Free Republic

(WASHINGTON) — Thousands of abortion opponents marched from the National Mall to the Supreme Court on Tuesday in their annual remembrance of the court's Roe v. Wade decision. A smaller crowd of several dozen abortion-rights supporters held their own rally later, marking the 35th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling that established the nationwide right to abortion. Supreme Court police reported no problems or arrests. Sisters Erin Gordon, 31, and Molly Flaherty, 21, recalled going to the annual march known as the "March for Life" with their parents when they were growing up on New York's Long Island. Gordon,...

A new report from the Barna Group warns political campaigns that assuming the evangelical vote is "splintering" over abortion would be a mistake, with 19 of every 20 members of that group citing the issue as their top concern. The report comes just as the U.S. marks the 35th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision in the U.S. Supreme Court that found in the Constitution a fundamental right to terminate a pregnancy at any time for any reason. "One of the myths about the 2008 election is that the evangelical vote is splintering over issues such as abortion and...

Mike Huckabee tried his best to expand beyond his evangelical base in South Carolina and appeal to what his campaign called "Joe Six Pack" voters. Mr. Huckabee was the only candidate to pander to devotees of the Confederate flag, telling crowds that outsiders should leave the banner flag, now displayed in a corner of the grounds of the state capitol, alone: "If somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell 'em what to do with the pole, that's what we'd do." Contrast that with the comments of Mr. Huckabee's fellow Southerner Fred Thompson:...

Doug LeBlanc is a conservative evangelical and a Republican who is considering doing something he hasn't thought about since before the Reagan era – voting for a Democrat for president. And not just any Democrat – he's taken by Barack Obama. Why Mr. Obama? Because to Mr. LeBlanc, a Virginia writer active in Episcopal Church controversies, the Illinois senator would bring to the White House "a decisive break from President Bush's foreign policy, a shattering of the racial ceiling on the presidency, youthful energy and an exceptionally bright mind."

According to CNN's fancy map of South Carolina, Fred Thompson is sapping votes away from Mike Huckabee in the socially conservative north. If that's the case, Thompson probably has a smile on his face. Thompson's distaste for Huckabee has been apparent throughout the campaign. Thompson often pushes back against Huckabee at debates and regularly sends emails critiquing Huckabee's stances on immigration and taxes. Persona-wise, Huckabee is everything Thompson isn't—charming, funny, and self-effacing. Most importantly, Huckabee possesses the start power that many Republicans hoped Thompson would have in the race. Huck is bizarro Fred. Most importantly, Huckabee has stolen Thompson's base...

An e-mail: I see that some people (Adler, Geraghty) are calling for Fred to stay in the race. The practical consequence of Thompson's presence so far has been to hand South Carolina to McCain. It's seems unlikely that this dynamic will change in other southern states. All Thompson is managing to do is to split the conservative vote and clear the way for McCain. Adler also makes the improbable claim that Romney has been revealed as a very weak candidate, even though the information is right there on The Corner that Romney has garnered more votes so far than anyone...

Republican evangelical voters who went to the polls in South Carolina on Saturday voted for Mike Huckabee, but the former Baptist minister did not win the Christian conservative vote by a wide margin. The results, some analysts said, showed that the Christian right is not as unified as it once was. Exit polls show that among nearly 60 per cent of South Carolina Republicans who identify themselves as born-again Christians or evangelicals, Mr Huckabee won support from four out of 10 voters, and was largely unable to expand his appeal to other conservative and moderate voters beyond his religious base....

A cheer went up from the crowd of Fred staffers at the Greenville Embassy Suites when Fox News called South Carolina for McCain. No, Fred is not a stalking horse, but what has emerged here is a palpable contempt for Mike Huckabee and his campaign methods (push polls Upstate) and his outright lies and blatant pandering changes of position. CW is that conservatives have serious resevations with Huckabee and McCain. If this sample is representative of conservatives-and Fred’s campaign is certainly staffed with many Reagan conservatives-then Rush and Levin are only half right. UPDATE: 9:35. A groan greeted Huck’s appearance....

Candidates from Hope are hip. Bill Clinton had his saxophone; Mike Huckabee plays his electric bass guitar. But when Americans hear the labels "Southern Baptist" or "evangelical," they probably don't immediately think "hip." Next to Mormons, evangelicals are probably regarded as the least cool segment of the American population. How did Mr. Huckabee become a hip evangelical politician?

