Iowa Conservatives Still Up For Grabs

Huckabee Has An Edge, But Many Remain Undecided With Just One Week To Go

(AP)  Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee would seem to be the answer to their prayers, yet for many Christian conservatives in Iowa, he has not closed the deal for the Republican caucuses.

Do they still like Mitt Romney? Are they intrigued by Fred Thompson? As always, voter uncertainty comes with the Jan. 3 caucuses, now just a week away.

Huckabee, the former Baptist minister, is leading in the Republican polls here, though his advantage has narrowed. Perhaps, that's due in part to the negative TV commercials Romney is airing.

"I think I'm leaning toward Governor Huckabee," says Lori Brown, who works at an accounting firm in Sheldon. "I guess I'm not sure who else I really like. But he seems to be just a real guy. I'm a Christian, too, so I see eye-to-eye with him.

"At this point."

On Huckabee's final swing through Iowa before Christmas, many found him funny and charming, especially when he borrowed a bass guitar to play "Takin' Care of Business" in the Sioux City High School auditorium.

"I thought he did a good job of emotionally connecting," said Michael Andres, a college theology professor in Orange City. Andres is "warming to Huckabee," although he has also been interested in Arizona Sen. John McCain among the Republicans and in Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.

"I didn't know if there was a whole lot of substance," Andres said of Huckabee. "He didn't explain what he was going to do. I felt like he spent a lot of time separating himself from Romney."

Huckabee is spending time responding to criticism from Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who has flooded people's mailboxes, telephones and televisions with negative information about the former Arkansas governor's record on immigration and other issues. Romney has spent millions of dollars pumping up his own profile and organizing supporters.

Huckabee tells audiences he is being outspent 20-to-1 by Romney. In Orange City, he joked about mailboxes stuffed full of campaign mailings: "I know you normally look forward to Christmas cards this time of year. This time, you go and - 'Huckabee's a bum, Huckabee's a bum, Huckabee's a bum, Huckabee's a bum.' "

"My wife could've told you that and saved the postage," he said, to laughter.

But some of the criticism is sticking.

Of Romney, retiree Judie Cain of Council Bluffs, Iowa, says, "I like his take on immigration."

"I'm on Social Security now, and I don't like the idea that it's going to immigrants when I paid in it all my life, and they just swam across," says Cain. In fact, only legal immigrants are entitled to Social Security benefits, and illegal immigrants pay millions of dollars a year in Social Security taxes.

"Now, I know Huckabee is probably a good candidate, too, but I don't think he's as intelligent," she said.

Thompson, the "Law & Order" actor and former Tennessee senator, has the most ground to cover because of his late, sluggish entry to the race.

He brought a campaign bus to Iowa for the final two weeks of the campaign, with a short break for Christmas, but he hasn't spent as much time as Romney or Huckabee in a state where, because of its first-in-the-nation caucuses, voters insist on face time with the candidates.

If people could see him, "I think they would follow right along with him," says Bob Knowler, the county treasurer in Woodbury County, which includes Sioux City.

"He tells it like it is, he's a straight talker and he's got good ideas," says Knowler, an early Thompson supporter. "I don't know what he needs to do different. I don't know whether starting late is hurting him. I don't know what his problem is. We just know he's not doing well in polls. But how much faith do you put in polls?"

Thompson's biggest problem seems to be that Huckabee has taken his place as the easygoing, Southern charmer who could make anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, pro-gun voters comfortable, as opposed to Romney, who supported abortion rights before running for president, and Rudy Giuliani, who has supported abortion rights since he became mayor of New York in 1993.

At 52, Huckabee is younger and more energetic than the 65-year-old Thompson, and has obvious speaking skills from his years as a preacher.

Huckabee also seems nice, so nice that people often don't notice a zinger. Instead of talking about Romney's privileged upbringing, he says: "You know, growing up a Huckabee didn't exactly open up all the doors for me as a kid," he said in Sheldon, describing his hardscrabble upbringing. "It wasn't like, `Oh, are you of the Huckabees of Hempstead County?"'

Not everyone is undecided. All Ed Krosschell, an Orange City retiree, needed was for Huckabee to rise in the polls.

"I like him because he's a Christian, and he's in the right community for that," said Krosschell, who is retired from the Greyhound Corporation. "I was kind of up in the air when he was like an asterisk, like he said. I really didn't know who to vote for. I was part of the Christian Coalition thing. I was waiting for the right thing to come along."

[duktig1]

On the issue of Christianity (Mitt''s or any others), I do not think that any one sect has copyrighted the term Christian and therefore no one owns the right to determine whether someone is a believer or not. I think it is a shallow argument to claim that since no one else thinks that one group or another is Christian, that the weight of public opinion makes it so. Just look at the life of Jesus himself. He and his followers made up a small group of individuals; most of which were ostracized, claimed to be heretics, and many were killed by those of the main stream that felt they were out of step with the norm.

