{"id":610,"date":"2008-01-24T18:19:00","date_gmt":"2008-01-24T18:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=610"},"modified":"2008-01-24T18:19:00","modified_gmt":"2008-01-24T18:19:00","slug":"evangelicals-reluctant-to-support-huckabee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=610","title":{"rendered":"Evangelicals reluctant to support Huckabee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font color=black><br \/>\n<strong><span class=\"headlines\">Evangelicals Reluctant To Support Minister<\/span><br \/><span class=\"NormalText\">Thursday, January 24, 2008 9:10 AM CST<\/span><br \/><span class=\"ByLine\">By Aaron Sadler<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\n<strong><span class=\"story_text\">Stephens Washington Bureau \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 <a href=\"mailto:asadler@stephensmedia.com\">asadler@stephensmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>WASHINGTON<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u201d Evangelical voters appear to be unwilling to unite behind Mike<br \/>\nHuckabee, despite the presidential candidate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pedigree as an ordained<br \/>\nSouthern Baptist minister.<\/p>\n<p>While Huckabee leads Republican<br \/>\nhopefuls in a survey of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153born again\u00e2\u20ac\u009d voters released Wednesday, it was<br \/>\nby a tenuous margin that suggested dissatisfaction with a candidate who<br \/>\nbuilt his campaign by courting social conservatives.<\/p>\n<p>Several evangelical leaders said Wednesday that like-minded voters see Huckabee as flimsy on foreign policy.<\/p>\n<p>With<br \/>\nterrorism fears still on their minds, evangelicals are looking for more<br \/>\nin a president than harmony on social issues, said the Rev. Joel<br \/>\nHunter, a Florida pastor.<\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"InStoryAd\" style=\"border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 10px; padding: 10px; float: right;\">\n<div class=\"NormalText\" align=\"center\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n<!--\naCampaigns = new Array();\naCampaigns[605] = 100;\naAds = new Array();\nnAdsysTime = new Date().getTime()\/1000;\ndocument.usePlayer = 1;\nif ((nAdsysTime >= 1199167200) && (nAdsysTime <= 1212641999)) {\naAd = new Array('news+instory', '35568-1201194343', 'swf');\naAd[3] = '288';\naAd[4] = '288';\naAd[5] = new Array();\naAd[5][0] = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ashleyhomestores.com';\naAd[6] = 'news%2Binstory';\naAd[7] = 10;\naAd[8] = 0;\naAd[9] = 605;\naAd[10] = 0;\naAd[11] = 0;\naAds[aAds.length] = aAd;\n}\nif ((nAdsysTime >= 1135231200) && (nAdsysTime <= 1214197199)) {\naAd = new Array('news+instory', '36498-1201194343', 'swf');\naAd[3] = '288';\naAd[4] = '288';\naAd[5] = new Array();\naAd[5][0] = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blueribbonautos.com';\naAd[6] = 'news%2Binstory';\naAd[7] = 10;\naAd[8] = 0;\naAd[9] = 605;\naAd[10] = 0;\naAd[11] = 0;\naAds[aAds.length] = aAd;\n}\nif ((nAdsysTime >= 1138600800) && (nAdsysTime <= 1230789599)) {\naAd = new Array('news+instory', '38682-1201194343', 'jpg');\naAd[3] = 'http:\/\/www.fnbfs.com';\naAd[4] = '1';\naAd[6] = '1';\naAd[7] = 10;\naAd[8] = 0;\naAd[9] = 605;\naAd[10] = 0;\naAd[11] = 0;\naAds[aAds.length] = aAd;\n}\nif ((nAdsysTime >= 1145854800) && (nAdsysTime <= 1461560399)) {\naAd = new Array('news+instory', '45967-1201194343', 'swf');\naAd[3] = '288';\naAd[4] = '288';\naAd[5] = new Array();\naAd[5][0] = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.harryrobinson.com';\naAd[6] = 'news%2Binstory';\naAd[7] = 10;\naAd[8] = 0;\naAd[9] = 605;\naAd[10] = 0;\naAd[11] = 0;\naAds[aAds.length] = aAd;\n}\nif ((nAdsysTime >= 1149224400) && (nAdsysTime <= 1464929999)) {\naAd = new Array('news+instory', '49274-1201194343', 'swf');\naAd[3] = '288';\naAd[4] = '288';\naAd[5] = new Array();\naAd[5][0] = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sagely.com';\naAd[6] = 'news%2Binstory';\naAd[7] = 10;\naAd[8] = 0;\naAd[9] = 605;\naAd[10] = 0;\naAd[11] = 0;\naAds[aAds.length] = aAd;\n}\nadsys_displayAd('http:\/\/adsys.townnews.com', 'swtimes.com', aAds, aCampaigns);\n\/\/ -->\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">adsonar_placementId=1331986;adsonar_pid=931767;adsonar_ps=-1;adsonar_zw=300;adsonar_zh=180;adsonar_jv='ads.adsonar.com';<\/script><script style=\"display: none;\" language=\"JavaScript\" src=\"http:\/\/js.adsonar.com\/js\/adsonar.js\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><span class=\"story_text\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Everybody<br \/>\nhas a question about his foreign relations experience. How is he going<br \/>\nto be as an international player?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Hunter, senior pastor of the<br \/>\n12,000-member Northland Church in Orlando, Fla.<\/p>\n<p>A survey of<br \/>\nevangelicals by the Beliefnet Web site indicated 28 percent support<br \/>\nHuckabee, compared to 21 percent for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. A<br \/>\nstatistically similar number of born-again voters had favorable views<br \/>\nof both men.