Romney’s evangelical hurdle starts with core theology
Good news for Mitt Romney: he won the New Hampshire GOP primary. Bad
news for Romney: evangelicals remain reluctant to support him. Rick
Santorum got 35 more votes than Romney in Iowa although no official
winner was declared because of missing ballots from eight precincts. In
addition, Rick Perry, an evangelical favorite before his campaign
gaffes, bowed out shortly before the South Carolina primary, leaving
evangelicals a choice of Santorum or Newt Gingrich as an alternate to
Romney.
In Iowa, just 14 percent of evangelicals supported the
former Massachusetts governor, according to entrance polls—a third less
than he won during his 2008 campaign. Steve Scheffler, president of the
Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, said Romney failed to convince
evangelicals that he cares about their issues, particularly outlawing
abortion and same-sex marriage.
"What evangelicals are saying is:
We don't know what this guy believes," Scheffler said. "Does he have
any public policy philosophy other than wanting to be elected
president?"
