Romney takes a hit from the Christian right

[Playinghardball]

CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney hit a roadblock Sunday in South Carolina as Christian conservative leaders coalesced behind Rick Santorum in the race for the presidential nomination.

A group of 155 Christian evangelical leaders from around the country endorsed Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, Saturday after holding a vote on a Texas ranch to agree on a single candidate before the January 21 South Carolina primary.

“It’s a big hit, let’s be honest,” Senator John McCain, who recently endorsed Romney, said on CNN. “There’s a very strong evangelical movement in South Carolina, particularly inland.”

The move by the Christian right brought to the surface an undercurrent of alarm, if not outright hostility, among some evangelical Christians over the prospect of a Mormon being nominated to run against President Barack Obama in

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[DCBob]

1. I doubt this matters.

too little too late.

[Renew Deal]

2. Is the "alarm and hostility" because Romney is Mormon or that he has no connection to evangelicals?

[customerserviceguy]

8. Why can't it be both?

They sat on their hands for so very long, and they totally muffed it in 2008 because they thought that Hucksterbee was going to save them. Yes, he saved them from Mitt, but they totally missed how McLame would sneak in there.

[Mz Pip]

3. It will probably help Romney

It won't be enough to keep Romney from winning. Santorum and Paul and Grinch split the vote and Romney will end up with the most votes but still less than the total of the votes going to everyone else.

[zbdent]

4. It really would be nice for the Republicans to have to battle to the last minute

for the nomination ... so that the "liberally-biased media" would have to focus on the GOP infighting ... like it tried to do with Obama v Hillary in 2008, leaving McCain & co. to just hurl firebombs at the frontrunner, with the "liberally-biased media's" blessing.

[customerserviceguy]

9. It would, indeed

And if they had selected Gingrich over Santorum, it would have continued to the convention. It remains to be seen whether or not this will tip the scales for Sick Rantorum over Newtie, but if it ends in a tie between them, I don't know what the fundies will do.

I've stated in multiple threads that I don't think a Romney non-majority win in SC and/or FL will be the end of this, I still want to see what happens when Romney faces a single anti-Mitt in the winner-take-all states. If he 'wins' the first four contests with underwhelming percentages, he will still have a very modest delegate counts, and the fundie super PACs will bankroll the last anti-Mitt standing.

[David__77]

5. It's not about his being Mormon, for the most part.

It's about the fact that he has no real principles. He was for civil unions then against them. He was for abortion rights then not. He can flip quite easily. He is about power and that is all.

[customerserviceguy]

7. Naaah, I think it is.

They know how bad it will be when LDS missionaries everywhere will talk about President Romney, especially overseas where this would have some influence.

I promise you, if Romney is the GOP nominee, the fundies may actually vote FOR Obama to keep it from happening, it's that bad for them.

[mr_liberal]

6. This is more of a help to Romney

because Santorum has no chance. Gingrich is the only credible alternative to Romney.

To me this means the religious right are accepting Romney as the nominee. if they weren't they would back Gingrich.

They'll be fine with Romney. They know they can put pressure on him to get the supreme court picks they want, thats really all they care about.