DALLAS - Former White House hopeful Mike Huckabee endorsed Sen. John McCain as he dropped out of the Republican presidential race on Tuesday night. But the million-dollar question is: will his network of evangelical supporters follow his lead?
Evangelicals not only lean heavily Republican, they are also among the party’s most energetic activists and Huckabee tapped networks that any GOP candidate could use in a close race.
The Huckabee machine included “homeschoolers” who volunteered for him in droves. The energy of those conservative Christians — who as their name suggests educate their children at home in part to shield them from the secular world — would be welcomed by the McCain camp.
Young conservative bloggers formed another part of Team Huckabee, getting the word out to Christian circles when he was still a relative unknown, and it will be of interest to see where this chattering class now tilts.
As the Republican field narrowed, McCain picked up a larger share of the evangelical vote in the state-by-state nomination battles suggesting that he already has made inroads with this group.
But conservative Christian heavyweights such as James Dobson, founder and chairman of the advocacy group Focus on the Family, has already said that he won’t vote for McCain because of his support for stem-cell research and other positions that are beyond the Religious Right’s pale.
One thing is certain: this is an area that will be keenly watched.
Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.
- Photo credit: Reuters/John Gress
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I am a Huckabee supporter. I have never gotten involved in politics before, but i consistently supported his campaign financially.
I have voted Republican for years, but the party has lost me with their treatment of Mike Huckabee during the primary season. The only way I will vote for McCain is is he picks Huckabee as his VP.
Otherwise, someone else will get my vote, and Huckabee will get my fervent support for 2012.
The media needs to wake up, the real story on Huckabee, which they completely missed, was his ability to attract and inspire regular people who never felt any real connection to big money politics before. He reawakened a political consciousness among conservative people that really care about the USA.
The other story is the unveiling of the corruption of most media outlets, particularly FOX and several conservative radio hosts. Those of us who passively listened before, are now voting with the remote and the dial, turning off their arrogant voices, and finally starting to think for ourselves.
If you spent the time to really explore Mike Huckabee, you would have become a supporter also. There you have it.
- Posted by Mary LouJohn McCain will not get my vote; he has stated that he will leave Roe v. Wade as it is. He doesn’t want it overturned, so where are his real convictions? And what kind of judges will he appoint? I also don’t want a man for President who has such little regard for morality that he had adulterous affairs while still married to his first wife;(who by the way, waited for him the whole time he was in Vietnam, and was disabled in a car accident while he was there. But John McCain didn’t want her anymore after that.) He had numerous exploits and started an affair with the daughter of a rich beer magnate, then divorced his wife and married, his now current wife, a month later! That is not the morals of a man who should be a role model and leader of our country! He may think he has our support, but he is badly mistaken! Look at the numbers, Mr. McCain. There were big percentages of the votes that you didn’t get! And without us, YOU CAN’T WIN!
- Posted by KarenMcCain????!!!! You’ve GOT to be kidding! If we once again compromise our conservative vote, we will once again get a compromising president. Even more so with McCain! Read this:
http://discuss.alankeyes.com/showthread. php?p=3817#post3817
The Republican Party has jumped off its platform. ALAN KEYES will be going third party. Keep an eye on the website: http://www.alankeyes.com
- Posted by Katrinka YobotzLISTEN FOLKS…IN A SITUATION AS THIS YOU MUST VOTE FOR THE CANDIDATE THAT IS LEAST LIBERAL PIG. THE DONKEY PARTY WILL RAISE TAXES ACROSS THE BOARD THAT WILL IN THE END TRICKLE DOWN TO FOLKS THAT ARE ALREADY BEING SQUEEZED. A VOTE FOR ANYONE OTHER THAN MCAIN IS A VOTE FOR THE PUREBREED SOCIALIST. A VOTE FOR NADER = 0…A VOTE FOR PAUL = 0 . MCAIN IS NOT BUSH.. MCAIN WILL BE MORE LIKE REAGAN, AND KENNEDY IN ECONOMIC POLICY.
- Posted by markThere is only 1 way for Mccain to get my vote:
Huckabee as his running mate.
I will vote mccain for Huckabee if he is on the ticket, otherwise forget it McCain. You will not get our support.
- Posted by Dan CampbellNope..won’t be voting for McCain..no way, no how.I will continue to support Mike Huckabee, until I write him in on the ballot in November.Can’t hurt to dream.Can’t support a man who wouldn’t give us the debate, that thousands of us asked for..Sure doesn’t bother him to ask us for our support though does it.heh..stand your ground folks.
- Posted by RitaFor the record,I am just a regular jane..don’t call myself a Christian,although I do believe..I voted for Mike because he is REAL people..not someone with a plastered on smile,that never seems to reach his eyes (like McCain).
I am an academic and a Christian. My children go to public school. I voted for Huckabee. I am a conservative first and a republican second.
Reuters and the rest of the media boxed and quarantined Huckabee as the “evangelical candidate” and ignored his message.
