Posted on 08/04/2007 9:11:03 PM PDT by monomaniac
A week ahead of the Republican straw poll, evangelicals in Iowa find themselves with no sure presidential pick.
Some believe the GOP presidential candidates have strayed from the moral issues that are essential to the Republican party platform, including abortion and same-sex “marriage.”
"The whole faith and values conversation is falling by the wayside," said the Rev. Mike Rose, senior pastor of First Federated Church in Des Moines, according to The Des Moines Register. "The country as a whole feels there are issues more pressing at this time. The war with Iraq is on everybody's mind. Right to life and gay marriage, which are important to Christian conservatives, aren't as big with the general public."
According to a poll by Pew Research Center, only 40 percent of all registered voters marked abortion as very important in their vote for president. Abortion was also a low priority among Republican-leaning voters (43 percent).
The top-tier issues American voters ranked are the economy and the war in Iraq.
Nevertheless, Americans are less likely to support a candidate who is pro-abortion rights (39 percent) or pro-gay rights (40 percent), a Time magazine poll found.
Congregants at Central Assembly of God Church in Des Moines are turned off by candidates who are ignoring abortion and same-sex “marriage” issues and are concerned that Republicans, who all describe themselves as Christian, will be distracted by Iraq and national-security issues.
"Morality is the No. 1 issue with me," said Ken Rogers, 62, of Central Assembly of God Church, according to the Register.
As more conservative Christians raise questions, GOP candidates will be forced to go into detail about how they feel about moral issues, Mary Tiffany, communications director for the Republican Party of Iowa, told the local newspaper.
"[T]hese issues are the heart and soul of the Republican Party platform, so we can't stray away," she said.
So far, evangelicals in Iowa are not rallying around top-tier GOP presidential hopefuls, citing "bad decisions" made by several candidates, including Rudolph Giuliani's three marriages.
While the evangelicals believe in God's ability to transform a person's life, the Rev. Jeff Bradley, pastor of Central Assembly of God Church, said, "we can't discount the decisions a person has made all through his life. Decisions made that aren't made in line with God's laws are bad decisions."
In a recent AP poll, Americans were given the choice to back any of the leading Republican front-runners currently up for the presidential bid, but nearly one quarter were not confident with the current list of candidates.
The recent poll reflects the strong evangelical constituency inside the party, and how the current hopefuls are not necessarily meeting their expectations. The poll may reveal an opening for current underdogs such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback to move forward.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is expected to finish strong in the Aug. 11 straw poll. He's the one top-tier GOP candidate that best aligns with conservative Christian values, some evangelicals say. But they have not overlooked his affiliation with Mormonism, which is a problem for some.
Lesser known GOP candidates, including Brownback and Huckabee, recently made serious efforts to reach out to Christians in Iowa. Aware of many undecided voters, they campaigned to pull in more of the evangelical and Christian vote before the straw poll, which could help boost their campaigns.
Brownback expressed confidence, saying his "pro-life/whole-life message" is resonating with evangelicals in the state.
Both Brownback and Huckabee oppose abortion and same-sex "marriage."
Some evangelicals, however, are wary of backing a second-tier candidate.
"People place their money on the horse they think will win," said Chuck Hurley, director of the Iowa Family Policy Center, told The Des Moines Register. "So the (straw poll) and primary are the places for people to stand on principle and work hard for a second- or third-tier candidate. They may become a first-tier candidate when their campaign catches fire."
In the meantime, Rose of First Federated Church reminds evangelical voters, "People need to remember we're not trying to elect a pastor, we're trying to elect a president."
So I am part of a cult huh?
Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Gebhart etc. all claimed to be born again Christians, and Southern Baptist.......
bttt
Second time this morning I notice your using that same description. Is this the level of discourse we want here, especially considering we are always being watched?
The unctious religios need to realize that they can be as pro life as they want, when Hahakmed is standing behind them with a knife to their throat, he is not going to care if they are pro-life.
"...There is a tide in the affairs of men,Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;Omitted, all the voyage of their lifeIs bound in shallows and in miseries.--William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (1599)2.
Let us face it usually on FR , when we say "conservative" we mean "pro-life." Nothing else matters. This is a thin reed to build a party on.
It is a good thing we Evangelicals have no lock step nomination in mind. We never did anyhow, but now we will have to address what is the proper conservative position and to what degree do we choose to have government interfere in the lives of others who do not believe as we.
Altogether, I think this is a favorable change in the party. The only question is whether it is favorable short term--it surely is favorable long term.
Take a look at Tancredo. As an evangelical, I am in agreement with him on the issues.
This attitude gives us RINO's every time. The main stream media declares who the major candidates are . . . only two conservatives, Goldwater and Reagan, broke through the media guantlet in the last 70 years. Time to think for ourselves.
No joke.
I am joining you in supporting Duncan Hunter. I guess my only question now is, if he loses, who will I vote for in the general election and who stays on my “will never vote for” list.
You have bought the twisted lies of liberals and ignore the interference liberalism and even libertarianism places on all. Take a few giant steps back and look at the bigger picture. When public school children are being taught to think homosexuality is just another choice equal to heterosexuality, I would call that interfecence. Etc. Everyone's political position causes some sort of interference for those who disagree with it.
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