I noticed the following title on an article at Christianity Today:

Super Tuesday Results Show Split Between Evangelicals and Their Spokesmen

The thought that popped into my mind was: “They must not be speaking for the Evangelicals then.”

A nationwide Super Tuesday primary may have tightened Sen. John McCain’s hold on the Republican presidential nomination. But his candidacy has already exposed divides between evangelical voters and their spokesmen. And with surveys indicating many undecided evangelical voters, experts say Democrats could make inroads, depending on which candidate they eventually nominate.

Evangelical Republicans divided their votes nearly evenly between the top three candidates, according to exit polls. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee collected 34 percent, while former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney earned 31 percent. McCain followed closely with 29 percent.
Huckabee, despite little official support from conservative leaders, won five Southern states with large numbers of evangelicals. Romney, the preferred candidate of many high-profile conservatives, could not top either Huckabee or McCain in any Bible Belt state.
“Trying to pigeonhole evangelical voters by looking at a few leaders is probably a big mistake,” said John Green, senior fellow in religion and American politics at the Pew Forum.

Um…I think it’s obvious that evangelicals are a diverse group and no one can really speak for them. It’s kind of insulting for anyone to try. Dobson doesn’t speak for me and doesn’t have any sway over my vote and clearly I’m not alone in this.
And then there’s this:

“One conclusion that you could draw is a lot evangelicals are ready to move beyond President Bush,” Green said.

Amen to that!

More from Beliefnet and our partners
Close Ad