McCain is a bitter pill to swallow. Only Huck will sweeten Mac. If Huck is not the VP candidate, my wife and I will take the general election day off to pray for God’s grace to live with a second Clinton administration or an Obama administration.
- Posted by SidMy husband and I decided to write in Mr. Huckabee’s name on the ballots. McCain is not totally pro-life so he will not get our votes.
- Posted by MariaI cannot support McCain. I still am a Huckabee supporter. It has become clear to me that the Republican party has used Christian conservatives to get their vote. We are a Big voice and we will not be silenced. We all must stand up for Christian values. It has also become apparent to me that the right wing cares little about Christian values. They did nothing to help Huckabee. Huckabee’s campaign made me realize that it I must be more involved. I will stand up for my convictions. If I don’t have a choice then I will not vote or else write someone in.
- Posted by diEuropeanTraveler
Yea ho!!!
If Mike keeps his promises who would say no?
Jim
- Posted by JimHELL, NO! MCCAIN WON’T GET MY VOTE! THAT SOB IS IN SORO’S POCKET- CHECK IT OUT! HE IS JUST ONE OF THE THREE LIBERAL CANDIDATES ON THE TICKET AND HE’S SET UP TO LOSE! WAKE UP AMERICA- THIS HAS ALL BEEN ABOUT GETTING HILLARY ELECTED- THE MERCURIAL RISE OF OBAMA wasn’t expected, but he is also slated to lose! Just wait and see! HILLARY KNOWS BECAUSE SHE HAS THE SUPER DELEGATES IN her POCKET. I think they set Obama up as a candidate thinking he would run against Hillary and get beat, and then he would be ‘allowed’ to be chosen as her VP; but, he started to get all the attention and I think he got a little too big for his britches and Hillary was pissed because the media wasn’t following the plan and was then playing Obama up and giving her negative pr! She had to call in her markers to make sure the plan was going as orchestrated. Think back- the next to the last debate: Hillary was on the defensive, she stated that no matter what happened she would be okay; she wore a look of intense resentment and her body language was that of someone who had been betrayed. Not by her supporters, but by Obama. Then something changed that restored her ego maniacal confidence. By the second debate, she had her old demeanor back; she was genuinely at ease! You can tell when Hillary is faking it and she was just too sure of herself from that time on. And if you noticed the change in Obama’s demeanor it was resolute, but he had a more despondent look as though he had relented to King Hillary! I think they offered him the Presidency in 2016 and it is my guess that after she wins the primary, she will ask Obama to be her running mate, (as planned) Then, the Canadian/NAFTA story was released, right after that and guess what… the media got back in line and started downplaying Obama and building up Hillary! Oh now she was gaining in the polls and the 24 hr question was now “What if Hillary pulls this off?” Not, “Hillary can’t win!” Hillary this and Hillary that and guess what? The outcome went as planned! Now Obama, even though he knows the outcome is already planned, (the fix is in) keeps on campaigning, looking very Presidential, addressing McCain as if he is really going to be in a race against him! What a laugh! McCain also knows he is not going to be the next President, that’s why he is just going through the motions! We Americans are being played like a drum, people! When are we going to wake up? Republicans and Democrats alike-do you really just want to be puppets of billionaires and special interests like Soros, being manipulated into believing and acquiesing to their goal of molding America into their image? Are your heads buried in the sand so deep that you don’t realize how corrupt these people are? We are a Republic and must remain so! America needs the values and principles that this country was founded on to remain intact. If we keep letting our rights and freedoms be subtly infringed upon and taken away, if we allow evil people to turn the country against Christians, and against Israel, this country, the great United States of America will be no more! Don’t you see? They want to auction it off to the highest bidder! There won’t be an Arizona, Florida, Montana, Texas or a California. We won’t have our country or our freedom and it could be the North American Arab States! You don’t think it could happen? Clinton, Obama and gutless, ‘Songbird’ McCain, the ‘bought off’ media and the elitists in Washington want to change America, starting with Socialism and then who knows? The President can sign treaties with foreign nations without the consent of the people that can give away our sovereignty!
- Posted by T.BarnesWake up - you sleeping Giant! Wake up!
Ed Stoddard,
I’m amazed how you along with most in the wires NEVER credit Huckabee’s support for the FAIRTAX not the support of Evangelical Christians! MILLIONS OF PEOPLE supported him on the basis of his stance on the Fairtax. Get it straight. Shame on you. I have added and excerpt of Neal’s Nuze below. Just this fact allowed him to tap into the a very large Libertarian base whom I closely align myself with.
This is an excerpt from Neal Boortz.
HUCKABEE
First … you’re going to hear that Huckabee won those Southern states because of evangelical Christians. That’s the easiest explanation for the media, so that is the one they will run with. Fact is that Romney, McCain and Huckabee pretty much split the evangelical vote evenly in Georgia. Perhaps there was some other factor working for Huckabee in this election.
