Posted on 01/04/2008 12:24:09 PM PST by Tlaloc
Focus on the Family founder James Dobson said Friday that GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's victory in the Iowa caucuses shows that Christian conservatives still have considerable influence.
Huckabee easily defeated second-place finisher Mitt Romney in Iowa Thursday thanks to a wave of support from evangelical Christians.
"The results of the Iowa caucuses reveal that conservative Christians remain a powerful force in American politics. That had to be a great shock to those on the far left," Dobson said in a written release.
Dobson criticized what he called media elites, saying they had written off religious conservatives.
Huckabee's victory "was evidence of an energized and highly motivated conservative community," Dobson said. "Not bad for a supposed bunch of demoralized, depressed, disillusioned and disengaged Reaganites."
Dobson said he has not endorsed Huckabee and said the former Arkansas governor may not win the GOP nomination.
In the next test, the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, Christian conservatives are expected to be less of a force than they were in Iowa.
This shows that your definition of “RINO” is backwards. The Republican party has not been a conservative party for a long time. It has been a center-right party with a minority conservative wing for over 50 years. It is the strong conservatives who are the RINOs.
This does not mean strong conservatives are wrong, it just means we have overestimated our influence in the party since the exceptional Reagan years.
We conservatives thought we had taken over the Republican party due to 8 years of Reagan. That period was an exception, not a new paradigm. Ike, Nixon, Ford, Bush I and Bush II are the ruling philosophical contingent of the Republican party. Goldwater was the exception, and he went down to a huge defeat. And none of those others are/were strong conservatives if you look at their records and actions. Even Reagan did things that would be attacked by strong conservatives today. Time and comparison to the country club Republican wing has mellowed the perception of Reagan and caused him to be revered as the hero of conservatives.
The two wings of the party have stayed together so far, which has slowed the march toward Socialism while frustrating strong Conservatives. If either wing splits off, the march will speed up. It’s not good, but it’s reality. At least, that’s the reality until and unless we can change a lot of minds. So far we have not done that.
‘Cut the anti-Christian crap, Badeye. Where has Dobson either grandstanded or displayed megalomania? Youve just got issues with Christian leaders....’
I’ve got over 100,000 posts on the internet in the past seven plus years, in multiple forums.
You cannot find a single ‘anti Christian’ post among them, including what I posted on this thread.
Dobson’s a megalomaniac, and is grandstanding. He played no role in yesterday’s vote, but wants to pretend otherwise.
Thats my view of him, and his comments.
Sorry if it stung you, I made a personal observation, and you feel the need to portray me as ‘anti christian’?
Sheesh, lighten up. Again, you cannot find a single post of mine anywhere that meets your definition.
I’m not in disagreement with that. But to be a conservative in the current definition, you must not ONLY be a social-values conservative but ALSO have at least some semblence of fiscal and economic conservatism too...which is why both Rudy and Huck are not conservatives and for the opposite reasons.
On the contrary...the media elites have been promoting Huckabee.
They can ditch him when they deem appropriate, much as they ditched Howard Dean.
For now he serves media purposes...to divide the GOP. If the media wanted to, they would dish out dirt on Huckabee and evangelicals would drop him like a hot potato.
You got that right. What in the heck were these voters doing. Huck sold them a bill of goods and they believe it. Wow!!!!
Ejonesie - I’ve posted this same thought elsewhere. Do you think this in the works? This does seem to me to be an easy task and should happen before S.C.
Well, I never again want to hear sniveling about the RR supposed step-child status in the GOP.
Since they have created this litmus test of the “right kind of Christian”, lifelong abortion activism, vice-free lives, and no sinners.
No kidding. This child of Reagan is insulted. I had nothing to do with that cluster f in Iowa.
My tagline indicates whom I support.
I’ve been saying something like that all along. Dobson should endorse Duncan Hunter. It would pull Hunter out of the basement.
Absolutely right! And thats where the Social Conservatives went off the reservation the last few years...
***If you have such disdain for social conservatives, what are you doing on a social conservative website?
Why do you care what the other party is doing? If you put up a conservative for the office and you lose the election, clearly you need to work on converting people from the other party to your way of thinking so there are more conservatives voting for a conservative the next time. It’s called winning hearts and minds, and it takes work.
I see a lot of invective aimed at social conservatives these days. And some of it seems to come from Team Fred.
Thompson supporters are asking Hunterites to care about polls when they obviously dont care that much about polls, and theyre asking Hucksterites to care about conservatism when its obvious that isnt high on the Huck followers radar. Thompson is asking for both camps to care about the things they dont care about.
Thompsons promise was that by this time in the race hed be kicking tootyfruityrudy to the curb, but instead hes whining about Huckabee and barely beats McCain in Iowa, coming in 3rd when he said he needed to come in 2nd. And Intrade greeted this news with a 25 point rise in his dropout contract price.
The bible says something about to whom much is given, much is required and the parable of the talents shows that bigger results are expected from those to whom more is given. Thompson was given name recognition and money and the result is dropping polls and losing 30 points at Intrade. Time to give those resources to someone who has been much more frugal with whats been given to him: Hunter.
I will vote for Thompson if he gets the nomination, but Hunter would make a better president. Thats what primaries are supposed to be about.
Duncan is not my number one pick, but having heard him speak now a couple of times, I do have a hard time understanding how the evangelicals who were not happy with Romney, Rudy, and Thompson didn’t embrace him rather than wait around for Huckabee.
Thank you. I love this stuff, because I am confused myself. Well, I think I am a general 'fiscal conservative' in that: Yes, small government is better than goverment, period! (all I have to do is go to the post office or a get social security card!...). I WANT LOWER TAXES yes. IOW, I don't believe the Government should be daddy and momy. Got it? But I am not going to deny that the very reason I have become more active in politics is simply because I see very ugly 'social' trends, that many just sit by and watch!... I think we should fight fire with fire. If anything I don't buy the good of the "Religious Left," Who are alwasy crying for the criminals, and feeling guity about everything, etc, sorry I can't be that 'good.' :)
I should tell you that ever since the war on terror, I am total believer in a National ID card. It would help us in many things to keep track of people (many will frown at that). I also believe 'waterboarding' is not torture... I think we all know what reall 'torture' IS... etc, etc, etc.
Now, about Huck, about you seen this link yet?
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200801/POL20080104f.html
Actually, you are probably mistaking my antipathy for Governor Huckabee’s positions and untruths. I probably mixed Dobson with someone else in my mind on the first reply. I apologize to you and (if by any chance he saw it) to him.
It is possible, perhaps I’ll know more after dinner tonight.
My own thought is that it maybe in the thought process with Huckabee’s success. It is a bit unexpected from what I have heard and a tick problematic...
THAT I absolutely concur with. Evangelicals should be supporting Thompson. Huckabee is wrong on too many issues.
***A better choice would be Hunter.
Thompson is not an evangelical, having had some kind of fallout with Dobson & saying Im not going to dance to your tune, also he seems to have a Laodicean Im OK/Youre OK spiritual outlook.
Thompson: Im OK with the Lord, and the Lord is OK with me
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1934692/posts
On immigration, Hunters criticism of Thompson over this issue is well aimed. We need someone in the white house who isnt a johnny-come-lately on this issue.
Road to Des Moines Conversions on Immigration (Hunter Press release)
News Which Cannot Lose ^ | 10/25/07 | Duncan Hunter/staff
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1916889/posts
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