...the more they stay the same, according to a new Pew survey showing that for all the yakkity-yak about the Evangelical-Republican crack-up and Obama's religious outreach, white Evangelicals are backing McCain as strongly today as they backed Bush in the past. They're not nearly as enthusiastic for McCain, but they're still going to vote for him, they say.
The full Pew results are here. It's a very comprehensive poll, one that shows a rising sense among voters that churches are too involved in politics.
I wonder: has MSM eagerness for the Religious Right old guard to fade away caused the media to overplay the openness of white Evangelicals to Democrats? Over to you, Get Religionistas...
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What these candidates say is far less important thatn what they have already done. And are yet to do.
If McCain picks Lieberman or Ridge for his running mate, it will be the final nail for me. It was hard enough to get behind him anyway. If he chooses Romney, I'll stick, more or less unwillingly, but Obama is totally unacceptable, based on his extreme leftist mind-set, very unsavory associates, typical Chicago-machine activities, radical pro-abortion votes and propensity to say one thing to one group and the opposite to another during the campaign.
But many like me will watch the polls carefully and if their state looks like it is going for BO by enough of a margin that one vote won't make a difference, I'll bet there will be many write-ins or third party votes - to send a message that we will not be taken for granted any longer.
Not to seem ignorant, but how does one go about writing in a vote? I to intend to write in Ron Paul but would have no idea how to go about it and I don't think the pleasant grandma sort of ladies running the polling place do either.
I also wonder if any provisions have been made for "write-in" votes with these "new-fangled" compooterized voting machines. Ours,for this year at least, are still the standard lever madels.
And the reason evangelicals, such as myself, almost always end up voting for the Republican candidate, no matter how greatly we disagree with them, is the simply "a third party vote is a vote for the Dem candidate" argument. Here's my argument, with McCain, no matter what he says, he will not be appointing truly conservative Supreme Court judges anyway, I'm not even sure they make those any more. The best we can hope for is more neo-cons, pro-choice and pro-eminent domain. I don't need it.
Can't speak for your jurisdiction, who knew, but in mine (Oklahoma) it has been illegal as well as physically impossible to "write in" a candidate's name for many years.
The physically impossible part is due to the use of a computerized ballot which is read by a machine as you insert it in the ballot box. ANY marks outside of the boxes beside the pre-printed choices, automatically invalidate the vote.
Good luck with your state.
McCain and the GOP in general need to steer the party away from the Religious Right and ultra-right and back near the center as Clinton and the DLC tried to do with the Democrats. Only then can the Republicans win back the public, former GOP states, and previous huge electoral victories. McCain and the moderate, moderate conservative, and "RINO" Republicans shouldn't pay too much attention to the Limbaughs, Hannitys, Coulters, and Dobsons of the party. After all, the religious and social conservatives won't have anywhere else to go, so they'll have to learn to compromise as the liberals did when the moderate and conservative Dems flooded into Congress in '06.
Re: write-in votes--check with your local chapter of League of Women Voters. They always have the straight dope.
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