Social conservatives post-Huckabee

By 

Jordan Sekulow

|
June 24, 2011

2 min read

American Heritage

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Guess whose photo appears right underneath an article in the latest edition of The Economist with the headline, “The silence of the right: Social conservatives and the tea-party movement are still waiting for their candidate in the Republican nomination race”?

With Mike Huckabee out of the presidential race, there is much debate about which candidate will garner the bulk of the social conservative vote in the upcoming Republican nominating contest. Why is this segment of Republican primary voters so crucial? Numbers don’t lie. ABC’s former polling director Gary Langer found that, “In 2008, self-identified evangelical Christians constituted 44 percent of all Republican presidential primary voters.”

Evangelical Christians represented a majority of 2008 GOP Primary voters in 11 of the 29 states in which exit polls were conducted. In Iowa and South Carolina . . . evangelicals provided exactly 60 percent of the vote. In 10 other states, including many outside the Deep South, evangelicals represented between one-third and 46 percent of the vote.

If those numbers are not enough to convince you about the impact of social conservative voters, take a look at the map here and focus on the percentages in states like Ohio, Florida, Texas, and even California.

In a field missing the former Baptist minister, turned governor, turned national candidate, turned cable news host, the social conservative vote is up for grabs like never before. True, not all social conservatives, especially those outside the South, voted for Huckabee in 2008 and plenty more have become what my friend David Brody from CBN News calls “Teavangelicals.” These newly classified evangelical voters are looking for a candidate with solid social issue credentials combined with a questionable commitment to the implementation of tea party-style economic policy and federal government reforms. There was already some evidence that this group – the dominant force in tea party politics – was weary of Huckabee’s fiscal record as governor of Arkansas.

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Please note that in discussing political issues, candidates’ positions and political party statements, Jordan Sekulow is offering analysis in his individual capacity as lawyer and commentator. He is not speaking on behalf of the American Center for Law & Justice. The ACLJ does not endorse or oppose candidates for public office. Nothing contained in this article should be construed as the position of the ACLJ.