I gladly claim anyone to be Christian who believes in Christ, and lives a life that Christ would be proud of them living. Christ himself said that %u201Cby their fruits ye shall know them.%u201D There are good people of all faiths, sects, creeds and cultures around the country and world and how they live their lives should be the litmus test of what they believe.

[duktig1]

There have been several claims made over the past several weeks that Mitt%u2019s success was largely, if not completely a result of his father%u2019s money. While %u2018dad%u2019 may have paid for Mitt%u2019s college at Harvard, Mitt had to do the work, and happened to graduate very high in his class with two degrees simultaneously; Law and MBA. He also had to work hard to impress the folks at Bain, or else they wouldn%u2019t have promoted him and given him the chance to succeed at Bain Capital. With every opportunity his work produced, he had to do the work or else he would have failed and the venture with it. At the Olympics in Salt Lake, there was no one else running the thing except for Mitt. So, my conclusion is that while his parents provided him a great opportunity, he had to do something with it himself. I certainly hope we don%u2019t think our successes are totally dependent on whether our parents were successful or not. My view is that it is up to us to make something with whatever we have.

[rowdytexan2]

I hope those Iowa conservatives realize where their money went the last four years and realize that the republicans in no way resemble CONSERVATIVES.

And I hope that they realize that because a man claims he is a Christian, yet supports the lies and corruption of the republican Neocons, cannot possibly be a Christian conservative, much less Evangelical.

These men only support morality when YOU practice it, and they consider themselves exempt from it.

[werchange]

RON PAUL IS THE NEW WAY
What we need is a President who will show us the way. Not the old way. Not the same way, but a NEW way. Think about this for a minute. What if we pulled all of our troops out of South Korea? They''ve been there for 50+ years. What if we quit worrying about Iran, but instead, realized that its having a nuclear weapon will not mean the end of the world? What if we pulled all of our troops out of the Middle-East, and brought them all home? What if we realistically addressed the National Debt, and paid attention to REALLY DOING SOMETHING about stopping illegal immigration? These are the ideas of Presidential candidate, Ron Paul. He''s a ten term Congressman and a physician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. He''s an intellectual who''s published four books, three of which are devoted entirely to sound economics and one to foreign policy. He was raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania as a pious Lutheran, but now he attends a Baptist church. Paul is given to mulling things over morally. Whenever he recollects the helicopter pilots he treated as an Air Force Flight Surgeon (Captain) during the Vietnam War, a war which he now says was "totally unnecessary and illegal," he laments, "They were gung-ho. I''ve often thought about how many of those people never came back." Candidates with the high level of personal integrity and proven track record of adherence to The Constitution, Congressman Paul has always demonstrated only come around once in a lifetime, if we''re lucky.

[merlgrey]

mis-perception5 says, "America is the largest enterprise in the world and folks know that Mitt is the only one qualified to run that enterprise."

the american government isn''t supposed to be running any enterprise. arguably the source of our biggest problems be it domestic social issues or our foreign policy issues are directly related to washington cozying up to and taking orders from corporate fascism and super wealthy elites, all the while playing the average american taxpayer who gets very little benefit and all the burden.

vote for america and americans- not the elites of either party.

(ps, www.ronpaul2008.com/)

[jersupporter]

Mutt was born with gobs of MONEY and with a famous polician father... his sucess was HANDED TO HIM. It wasn''''t anything he earned.
Much like the Chimp that''''s currently in the White House, just a bit more polished. His native talents lend themselves more to Used Car Salesman than anything else.
Mutt claims to be a Christian, but he really belongs to a cult of crazies that NO OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION ACCEPTS AS CHRISTIAN.
Posted by MyIDonCBS at 01:59 PM : Dec 26, 2007
-----------------------------------
ARE YOU A BIGOT MyIDonCBS? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black?

[jersupporter]

Answer: only racists will find that offensive. Are you one? There is nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage. It would only become a problem if Obama were to support his ancestral home OVER and ABOVE this country, which he does not do. So, quit your whining about irrelevancies Posted by MyIDonCBS at 01:48 PM : Dec 26, 2007

Then why worry about the confederate flag? Those southern Americans are proud of their ancestry and heritage? Trust is avery viable question in this campaign and Obama''s questionable issues (to include faith) are relevant. So please stop with your holier than thou attitude and accept the FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

[autee19]

I would urge every tax paying voter to study the FairTax at http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer. Enacting it would be the very best thing that could happen to our country and to the citizens of this great country. After you read about it, remember that Mike Huckabee is the only candidate promoting the Fair Tax. Just that one thing should make every voter support him.

[myidoncbs]

mis-perception5 says, "America is the largest enterprise in the world and folks know that Mitt is the only one qualified to run that enterprise."

