
seedplanter »
Agree: 
Disagree: 
