Weekly Standard
Evangelical Landslide for Romney?
1:15 PM, Oct 19, 2012 • By _MARK TOOLEY_
(http://www.weeklystandard.com/author/mark-tooley)
Although not widely noticed, Mitt Romney seems to be on his way to
capturing as much of the white evangelical vote as George W. Bush famously did
in
2004. Bush got 79 percent. A Pew poll conducted before the first
presidential debate had Romney getting 74 percent of white evangelicals versus
19
percent for Obama.
Although Barack Obama got only 26 percent of white evangelicals in 2008,
according to exit polls, he got about 33 percent of young white
evangelicals. The latter statistic inspired hopes by Democrats and liberal
evangelicals
for a generational shift away from social issues in favor of more
liberal-focused causes. But a Public Religion Research Institute poll,
pre-presidential debates, showed young white evangelicals choosing Romney over
Obama by
80 percent to 15 percent. Hispanic evangelicals reportedly are not as
strongly for Romney as they were for Bush, although they are much more
pro-Romney than Catholic or non-religious Hispanics.
Full throttle evangelical support for Romney was not widely anticipated.
Evangelicals do not see the former Mormon bishop as one of their own, as
they did Bush. And Romney has not strongly emphasized social issues that
energize conservative evangelicals. Many prominent evangelical leaders endorsed
Rick Santorum during the Republican primaries.
But Obama administration policies favoring same-sex marriage, indirect
abortion funding through Obamacare, and the HHS mandate compelling religious
groups to offer contraceptive/abortifacient coverage have antagonized many
evangelicals. Several evangelical schools have joined Catholic schools in
litigating against the mandate. The Democratic convention’s awkward last
minute restoration of God to the party platform likely did not help.
Now the most revered American evangelical seems to have virtually endorsed
Romney. On October 11 Romney met with 93-year-old Billy Graham at his
North Carolina mountain log cabin. Photos of the two with Graham’s evangelist
son, Franklin, were released and widely published. Graham was quoted as
telling Romney: “I'll do all I can to help you. And you can quote me on that.”
A statement from Graham afterwards was issued.
"It was an honor to meet and host Gov. Romney in my home today, especially
since I knew his late father former Michigan Gov. George Romney, whom I
considered a friend,” the statement said. “I have followed Mitt Romney's
career in business, the Olympic Games, as governor of Massachusetts and, of
course, as a candidate for president of the United States.”
"What impresses me even more than Gov. Romney's successful career are his
values and strong moral convictions,” Graham continued. “I appreciate his
faithful commitment to his impressive family, particularly his wife Ann of
43 years and his five married sons.”
After noting that it was a “privilege to pray with Gov. Romney—for his
family and our country,” Graham noted he will turn 94 the day after Election
Day and believes America “is at a crossroads.” He then offered his virtual
endorsement: “I hope millions of Americans will join me in praying for our
nation and to vote for candidates who will support the biblical definition
of marriage, protect the sanctity of life and defend our religious
freedoms." In contrast, after candidate John McCain visited Billy Graham in
2008
there was only a statement from Franklin Graham commending McCain’s “
personal faith and his moral clarity.” President Obama visited Graham in
April,
becoming the twelfth American president with whom the evangelist has
conferred across over 60 years of public life.
Critics on the left groused that Franklin Graham likely wrote the Romney
statement and got his aged father’s perfunctory approval. But there’s
nothing in the statement that sounds unlike Graham. The evangelist has
typically
avoided the appearance of direct political endorsements, his famous last
minute decision to back away from endorsing Richard Nixon in 1960 being one
example. But he famously supported North Carolina’s pro-traditional marriage
constitutional amendment in May, which clearly contributed towards the
amendment’s large victory. Critics detected the hand of the son there too. But
nobody believes that the elder Graham is anything less than pro
traditional marriage and pro-life. And certainly he must share religious
liberty
concerns over the HHS mandate. Critics also reported that the Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association removed a reference to Mormonism as a “cult” from its
website after the Romney visit.
Undeterred, on October 18, Billy Graham’s group placed a special message
from the elder evangelist in a Wall Street Journal ad. “The legacy we leave
behind for our children, grandchildren and this great nation is crucial,”
he succinctly declares. “As I approach my 94th birthday I realize this
election could be my last. I believe it is vitally important that we cast our
ballots for candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and
who support the nation of Israel. I urge you to support candidates who
protect the sanctity of life and support the biblical definition of marriage
between a man and a woman. Vote for biblical values this November 6, and pray
with me that America remains one nation under God.” The words are juxtaposed
with a large photo of a white haired Graham stalwartly clutching a Bible,
along with his signature.
The Graham ad apparently will appear in other newspapers in the coming
days. The American Family Association, a large parachurch group based in
Mississippi, additionally disseminated the ad with permission from Graham’s
office and urged it be distributed in churches. Undoubtedly it will be.
Graham’s pro-Romney efforts may further energize evangelicals in key
states like North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, and some other Midwestern
states. But polls indicated well before the Graham effort that evangelicals
were already fully on board with defeating President Obama, whatever their
stance towards the first Mormon presidential nominee
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