Evangelicals Sweep Huckabee To Iowa Victory
 
By Warren Cole Smith
 
(EP News)-With support from evangelicals and born-again Christians, an estimated 60 percent of Republican caucus goers, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee swept to a clear victory on the GOP side of Iowa's first-in-the-nation presidential primary on Jan. 3.
 
Sen. Barack Obama was the Democratic winner.  John Edwards' second place finish on the Democratic side was a blow to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who for most of the past year has been leading in the national polls.  Obama pulled in 37 percent of caucus voters, which gave him a surprisingly comfortable lead over Edwards and Clinton in a race that just 24 hours before the election was too close to call.
 
Huckabee, who just 3 months ago had not cracked double-digits in either the national or any state polling, soundly defeated Romney.  Huckabee won 34 percent of the voters, compared to 25 percent for Romney. Former Sen. Fred Thompson and Sen. John McCain battled for third place, both with around 13 percent.
 
All of the front runners pledged to press on to New Hampshire.  But Iowa is the end of the road for some of the candidates bringing up the rear.  Even before the night was done, Democratic Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Joseph Biden of Delaware leaked news that they would be pulling out of the presidential race.  And the Clinton campaign, which expected a better than third place showing, showed signs of "shock and awe."  Andrea Mitchell, an MSNBC correspondent, reporting from Clinton's Iowa headquarters, said of the Clinton caucus night rally, "This is a manufactured celebration. It really felt more like a funeral as people started strolling in from upstairs where they had obviously been gathered. This is unlike anything that I've ever seen, a completely empty, dirge-like event."
 
Turnout for the caucuses was much stronger than expected.  Projections estimated that 220,588 Democrats turned out, significantly passing the previous record of 124,000.  On the Republican side, an estimated 114,000 people participated.  The last previous contested Republican caucuses in 2000 drew 87,666 participants.
 
Christian activists were quick to praise Huckabee and give religious conservatives credit for the win.  Shannon McGinley, of New Hampshire's Cornerstone Policy Research, a pro-family group hoping to play a big role in the New Hampshire primary, said, "Mike Huckabee's victory in Iowa sends a message that voters are thrilled to finally have a candidate they can relate to, one who is not trying to capture the faith and values voters, but one who has spent a life time embracing these values."
 
But not all conservatives were happy with the outcome.  Conservative icon Richard Viguerie released a statement saying, "Mike Huckabee is a Christian socialist. He is a good man, but with a Big Government heart. He is the most liberal of all the Republican presidential candidates on economic issues.  Huckabee's approach to every problem or perceived problem is to pass a law and launch another government program. If you like President George W. Bush, you'll love Mike Huckabee."
 
Though Viguerie probably intended this comment as a broadside blast and a warning to conservatives, exit polls suggest that these may be the qualities Viguerie condemns are the very qualities Christian voters are looking for.  Indeed, among self-identified evangelicals and born-agains, Huckabee received more than 50 percent of the vote, but among the rest of Republican caucus goers, most of whom self-identified as fiscal conservatives, Romney was the clear winner.
 
Warren Smith is the publisher of Evangelical Press News Service.