To Mitt Romney supporters, Jan 3rd was a disappointing day. It was not only obvious, but also deeply saddening that a good portion of Iowans discriminated because of religion (see previous post by Al). On the positive side, whether your support Obama or not, history was made when Iowans helped the first African-American candidate to win such an important state primary. Although it is apparent that to most of America, including Iowa, that race is no longer an issue, it is obvious that there are still a lot of Evangelicals who would rather choose one of their own than someone far more qualified. I don’t want to broad-brush Evangelicals, because there are so many who are politically responsible, including even those who voted Huckabee, not because of his faith, but because they actually liked his policies. However, it sickens me to see that bigotry is still commonplace in some states and the many vote not because their guy is good, but because the other guy is Mormon or _____ (insert any other factor that shouldn’t matter). This quote taken from Mitt Rocks explains what happened in Iowa best:
"As I watched the Iowa caucus results rolling in, I couldn't help but wonder how Pastor Mike pulled this off. How on earth could a guy with the stench of an Amway salesman beat a candidate of Romney's caliber. But then CNN ran a shockingly telling graphic. Here are the numbers:
60% of Iowa caucus voters were evangelicals
82% of evangelicals said religious affiliation was a very important or important qualification
Mike Huckabee is an evangelical pastor
Mitt Romney is a Mormon
DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS"
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, onto more positive discourse. Despite the proverbial low-blow that Iowa gave Mitt Romney, he did still finish strongly in second and the race for the republican nomination is FAR from over. In fact it is shaping up to be a real nail-biter, and it may still not even be clear who will win the nomination until Super Tuesday when most of the states have their primaries.
Despite Mitt’s loss to the Huckster in Iowa, he actually has the most delegates so far, and the candidate with the most delegates at the National Republican Convention in the summer will take the nomination. Yesterday, he overwhelmingly won Wyoming (67% of the vote), plus, of the Republican runners, he has the most “super delegates” with six (Huckabee has three). These are the results thus far: Total Delegate Allocation
- Romney - 26
- Huckabee - 20
- Thompson - 6
- McCain - 3
- Paul - 2
- Hunter - 1
- Giuliani – 1
This is going to be an extremely close race, and I think that it might even stay close right until the last states. Even though Iowa was a blow to Mitt’s campaign, the positive side is that it may wake up Republican pundits, who think Huckabee and McCain are unsuited for the nomination, to step up and be heard.
To Mitt Romney supporters, Jan 3rd was a disappointing day. It was not only obvious, but also deeply saddening that a good portion of Iowans discriminated because of religion (see previous post by Al). On the positive side, whether your support Obama or not, history was made when Iowans helped the first African-American candidate to win such an important state primary. Although it is apparent that to most of 
3 comments:
You got to give credit to Huckabee for the win in Iowa. He knew the evangelical Iowans! Huckabee fanned the sparks of bigotry and fear of the ‘big bad corporate Mormon’ into a bondfire. Congratulation Huckster for bringing priestcraft into the election. Just remember Matthew 26:52 - “for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword”.
The entire Iowa mess is really sad for the entire Republican party. Compare the two primaries. Huckabee wins Iowa by cornering the evangelical vote by presenting himself as the evangelical candidate. Meanwhile Obama wins Iowa convincingly and eschewing any kind of status as the "minority" candidate. Identity politics have now come home to roost in the GOP while Democrats like Obama are building broad national coalitions. It's 1968 again and this time its the Republicans who are a fractured mess.
You both make good points.
Limbo, you're right, Huckabee does fuel the Evangelical hate fire for Mitt by attacking his religion and character. He never sticks to the issues.
Pastormatt, well said buddy. The Republican party is a mess, and Huckabee's campaign manager, Ed Rollins, says that the Reagan Conservative coalition is dead. Ya, that's cause he's killing it. As I see it, Romney is the only one who can unite conservatives to defeat the Democrats.
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