Does the GOP Base Have Problems with Religious Minorities?

Aaron Keyak — May 13, 2009 – 3:54 pm | Election 2008 | Polls | Republicans Comments (0) Add a comment

Michael Steele, Chairman for the Republican National Committee, recently said, “the [Republican] base…rejected [Republican Presidential candidate] Mitt [Romney] because it had issues with Mormonism.” Although, Steel issues a “sort-of apology” this question is if he is sorry for how his comments were interpreted or if he thinks they were inaccurate. Dan Gilldof of U.S. News and World Report thinks it was the later.

But Steele’s analysis strikes me as pretty solid.

Romney was defeated last year by Mike Huckabee, who rode the GOP’s evangelical base—which Romney so assiduously courted—to victory in Iowa and in a slew of Southern states that Romney needed to challenge McCain from the right. A December 2007 Pew poll showed that evangelical voters were the most skeptical in the electorate toward a Mormon candidate, with 1 in 3 expressing reservations about supporting one.

I interviewed a long list of conservative evangelical leaders, meanwhile, who were unconvinced by Romney’s evolution from social liberal to abortion-rights foe.

Romney backers argue that absent Huckabee, the GOP primaries look totally different. But won’t there always be a Huckabee, a Sarah Palin, or a George W. Bush who has an overwhelming advantage among evangelical voters? If you think so, then Steele’s gaffe contained a fair bit of truth.

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