Republicans Split on Huckabee Staying in Race

By Jennifer Riley, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, March 01, 2008

Republicans are nearly evenly split on whether Mike Huckabee should continue his bid for U.S. president or if he should drop out, given that frontrunner John McCain is being called the shoo-in for the party's nomination.

Nearly half of Republicans, 49 percent, believe Huckabee should continue his campaign against McCain in upcoming primaries, compared to 46 percent of his party that said he should drop out, according to a USA Today/Gallup Poll. Five percent said they have no opinion on whether underdog Huckabee should continue to pursue the White House or give up his campaign.

The Gallup Poll noted there is "no strong majority sentiment" among Republicans that he should leave the race.

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Huckabee's biggest backer is the conservative wing of the Republican Party. Fifty-four percent of the GOP's right wing want Huckabee to continue his campaign, compared to 42 percent of conservatives who want him to drop out.

Oppositely, the majority, 57 percent, of moderate Republicans want Huckabee to drop out compared to 38 percent of this group who said he should stay in the race.

The division between conservative and moderate Republicans on Huckabee is not surprising given that exit polls have shown moderates strongly backing McCain while the party's conservatives rally behind Huckabee.

But interestingly, the poll highlighted that McCain has the majority of support among both conservatives and moderate Republicans. Fifty-nine percent of conservative Republicans support McCain, compared to 27 percent who back Huckabee. The number soared to 70 percent support for McCain among moderate Republicans, compared to 13 percent for Huckabee.

What this poll result suggests is that McCain, if selected the GOP nominee, might not be in as much trouble with the conservative wing of his party as many have speculated.

In addition to conservatives, McCain also did fairly well among weekly churchgoers in his party. The Arizona senator was backed by 57 percent of weekly churchgoers compared to Huckabee's 31 percent. Among Republicans who seldom or never go to church, McCain's lead widened to 69 percent to Huckabee's 12 percent.

Nevertheless, weekly churchgoers are Huckabee's strongest supporters.

Huckabee has repeatedly vowed to not quit the race until someone has collected the 1,191 delegates needed to secure the nomination. Currently, McCain has 1,033 delegates and Huckabee has 247 delegates, according to CNN.

Overall, Gallup Poll Daily election tracking data shows about a quarter of Republicans nationwide continuing to support Huckabee. Meanwhile, McCain has the support of about six in 10 Republicans nationwide.

The survey was based on telephone interviews with 829 Republicans and Republican leaning independents, aged 18 and older, conducted Feb. 21-24, 2008.