Mitt Romney won the straw poll conducted at Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit with 28 percent of the 5,776 votes cast, just 30 votes ahead of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Rudy Giuliani got 2% – or 107 – of the votes cast. Fred Thompson finished fourth and John McCain actually finished behind Rudy Giuliani.
What to make of it?
Well, it isn’t very good news for Romney. He had lots of his people there, just as he had in previous Iowa straw polls. Even with that effort, he was barely able to defeat to Huckabee. Romney is going to have lots of trouble with Christian conservative voters – lots and lots.
The continued support for Huckabee suggests a measure of grassroots disenchantment with Christian conservative leaders who keep throwing their support behind other candidates because they believe they have a better chance of beating Hillary. If only Huckabee could raise some money he might become a viable candidate.
Giuliani’s camp can’t be happy with the results. Getting 107 out of 5,776 votes is a remarkably bad sign of his acceptance within the grassroots Christian conservative community. It is also an indication that his speech bombed. Though he got some applause and was apparently pleased with himself, his opening salvo telling the FRC audience that Christianity was all about “tolerance” and not mentioning Jesus was dunderheaded. A conservative crowd doesn’t want to hear about ‘tolerance.’ That is, to them, a code word for everything they hate – pro-gay, pro-choice. Bad, bad day for Rudy.
As for McCain and Thompson? Ugly, ugly, ugly.
posted October 21, 2007 at 1:44 am
“A conservative crowd doesn’t want to hear about ‘tolerance.’ That is, to them, a code word for everything they hate – pro-gay, pro-choice. Bad, bad day for Rudy.”
Excuse me David?
Hate? And I noticed the distance between you and us. “Them,” us you put it. “Evangel” means the Gospel.
When the word “tolerance” comes up, it is ONLY Christians that must observe the practice of the word. “Hate” has nothing to do with opposing same-gender sex acts and killing unborn humans. No one else has to be tolerant of anything except a Christian. Jesus did not teach tolerance of sin and people that promote and encourage sin. “Go, and sin no more.” “Offenses will come, but woe to the person that brings them.” That is not tolerance. This is the biggest problem with people that see “tolerance” as complete support. That is what Progressives and Liberals do.
Jesus taught “us” to oppose sin and do everything we can SHORT OF FORCE, to try to get a sinner out of that condition. To “save them.” Salvation means saving. The formula goes: First “us” (or I) and then others. Sin causes great suffering. I “hate” suffering.
Liberal-Progressives are now giving birth control pills to 11-year old children in a public schools. STD’s are off the hook with gonorrhea being as prevelant as ever AND NOW . . . little girls need a promiscuity-derived cancer preventative shot. HPV causes cancer caused by promiscuity. So much for “progess.”
Evangelicals do not “hate” people who are promote homosexuality or that encourage children to be promiscuous and to have abortions. And I notice that you were cagey enough to frame the “hate” in generality. But believe me, Liberals saw “Christians” hating in the words you wrote.
Christians see “tolerance” as 100% supporting what they do. Now little girls are given birth control pills in public schools. Oh, did I repeat myself? Sorry.
It’s like a women being raped in a bar, and the perps saying she knew what to expect because she was wearing makeup and a skirt. She was “tolerant” that men get sexually excited at the sight of a woman looking nice. Should we “tolerate” that too?
Welcome to the world of “tolerance.” Go see where it has progressed us:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071021/ap_on_re_us/teacher_sex_abuse
Donny
posted October 21, 2007 at 4:13 am
So is Giuliani’s campaign sputtering? We can but hope. But I can’t see how Romney wouldn’t cause a lot of upset in the Bible-believing Christian part of the GOP, since all I’ve ever heard about Mormons from such folks is that the LDS is a cult, and maybe demonically-inspired, and…you can fill in the blanks I’m sure. So wouldn’t a Romney nomination be pretty hard to swallow?
Funny to see the GOP grassroots acting as if their party were some sort of democratic organization, where their preferences matter. Usually it’s all about discipline and getting behind the anointed guy– like that doofus we’ve got in the White House now.
posted October 21, 2007 at 10:07 am
I’m loving every minute of this.
posted October 21, 2007 at 10:33 am
Donny – After all this time, I think you know me better than to say I’m censoring you. If that was the case i would have done it long ago. But I believe, very passionately actually, in free speech. I don’t even see comments from you that have been blocked (the program holds certain comments if it suspects they are spam or such)… What’s going on?
posted October 21, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I just tried my response again, and was censored again. I’ll see if this gets through . . .
posted October 21, 2007 at 10:59 pm
The program holds things it deems suspicious. On one of Rod’s columns on abstract art I posted some links to some work and I got the same message. Later in the day, the message appeared with the links.
Not to worry Donny, it is not censorship.
posted December 21, 2007 at 8:09 am
I am not surprised that Romney and Guiliani are having problems among conservative Christian voters, mainly because these people won’t vote for someone who is not a ‘Real Christian’, like they think Bush is. But then, their definition of a ‘Real Christian’ does not include anyone who is not exactly like they are in terms of lip service. It doesn’t matter what the person actually does or has done, it only matters if they say the name of God enough times in a speech and know how to look pretty on camera. If that is all it takes, it’s no wonder the rest of the world thinks we’re idiots.
But I am just a cynic, what do I know?