Listening to CNN this morning I must have heard the words “conservative talk radio hosts” used a dozen times. The general line was that even though all of these conservative talk radio hosts “hate” John McCain, and were pushing their listeners to vote for Mitt Romney, it didn’t seem to do any good. Mike Huckabee still won the primaries in the South .. in Georgia and Alabama.
Funny … Here I thought I was actually pushing Huckabee yesterday. Then again, I’m not a conservative, I’m a libertarian. Besides … when the media talks about “conservative talk radio hosts” the list is two deep.
Back to this “hate” thing for a moment. They’re not going to change their tactics, so I just want to remind you that every time you hear someone in the media say that so-and-so “hates” someone, what they’re really saying is that so-and-so actually “disagrees” with the other party. “Hate” has become a synonym for “disagrees with.”
… AND THE FAIRTAX
As I said above, the media is reporting that Huckabee won the South because of those pesky evangelical Christians. That’s somewhat hard to support considering the fact that Romney, McCain and Huckabee pretty much split that vote, at least in Georgia.
Could Huckabee’s support of the FairTax be a reason here? While that may be so, you sure aren’t going to see the media report it that way … not if they have something else, like evangelicals, to put the blame. Remember – the FairTax would bring a massive transfer of power from the government to the people. Transferring power from government to the people is a concept that you won’t find many liberals supporting; and if liberals don’t support the idea, you surely won’t find the mainstream media supporting it. The FairTax is a revolution that cannot depend on media support … or recognition, for that matter. http://boortz.com/nuze/200802/02062008.h tml
- Posted by FidelWould any of you that supported Mike Huckabee (I am a “Ranger” for Mike) be more inclined to support the Republican ticket if Mike was asked to be the vice president?
- Posted by EuropeanTravelerI backed Mike Huckabee, I will not vote for McCain, nor a Democrat, the media was very unfair in there support of McCain literally marking Huckabee out, first they supported Romney, when he couldn’t win, they switched to McCain, so much for fair, honest reporting, I feel this Country is in serious trouble with the Candidates we now have for 4 years, hopefully the next election will produce better.
- Posted by Sue BisseI am a Huckabee supporter who will not be backing McCain unless he (for some reason) chooses Huckabee as VP. I want the the Fair Tax in place and the borders closed. Neither will ever happen without Huckabees voice.This whole primary process is flawed. I never even got a chance to cast my vote for Huckabee.
- Posted by SarahThe Huckabee supporters I spoke to say they will be shifting their support to RON PAUL. I was shocked but they explained that PAUL shared many of their views. They liked his stance on immigration, TAXES, and schooling.
So I too am supporting RON PAUL!!!
- Posted by MJTHIS IS EXASPERATING.
- Posted by BethThis article reflects the very reason Mike Huckabee did not get the GOP nomination: the consistent media stereotyping and marginalization of his campaign.
I AM A DEDICATED HUCKABEE SUPPORTER. I am NOT a Christian conservative. I am not even a churchgoer. What I AM is someone who wants passage of the FairTax (the best plan for tax reform we’ll see in our lifetimes), NO amnesty for illegals, STRONG border security, a rejuvenation of America’s economy, preservation of Second Amendment rights, American sovereignty, and complete transparency in government spending.
What I AM is someone who wants a President with executive experience that reflects all levels of government, thus preparing him (or her) properly. What I AM is someone who wants a brilliant communicator who is capable of uniting and inspiring this country.
What I AM is someone who will never vote for McCain unless serious concessions are made on the issues listed above, preferably with Mike Huckabee as VP.
If the American people had looked beyond the “Baptist preacher” stereotype, they’d have seen Huckabee’s stands on the issues, and how much sense his ideas for the future of this country make. Instead, thanks to the image the media spoon fed us for months and their inattention to his campaign, we’re stuck with McCain, Hillary or Obama, none of whom bode well for ANY of the problems facing this country.
I cannot support McCain either. When he expands the war into other countries, he will bring down more hot coals on our heads. (taken out of context, I know).
I will “write in” the name of the only canditate who addresses the CAUSE of our problems and has solid plans to fix it. Ron Paul.
- Posted by WillieMakeitHey John
Christ and the apostles WERE! Pharasies. Nice rant, you sound like Bill Clinton quoting scripture.
No classes on Christian Theology teach “WE ARE ALL EVIL”
“Can’t we just love people like Christ did?” good closer. You forgot when he took up the whip, hope McCain wouldn’t get offended by that, can anyone say ‘torture!!!!!’
Jim
- Posted by JimHuckabee has a definite likeablity factor and a “young soul” that McCain’s camp desperately needs. Plus, Huckabee’s supporters don’t just like their candidate, we love the guy!!! McCain needs this type of enthusiastic, loyal group to go to work for the Republicans or he will not win in November. Huckabee supporters will support McCain if Huckabee is on the ticket. We want our man in the White House. If he is on the McCain ticket we can wait 8 years. If not, we are hoping for 2012!!!
- Posted by Linda Rayborn