GOP Evangelicals Consider Third-Party Vote

WASHINGTON – A majority of white evangelical Republicans would consider voting for a conservative third-party candidate if the 2008 presidential election pits Rudy Giuliani against Hillary Rodham Clinton, a poll showed Wednesday.

The latest survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center shows that although Giuliani is leading in national polls, more than half of white evangelicals in his party disagree with his views on abortion, gay rights and gun control.

According to the poll, 55 percent of white evangelical Republicans say they would consider a conservative who ran as a third-party candidate. Meanwhile, 42 percent said they would not.

Evangelicals compose 34 percent of GOP and Republican-leaning voters, according to Pew. Overall, they are about evenly divided in support among Giuliani, former senator Fred Thompson and Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

The poll results showing evangelicals’ discontent with the GOP also echoed dismay expressed earlier by conservative evangelical leaders in October.

Dr. James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family and those in a social conservative coalition threatened to not support the Republican Party if they selected a pro-choice presidential candidate such as Giuliani as their party’s representative. The pro-family leaders said they would consider supporting a third-party candidate if Giuliani or another pro-choice candidate becomes the Republican nominee.

“Winning the presidential election is vitally important, but not at the expense of what we hold most dear,” Dobson argued in an Op-Ed in the New York Times.

The conservative ministry leader called for the “recommitment” to traditional moral values and beliefs. He believes a president should support the sanctity of human life, the institution of marriage, and other pro-family principles.

Dobson admits, however, that a third-party plan might unintentionally help elect democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton – considered a greater threat than Giuliani.

“We’re very, very concerned about the implications of a Hillary Clinton presidency, but you know, we have been working … for 35 years, I’ve been trying to defend the unborn child,” Dobson said on Fox’s Hannity & Colmes show last month.

“That’s been my life. That’s been my belief, along with marriage and the family and the other things. I can’t now abandon that because we’ve got two bad choices here.”

While concerned over the current situation, Dobson noted that the elections are still far away and are “very dynamic” and “volatile” with the possibility that a “dark horse” appearing during the presidential race.

From its recent poll, the Pew also found that 50 percent of the American population identify themselves as Democrats or leaning toward Democrats, compared to 36 percent who consider themselves Republicans or GOP leaning. The gap in constituency is the largest in nearly 20 years of Pew surveys, and a stark contrast to 2002 when the two parties were even at 43 percent each.