Evangelicals See Dilemmas in G.O.P. Field

by Michael Luo, The NY Times: . . . Unlike in the 2000 presidential campaign, when George W. Bush was able to overcome early doubts among religious conservatives by speaking the language of personal faith, the three most prominent Republican candidates, Rudolph W. Giuliani, Senator John McCain and Mitt Romney, are continuing to have difficulty winning over this crucial constituency in the Republican base. The calculus at this point for social conservative voters, who represent more than 60% of Republican caucus goers here in Iowa, is replete with tradeoffs over who best adheres to their values and who is ultimately electable next year. Interviews with more than 40 evangelicals recently across Iowa at campaign events, churches and over the telephone found that many feared Mr. Giuliani might win the nomination even though he supported abortion rights. But they are wrestling with whether Mr. Romney’s recent conversion to opposing abortion is genuine, and they wonder how much to trust Mr. McCain, who has harshly criticized the religious right in the past.

. . . Partly because of their qualms about the candidates already in the race, some evangelicals are hoping that they might find a better match in a Republican who has yet to formally announce his candidacy, former Senator Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee. But for now many Christian conservatives interviewed, at least here in Iowa, appear to have settled tentatively on Mr. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who has been advertising and campaigning aggressively in the state and has been leading in recent polls.

. . . In an informal survey taken by this reporter at an adult Sunday school class of about 30 students at First Assembly of God in Des Moines, former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, a former Baptist minister, finished ahead of Mr. Romney, eight to five, with none of the other candidates getting more than one or two votes. But the largest segment of the class, nine students in all, said they remained undecided. . . . Most of the 40 evangelicals interviewed for this article, however, said they were not interested in throwing away their vote, saying Mr. Giuliani would be preferable to any Democrat . . . [Read More]

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