Mike Huckabee has pulled a neat trick.His appeal so far has been limited exclusively to evangelicals, yet the press has taken him seriously as a new populist force in the Republican Party who could at any moment "break out" to appeal to_lower-income voters. Who knew a candidate of Christian identity politics would be afforded such respect? But Huckabee has managed it, which is one reason why he should open a strategic-communications firm the day after he leaves the presidential race. The ability to gull analysts into making so much from so little is a rare and potentially lucrative talent. Huckabee...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Jan. 12 -- Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee touted his candidacy Saturday as a chance for evangelical Christians to lead the Republican Party rather than just support its candidates. "I don't presume that you automatically support me because of a common faith," Huckabee told a group of more than 100 conservative pastors. "I know I have to earn that. But I also recognize that there is a unique kind of opportunity. For a long time, those of us who are people of faith are asked to support candidates who would come and talk to us. But rarely...

As a conservative Baptist Christian, I often hear that I "should" be supporting Mike Huckabee. Yet, I do not, and indeed I CANNOT in good conscience, as a Christian, support Mike Huckabee for the Republican nomination. Here are four of the reasons why, from a moral perspective, Mike Huckabee will NEVER get my vote. His dishonesty: "Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight." (Proverbs 12:22) Mike Huckabee has repeatedly been caught being fast and loose with the truth. After the Iowa caucus, he was caught lying about having a theology degree which...

(CNN) — Mitt Romney's victory over John McCain can be credited to three factors, CNN exit polling indicates. ...snip... Romney was also aided by winning a strong share of evangelical voters. As predicted, evangelical turnout was up this cycle — they constituted 38 percent of GOP primary voters. Mike Huckabee was banking on winning this bloc as overwhelmingly as he had in Iowa, but the exit polls indicate that he and Romney were essentially tied among those voters, with Romney getting the votes of 33 percent to Huckabee’s 31 percent. ...

Senator Fred Thompson is far and away the best conservative candidate to represent those who live in Jesusland, according to David Jeffers, author of Understanding Evangelicals: A Guide to Jesusland. "Evangelicals are looking for a candidate who is strongly pro-life, is for traditional families, and who is an actual Reagan Conservative." Jeffers explains, "Every GOP candidate is espousing Reagan-like characteristics, but only Thompson has the record to back it up." Jeffers claims that many in Jesusland are enamored with Governor Mike Huckabee because of his Southern Baptist roots and strong social conservative values. "There are three important agendas in the...

An email sent to Mike Huckabee supporters in Michigan gives an inside look at how evangelical activists plan to get out the Huckabee vote for that state’s primary Jan. 15, mostly by reaching church-goers this Sunday. Gary Glenn, a conservative Christian activist and a Huckabee supporter, sent the email Jan. 6. It encourages people to “distribute pro-Huckabee literature on the cars of church parking lots” and to “stand this Sunday on public sidewalks across the street from the parking lots of the biggest evangelical churches you can find, as people are departing church services, and wave Huckabee campaign signs.” The...

Richard Land, the top public policy official of the Southern Baptist Convention, argued that just as small-government and foreign-policy conservatives could not win a primary without evangelicals, "I don't think evangelicals can win without most of the rest of those coalitions.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Jan. 12 -- Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee touted his candidacy Saturday as a chance for evangelical Christians to lead the Republican Party rather than just support its candidates. "I don't presume that you automatically support me because of a common faith," Huckabee told a group of more than 100 conservative pastors. "I know I have to earn that. But I also recognize that there is a unique kind of opportunity. For a long time, those of us who are people of faith are asked to support candidates who would come and talk to us. But rarely...

The Economist on the grand coalition of the Republican Party: Business conservatives can never win a majority without the support of “values voters” (there just are not enough people around who look like Mr Romney). “Values voters” can never produce a viable governing coalition without the help of the business elite. The Republicans have seen revolts against their ruling coalition before—remember Pat Buchanan’s pitchfork rebellion against George Bush senior—and they have always succeeded in putting it back together again. They need to do the same now. Enough Republicans believe enough of the Reagan mantra—less government, traditional values and strong defence—to...

Mr. Huckabee, who was a Southern Baptist minister before serving as governor of Arkansas, is the only candidate in the presidential race who identifies himself as an evangelical. But instead of uniting conservative Christians, his candidacy is threatening to drive a wedge into the movement, potentially dividing its best-known national leaders from part of their base and upending assumptions that have held the right wing together for the last 30 years. His singular style — Christian traditionalism and the common-man populism of William Jennings Bryan, leavened by an affinity for bass guitar and late-night comedy shows — has energized many...

Much of the national leadership of the Christian conservative movement has turned a cold shoulder to the Republican presidential campaign of Mike Huckabee, wary of his populist approach to economic issues and his criticism of the Bush administration’s foreign policy. But that has only fired up Brett and Alex Harris. The Harris brothers, 19-year-old evangelical authors and speakers who grew up steeped in the conservative Christian movement, are the creators of Huck’s Army, an online network that has connected 12,000 Huckabee campaign volunteers, including several hundred in Michigan, which votes Tuesday, and South Carolina, which votes Saturday. They say they...