Posted on 04/22/2014 5:26:46 AM PDT by xzins
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee warned if the Republican Party ignores social issues in the upcoming national elections, then evangelical voters will simply stay home.
The evangelical vote in America has been a key ingredient in deciding who becomes the Republican nominee for president. Polling bears that out.
Yet the social issues near and dear to the hearts of evangelicals are under attack within Republican circles.
A few years ago, former Gov. Mitch Daniels, R-Ind., wanted to declare a truce on the hot button social issues.
"All I was saying was we are going to need to unify all kinds of people. Freedom is going to need every friend it can get," he argued.
That's the line by some within the GOP who say that the only way the party can get more votes and win elections is by staying away from controversial social issues like abortion and gay marriage.
But Huckabee, who's considering running for president in 2016, told CBN News that ditching these issues may cost the GOP evangelical votes.
"It leaves them at home. They just don't go vote, which they didn't do very strongly in 2012. There were fewer evangelical voters who voted for Romney than McCain. If 10 percent more evangelicals had voted for Romney, Romney would be president right now," Huckabee said.
Nevertheless, many in the Republican Party appear intent on phasing out social issues.
Just this past week, the Nevada Republican Party stripped out all language pertaining to abortion and marriage.
And after President Barack Obama won re-election in 2012, a Republican National Committee document concluded the following: "When it comes to social issues, the party must in fact and deed be inclusive and welcoming."
But Huckabee suggested the GOP might want to rethink that strategy.
"This notion of 'don't mention those issues because you might offend the voters who are leaning left,' you better worry about who are you going to leave at home, cool off, and completely chill out the voters who just will say, 'Well, I really don't have anyone to carry the issues that matter for me,'" Huckabee warned.
Huckabee insists that social conservative candidates will need to stand firmly for their values and convince the party that issues like marriage and abortion are an important part of the total equation.
"I think it's a mistake to think that younger voters are going to make their entire election decisions on a candidate's position on same-sex marriage," Huckabee predicted.
"If a candidate can articulate the reason he's for traditional biblical marriage is because of his biblical viewpoint, then will they hold that against them anymore than they would hold it against a Muslim who won't eat pork or drink liquor? If they do, then the problem is bigger than what the position is; it's why they hold the position," he added.
Social conservatives are the small government people, that is why the tea party is more social conservative, more religious, than the GOP.
It is also why the vast majority of social liberals, vote for big government and against conservatism.
I am among those “supposed” Christians that voted for Romney and I have no regrets. I knew he was our last chance to stop the socialist onslaught.
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Supposed is the operative word.
If you regard any man as your last hope, you have lost your way or never known it.
Truly, God can do anything. There are still many Christians in this place, but we need a Spiritual renewal in this age of government, media and Hollywood on an all out anti-Christ campaign. It is too easy - especially for the youngers in Christ - to get discouraged.
You’re right.
Romney isn’t 0bama.
That’s really all that can be said of him.
AND THAT ISN’T ENOUGH. It wasn’t enough in 2008, it wasn’t enough in 2012, and it won’t be enough in 2016.
The GOP must nominate a candidate who the “base” (and that includes those conservatives primarily interested in social/cultural issues) can vote FOR. Don’t tell me that I must vote for the GOP candidate because he’s not the democrat candidate. Tell me why I should vote FOR the guy/gal ... and it had better be credible.
If the GOP comes up with another Romney, or McCain, or even Bush ... then the next President will be a democrat.
It doesn't much matter now. The damage is done.
I don't believe obamacare will be repealed. It may be modified, but the end result will be the same. The govt will determine what's good for you, what you can have and what you can't. The debt is beyond our ability to pay if interest rates return to normal. Our military is now more PC than ever and is hostile to Christianity. We have the lowest labor force participation rate we've had in 35 years.
I don't see a big turn around even with victories in 14 & 16. The Pubs made it clear they really aren't any better than the Rats when they excluded themselves from obamacare restrictions.
reading is fundamental
I’m more of a small government (which in my humble opinion the state do not need to know who is sleeping with who if you’re LEGAL.) and fiscal (meaning less taxes, regulations and defund ObamaCare) conservative. I’m not a social conservative - I’m more of a social libertarian (support marijuana legalization, pro life and pro gay marriage.)
A conservative is concerned with conserving wholesome values and practices that have made us an excellent nation.
Gay marriage is not one of those. It is extremely dangerous to both the individuals and the culture.
Marijuana legalization is being shown to be dangerous with 2 people dying very recently due to marijuana and the Colorado legislature saying it will enact controls.
Pro life is fully conservative.
We will never know how many children living today were the result of rape, but it is certainly greater than .01 percent
To me the government job is to protect the citizens (including defending the border), printing money (backed by gold) and that is it. The federal government should not be in areas where the states or local government should be in.
So true...so true...
I have to agree with you.
Is it “small government” when the govermment tells people that you can’t marry someone? Sorry that is the same as the government telling you you can’t have a 60 ounce soda or a smoke. Are you in favor of those laws?
If you support DUI laws that forbid DUI, then you should support laws controlling other unsafe practices.
You are a libertarian?
It is big government to create and impose such a twisted perversion on the human race, especially in America.
It is big government to create new categories of gay marriage and I presume polygamy, since you are libertarian, on the military system, in federal employment and immigration, that increases the size and cost of government, and since libertarians are libertarians at all levels of government, on the states.
You might agree with me on some points, but obviously you will disagree with me on others.
No state or federal legislation has been violating the civil rights of homosexuals through the past forty or fifty years, yet this group of mutants demand special rights and privileges; insisting that the entire population accept and respect their personal mutations or dysfunctions.
Equal rights were not sufficient for homos. These mutants insist on violating the rights of others, and physically violating and warping the children of non-mutants. The backlash that is occurring is only going to get more severe.
Homo mutants are not compatible with human civilization.
I totally agree with this statement, I BELIEVE MOST people could care
less how gay people live their lives!!! HOWEVER THEY HAVE CRAMMED
their way of life down our throats (no pun intended)!!!! Forcing business
with religious beliefs to court, when there ARE MANY other businesses
that would be happy to do their photography, cakes, ect.ect. they want SPECIAL RIGHTS, they want EVERYONE punished who doesn’t agree with their life style!!!! These folks could CARE LESS how you live but instead WE MUST AGREEE with how they live WE MUST LIKE AND ACCEPT IT!!!!!
In the 90s when I was disappointed with the GOP, I was a libertarian. In social issues, I still am, but I am a fiscal small government conservative.
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