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With Mike Huckabee campaigning pretty hard in New Hampshire these last few days, God-o-Meter wondered: in a comparatively secular state where Huck is nonetheless drawing decent-sized crowds and running a respectable third in the polls, what\u2019s his support base?\nIt turns out that Huckabee\u2019s crowds in New Hampshire aren\u2019t all that different from those he was drawing in Iowa. God-o-Meter\u2019s random sampling of a dozen attendees at a packed appearance this morning at Parker\u2019s Maple Barn in Mason\u2014enough people showed up at the 200-person capacity restaurant to force a first and second seating\u2014turned up all serious churchgoers, about half from evangelical churches. Most cited Huckabee\u2019s faith and values as the basis for their support.
\n\u201cI know that he\u2019s a Christian, and that he\u2019s a pastor, and I believe in that,\u201d said Barbara Gagron, a 63-year-old retiree from Pelham.
\nAsked why she was supporting Huckabee, 46-year-old Sue Winter said, \u201chis Christian values\u2014I\u2019m a Christian and I support anyone who\u2019s a man of God. A marketing executive from New Ipswich, Winter had brought her 18-year-old daughter, Tiara, to hear the former Arkansas governor. Tiara plans to cast the first presidential vote of her life tomorrow for Huckabee and reports that an informal survey of her all-ages Bible study showed that Huckabee was the overwhelming favorite.
\nAs a nation, we need to get back to a moral standard,\u201d said Noella Olson, a 53-year-old farmer from Hopkinton who described herself as a pro-life churchgoing evangelical. \u201cBut [Huckabee\u2019s] not in evangelical box\u2014he can dialogue with people in the Northeast.\u201d
\nOlson was not the only supporter at this morning\u2019s event to applaud Huckabee\u2019s ability to transcend the Christian right. Plenty of the churchgoers present said they also liked his populist message and some of his more progressive stances. \u201cHe was willing to give a pardon to someone who\u2019d made a mistake in life, which shoes he\u2019s a man of forgiveness,\u201d said Scott Bill Hirst, 54, who\u2019d driven from Rhode Island to hear Huckabee, citing an issue that has caused him grief among many conservatives. \u201cThat\u2019s a quality I don\u2019t\u2019 see in Mitt Romney.\u201d
\nHirst wasn\u2019t the only conservative Christian to drives from another state to see Huckabee. Doug Roseberger, a courier from Albany, drove three hours with his pastor and other church members to this morning\u2019s event, which also featured Huckabee supporter Chuck Norris. \u201cHe expresses his faith in Jesus Christ and makes that faith personal,\u201d Roseberger said, while blaming the media and the political establishment for turning a candidate\u2019s faith into a \u201cstumbling block.\u201d
\nGod-o-Meter, too, thinks Huck\u2019s overt faithfulness, such an asset in Iowa and in other early states, like South Carolina, may become a stumbling block. His faith-based campaign ensures a certain segment of evangelical and other conservative Christian support, but God-o-Meter has yet to meet a Huckabee supporter who wasn\u2019t led to him because of his or her faith. And God-o-Meter doesn\u2019t see how that connection alone will be enough to win him the nomination.<\/p>\n