Backers point to Rasmussen, Zogby polls
Michigan supporters of former Gov. Mike Huckabee's presidential candidacy Monday said they have delivered a statement to Sen. John McCain's campaign urging McCain to select Huckabee as his vice presidential running mate.
The Huckabee supporters and other social conservatives in Michigan and nationally last week were shocked by the McCain camp's serious discussion of selecting a running mate who favors legal abortion on demand.
The statement -- delivered by e-mail and fax Monday to McCain's Michigan and national campaign headquarters -- reads as follows:
1. It is our belief that a large number of Christians do not currently plan to vote for Senator McCain because of his past positions and statements on issues of concern to Christian voters. This includes many voters who were not previously involved politically but were activated to support a Republican presidential campaign by former Gov. Mike Huckabee.
* A poll published earlier this year by the Christian Post found that Sen. Barack Obama and even Sen. Hillary Clinton outpolled McCain among Christian conservatives. (Notably, former Gov. Mike Huckabee was by far the most popular candidate among those polled.)
* Newsweek reported Friday that "a new poll from the Barna Group, a Christian research firm, shows Obama leading McCain 43 percent to 34 percent among likely Christian voters, with advantages among non-evangelical born again Christians (43% to 31%); notional Christians (44% to 28%)...Catholics (39% vs. 29%); and Protestants (43% to 34%). The only Christian subgroup (Obama) isn't winning? Evangelicals."
2. We strongly believe that if Gov. Huckabee is part of the Republican Party ticket, many, many more of these Christians and Huckabee supporters will not only vote for the McCain ticket but will do something far more important: actively and enthusiastically work for its success.
3. The coalition supporting Gov. Huckabee has only grown in recent months, as evidenced by the Denver Letter to Sen. McCain signed by Christian activist leaders nationally.
4. Of all possible vice presidential candidates who would be acceptable to pro-life, pro-family voters, there is little question that Gov. Huckabee has the highest name identification and recognition nationally. We believe his selection would overnight give the McCain ticket something it currently lacks and most likely cannot win without: a national network of values voters and volunteers passionately committed to the values and message brought forth this past year by Gov. Huckabee.
5. Thus, this statement does not reflect merely our personal preference for the candidate we supported during the primary election contests. It reflects our political judgment that selecting Gov. Mike Huckabee as the vice presidential candidate is the quickest and surest way to exciting, activating, and mobilizing the socially conservative base of the Republican Party nationwide, the very coalition Sen. McCain recently said no Republican could win without. [Detroit News: "(James) Muffett said Friday that during the meeting, McCain (said) he respected social conservatives' views (and) believed that Republican presidents from Ronald Reagan on could not have won without them."] http://info.detnews.com/redesign/blogs/lowdownblog/index.cfm?blogid=438
6. Further, two recent professional public opinion polls validated not only our political judgment but Gov. Huckabee's appeal to all voters, not just social conservatives.
* A Rasmussen poll three weeks ago found that among all general election voters, Gov. Mike Huckabee had the highest favorable ratings among all possible vice presidential candidates included in the survey. (Notably, the same poll found that former Gov. Mitt Romney had the highest unfavorability rating of all possible candidates included.)
http://www.rasmussenreports.com
* A Zogby poll four weeks ago found that "among likely voters, 27% would be more likely to support McCain with Huckabee on the ticket," the highest percentage of all possible vice presidential candidates included in the survey.
http://zogby.com:80newsReadNews.dbm?ID=1530
7. Conversely, it is our judgment that the quickest and surest way Sen. McCain could alienate, demoralize, and deactivate social conservative activists and voters nationwide would be to select a vice presidential candidate who they believe does not share their values and worldview. Those would include former Gov. Mitt Romney, former Gov. Tom Ridge, Gov. Charlie Crist, Sen. Joe Lieberman, and others.
8. While other possible vice presidential candidates are believed to share socially conservative values and would thus be philosophically acceptable -- Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Rep. Rob Portman, Gov. Mark Sanford, Gov. Sarah Palin, and others -- none of them has national name identification and a national organization of volunteers committed to their support comparable to Gov. Mike Huckabee. For example, the same Zogby poll which found that 27 percent of likely voters would be more likely to vote for McCain with Gov. Huckabee on the ticket, found that putting Gov. Jindal on the ticket would move only 5 percent to be more likely to support McCain, while Pawlenty motivated only 3 percent.
9. In summary, Gov. Mike Huckabee's selection as Sen. McCain's running mate would motivate more American voters to support Sen. McCain's candidacy than any other possible running mate, and it would mobilize a pre-existing grassroots network of social conservative activists and volunteers that no other potential running mate could match, not even those philosophically acceptable to the Republican base.
10. The election of Sen. Barack Obama is unthinkable. Because we want Sen. McCain to succeed, and because we believe his vice presidential selection may be determinative in whether he has the grassroots volunteer support required for a Republican victory, we strongly and respectfully urge Sen. McCain to help us help him -- and make iteasy, not hard, for us to persuade others to support and work for his candidacy -- by selecting former Gov. Mike Huckabee as his vice presidential running mate.
Respectfully submitted,
Huckabee's Michigan Grassroots Coalition