Uh, really? Mutt was born with gobs of MONEY and with a famous polician father... his sucess was HANDED TO HIM. It wasn''t anything he earned. Much like the Chimp that''s currently in the White House, just a bit more polished. His native talents lend themselves more to Used Car Salesman than anything else.

I say, GET LOST MUTT!

And, don''t ever forget: Mutt claims to be a Christian, but he really belongs to a cult of crazies that NO OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION ACCEPTS AS CHRISTIAN.

Besides wearing magic underwear for "protection" with symbols incribed on them that were taken from the Freemasons (their "prophet" Joseph Smith was a member), Mutt also believes Joseph Smith''s LIE that the American Indians are descended from the Israelites. This has been conclusively proven to be NOT TRUE by DNA evidence, as well as by anthropological, sociological, and historical records. Such sloppy "divine revelations" lead to serious doubts about the entire cult.

[myidoncbs]

JERSupporter asks, "Excuse me but, do these principles offend anyone else"?

Answer: only racists will find that offensive. Are you one?

There is nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage. It would only become a problem if Obama were to support his ancestral home OVER and ABOVE this country, which he does not do. So, quit your whining about irrelevancies.

[jersupporter]

I have provided a link for the church Barrack Obama and his celebrity friend Oprah attend. Some things the church stands for are as follows:

1. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA

2. We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black.

3. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization.

Excuse me but, do these principles offend anyone else. Can one imagine a white person belonging to such an organization and the words racism not being yelled from the roof tops?

Click on the link : http://www.tucc.org/about.htm

[jon2012-2009]

No Republicans for me this time, Ron Paul notwithdstanding. This goes all the way down to the city dog catcher. The Republicans have to clean up their act: renounce their heritage of racism and bigotry and moral arrogance, give more than lip service to the letter and spirit of our Constitution, conduct themselves with honesty. A tall order, but it''s Christmas time, I can wish for anything.

[micma-2009]

The first candidate to say that God spoke to him and told him to invade more countries and kill more brown people will win the conservatives over for sure.

[jpbrimmer]

this mornings paper stated the cost for the war was at 500 billion (with a b) and continuing. I''m voting for the guy that will end this nonsense.

[mcvet]

These Canidates have to start Advertising where the "Con''s" are... the KKK Web Site is a good place to start, followed by the American Nazi Party. If you will pull up either of them you will find the bigger part of the Present day Republican Parties Platform so it only stands to reason that you would be better able to hook up with them there or at one of the Fanatic Religious Sites. Sieg Heil and Amen.

[mcvet]

That''''s why I''''m voting for Mitt!........GO MITT!


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Posted by perception5 at 09:12 AM : Dec 26, 2007
+ report abuse

ROFLMAO Right! Can you say Madame President? ROFLMAO Sieg Heil Bush!

[perception5]

Mitt Romney will win the GOP nomination and go on to be the 45th President of the USA

Mitt is the class of the field with more cross-functional experience than all the other candidates combined.

America is the largest enterprise in the world and folks know that Mitt is the only one qualified to run that enterprise.

Well rounded and solid America needs leadership that going to "fix" the domestic issues that we have as a nation.

That''s why I''m voting for Mitt!........GO MITT!

[runningralph]

dutchman57,
I like Ron Paul. He''s got some good ideas. But when his supporters make outlandish statements "Gudy is a New York thug" or "McCain is insane", they do harm to his cause. Same is true for people clog up the blogs with hysterical rhetoric. It might get people"s attention but it will drive away voters.

[ixoye_02]

Some of Ron Paul''s supporters on the web frankly suck big time...to Ron''s detriment, in my opinion. I used to like Ron Paul but his followers have managed to turn me off to Ron. Maybe if Ron''s supporters would shut up and point to Ron''s website where we can hear from the candidate himself. Maybe independents like myself can make up our own mind instead to being bombarded by the rantings of Ron Paul''s web "groupies". I am not sure that those who criticize Hillary''s personality cult are any different. Shut up already!!

[watcher269-2009]

So Huck, How would you handle this controversy?

Before EPA administrator Stephen Johnson rejected California%u2019s application to impose greenhouse-gas regulations beyond federal requirements, auto executives appealed directly to *** Cheney. Sure enough, Johnson delayed his decision until after the VP had talked to the execs: %u201COn multiple occasions in October and November, Cheney and White House staff members met with industry executives, including the CEOs of Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler. At the meetings, the executives objected to California%u2019s proposed fuel economy standards.%u201D


You can probably guess what happened next.

The US vice-president, *** Cheney, was behind a controversial decision to block California%u2019s attempt to impose tough emission limits on car manufacturers, according to insiders at the government Environmental Protection Agency.

Staff at the agency, which announced last week that California%u2019s proposed limits were redundant, said the agency%u2019s chief went against their expert advice after car executives met Cheney, and a Chrysler executive delivered a letter to the EPA saying why the state should not be allowed to regulate greenhouse gases.


%u201CMerry Christmas, California. Love ***.%u201D