out-of-touch Evangelical “leaders” stunned by Huckabee upset at the value voters summit—prepared to sigh, shrug, and coronate Romney as their Lord, G_d, and King—oh, the irony!

October 22, 2007 in 2008, analysis, campaign communications, campaign management, election, election 2008, Evangelicals, gaffs and pratfalls, GOP, incompetence, media, mitt romney, polls, republicans, rhetoric, romney, strategy, stupidity, the dark soul of Mitt Romney, triumph of unreason
Tags: family research council, gary bauer, tony perkins, value voters summit

Evidence suggests that the so-called Evangelical “leadership”—Dobson, Perkins, Bauer etc.—are woefully disconnected from the Evangelical base. Erick of Redstate.com narrates in a post titled The GOP Conundrum: SoCons like Huckabee, but he’s more a threat to the coalition than Rudy

… I’m told that people in the room tabulating the votes were stunned by Huckabee’s showing. Stunned, for some of them, is an understatement. It seems clear to me that this was an opportunity for the leaders of the social conservative movement to sigh, shrug, and embrace Romney. They intended to.

They gave Romney a platform by himself on Friday night. They played heroic anthems for his entry and departure. He had the night all to himself. And he did well. Then Huckabee showed up the next day, sharing the same time cluster as Rudy. And Huckabee, with a speech he wrote himself, was magnificent.

Now, you can call me partisan or biased or whatever you want, but all I’m doing here is reporting. The leaders of the social conservative movement who were present, the Arlington Group members you hear so much about, were ready and willing to get on board Romney’s campaign on Saturday morning. Then Huckabee spoke. Then the straw vote was tabulated. Then they realized that were they to do so, it would put them completely out of step with their members … etc., etc.

Oh, the irony.

The elites were prepared to “embrace” Romney. And then the villagers rose up. Let this be a lesson for us all, especially for the super-geniuses that call themselves “Evangelicals for Mitt.” In a post titled Evangelicals Rally to Romney a tedious Nancy French quotes a newsmax story that begins:

Evangelical leaders are urging followers to support Mitt Romney’s campaign for president to prevent Rudy Giuliani from gaining the Republican nomination … etc., etc.

Evangelicals are not rallying to Romney. Not in the least. The text itself plainly states that their self-appointed so-called “leaders” are urging them to. But: the Evangelicals themselves are telling their “leaders”—e.g. the super-geniuses of the Arlington Group—to go pack sand—and rightly so. Here is what we wrote in another context:

Dearest, dearest Romney. Please understand: a campaign requires a message. And you haven’t got one. It is rational to reach out to the elites of an e.g. corporation, Mr. Romney—they are the decision makers. But a movement is by definition a loosely coupled, loosely cohering social entity, an entity where the ties that bind are moral as opposed to hierarchal. An e.g. well-known pastor is not like a CEO; he or she has a different kind of relationship with his or organization and its members. So: You’re going to have to learn how to reason, Mr. Romney, how to argue, and how to persuade—lies, bribes, pretending to be something that you are not—this is not persuasion—this is the antithesis of persuasion … etc., etc.

You may be able to purchase the corrupt Evangelical leadership, Romney. Buying an entire movement is a different sort of proposition.

yours &g.
dr. g.d.

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