<\/p>\n<p>Evangelicals spurred a Huckabee victory in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, but he has not won since.<\/p>\n<p>And<br \/>\nMcCain cut into Huckabee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s evangelical base in his narrow victory over<br \/>\nthe former Arkansas governor in Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s South Carolina primary.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153John<br \/>\nMcCain picked up 25 percent of the evangelicals in South Carolina, and<br \/>\nwhy did he do it? Because he had more experience,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Richard Cizik,<br \/>\nspokesman for the National Association of Evangelicals. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the<br \/>\nquestion about Mike Huckabee out there.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Cizik and Hunter were among nine evangelical leaders who participated in a panel discussion of the 2008 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Panelists<br \/>\nwere generally complimentary of Huckabee, who was portrayed as a new<br \/>\ntype of Christian leader focused on a broad area of policy priorities.<\/p>\n<p>No<br \/>\nlonger are evangelicals concerned only about sanctity of life and<br \/>\nmarriage issues, the group said. Economic, environmental, social<br \/>\njustice and global health care issues are all priorities of a modern<br \/>\nevangelical.<\/p>\n<p>Beliefnet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s survey showed the economy, government<br \/>\ncorruption and poverty were the most important topics of concern to the<br \/>\n980 respondents.<\/p>\n<p>The variety of issues important to evangelicals make it difficult for Huckabee to get a foothold, experts said.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Huckabee<br \/>\nwould have already won everything if it was just going to be, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m born<br \/>\nagain and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m George Bush No. 3,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Bishop Harry Jackson, senior<br \/>\npastor of Hope Christian Church in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>Bush in his first<br \/>\nterm had a 79 percent approval rating among evangelicals. It has since<br \/>\ndropped to 45 percent. Cizik said born-again voters, like much of the<br \/>\nrest of the country, were dissatisfied with the war.<\/p>\n<p>Cizik said<br \/>\nhe liked Huckabee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comments that the Bush administration demonstrated<br \/>\nan \u00e2\u20ac\u0153arrogant\u00e2\u20ac\u009d foreign policy. But Huckabee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s freshness on international<br \/>\nissues leave him concerned.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It may be that he is so new to the<br \/>\nscene that he will maybe not make the nomination this year, but is he<br \/>\ngoing away? No way,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cizik said.<\/p>\n<p>Hunter, who said he is voting for Huckabee, nevertheless criticized his fellow pastor for his hard line on illegal immigration.<\/p>\n<p>The<br \/>\nnew style of evangelical voter is more compassionate about immigration<br \/>\nthan Huckabee is in his plan to require illegal immigrants to return to<br \/>\ntheir native countries before trying to enter the country illegally,<br \/>\nHunter said.<\/p>\n<p>Huckabee was labeled as soft on immigration just<br \/>\nweeks ago for his support of scholarships and in-state college tuition<br \/>\nrates for children of illegal immigrants.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think he got bad<br \/>\nadvice from somebody who said \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcYou will never win the Republican<br \/>\nnomination unless you take a hard stand on immigration,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hunter said.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He took a hard right, and I think it killed him, personally.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Evangelicals Reluctant To Support MinisterThursday, January 24, 2008 9:10 AM CSTBy Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 asadler@stephensmedia.com WASHINGTON \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Evangelical voters appear to be unwilling to unite behind Mike Huckabee, despite the presidential candidate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pedigree as an ordained Southern Baptist minister. While Huckabee leads Republican hopefuls in a survey of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153born again\u00e2\u20ac\u009d voters released &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=610\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Evangelicals reluctant to support Huckabee<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-huckabee-shameful-record"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}