2008 Hopefuls

Wall Street Journal

Once again, Mr. Huckabee failed to achieve significant support outside his evangelical base. Only 1 in 7 non-evangelicals voted for him, placing him behind not just Mr. McCain but Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney. He finished a close second overall only because he won more than 2 out of 5 evangelical voters, who made up 60% of South Carolina’s primary turnout. And he pandered to his base, too, running TV ads proclaiming himself a “Christian leader.” …

This repeats a pattern seen in other states. In Iowa, where evangelicals also were 60% of the electorate, Mr. Huckabee won but carried the votes of only 13% of non-evangelicals. In three states with more secular Republican electorates–New Hampshire, Michigan and Nevada–he has won between 4% and 8% of non-evangelicals, trailing even fringe candidate Ron Paul.

Filed under: Republicans, Romney, McCain, F.Thompson