In a story that has the potential to create a massive disruption in the evangelical wing of the Republican Party, three major religious factions are apparently not getting along very well.
On Saturday, there was a large meeting of influential Evangelical leaders at the home of a prominent Texas couple. The implicit purpose of the meeting was to anoint a candidate that the group believed could derail the candidacy of former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney, who is not the choice of many Evangelicals. Similar gatherings occured in Iowa just before their Caucuses, which resulted in the anointing of former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. As a result, Santorum came out of nowhere and essentially tied Romney for first place in Iowa. Many Evangelicals would like to see a similar outcome in South Carolina.
Now, several Protestant participants at the meeting in Texas are accusing some Catholic members of fixing the ballot vote in favor of Santorum. Oy vey. This is not good news for Republican unity. Apparently, according to an article in the Washington Times, some Protestant attendees believe they were duped by the Catholics into leaving the gathering early before the final (third) ballot was taken. In the third ballot, Santorum apparently beat former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich by seventy to thirty percent, which was a significantly larger margin than had been reported on the first ballot. One attendee, not named in the Washington Times article, said he had observed a Santorum supporter writing Santorum's name on several pieces of paper and stuffing the ballot.
The irony of this accusation is that Gingrich is also a Catholic and a former Protestant to boot, which means he rejected one faith for another. Is it better to be a former Protestant or a never Protestant? It seems that political ties sometimes bind tighter that religious ones.
Additionally, Erick Erickson, the owner of the conservative blog, Red State, was at the Texas meeting. Erickson is an Evangelical Presbyterian. Erickson's perception is that the Mitt Romney surrogate at the meeting was chastising the Evangelical Christians at the meeting for applying prejudice toward Romney because he is Mormon. Oy vey number two. Erickson believes the judgmental attitude displayed by the Romney surrogate at the gathering probably hurt Romney.
Many of the comments in response to Erickson's note on Red State addressed the Evangelical Christian - Mormon divide quite forcefully. One person spelled out some of the tenets of the LDS faith that Protestants and Catholics might find objectionable, if not heretical. The LDS belief that believers become gods when they die and get their own planets was mentioned as was the LDS belief that Jesus was not conceived by Mary via immaculate conception. Oy vey number three. Will these folks be able to get along?
It seems a war is brewing within an identity group that has been a critical voter bloc for the Republican Party for several decades. This does not bode well for the election of 2012.
Evangelicals may be inclined to select None of the Above.
One candidate, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, has been very clear about his devout Christian faith but he does not play the identity politics game that seems to have infected this particular group of voters. Paul recently picked up the endorsement of a major Evangelical leader in South Carolina, which may suggest that some Evangelical voters will take a closer look at his candidacy. Given this distasteful war that is apparently brewing among some supporters of the other candidates, Congressman Paul is beginning to look like an attractive alternative.
Kevin Kervick is a social entrepreneur and freelance writer. He is the author of Discovering Possibility: A Common Sense Conservative Manifesto (For Classical Liberals Too).
If you would like to receive an update when Kevin Kervick releases another article, click on the subscribe link above.
Comments