As a war in Iowa rages among GOP presidential hopefuls to win the hotly contested evangelical caucus vote, a rift is dividing evangelical voters’ priorities between moral issues and the electability of the candidate they will choose on Jan. 3.
According to a recent CBS-New York Times poll, 34 percent of white evangelical Iowa caucus-goers support former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, despite his personal history of extramarital affairs and multiple divorces. An ABC-Washington Post poll has seen this number rise as high as 39 percent.
The CBS-New York Times poll also showed that 71 percent of likely caucus-goers view candidates’ economic positions as most important, while only 14 percent viewed social issues as most important.
In a state where 75 percent of the population identifies at Christian, the widespread support of Gingrich among evangelicals has some religious experts crying foul.
“The fact that evangelicals are willing to set aside their devout principles to support a candidate whose entire being repudiates those principles, shows how politicized the religious right has become,” Randall Balmer, a Columbia University professor of American religious history, told The Daily Caller.
Gingrich has stated that he supports abortion in special circumstances, such as in cases of rape, incest, and mortal danger to the mother. That view conflicts with the beliefs of most evangelical Christians, and clashes with positions articulated by GOP candidates Rep. Michelle Bachmann, former Sen. Rick Santorum, Rep. Ron Paul and others.
With other conservative Christian candidates aggressively courting Christian voters, many are wondering why evangelicals are flocking to Gingrich. Iowa Rep. Steve King believes Christians are focused on identifying a candidate who they believe can beat President Obama in the general election.
“Many evangelicals have the burden on their conscience of what will happen if Obama wins the election,” King told TheDC in a phone interview on Thursday. “The fear of judicial activists is a significantly high concern that does effect decisions made by evangelicals and myself.”
For pastor Mike Carlson, the burden of a struggling economy is no excuse for evangelical voters sacrificing their beliefs. “It’s going to put us as evangelicals in a situation where we have to decide what we really believe in, and what’s really important,” he explained. “To me, the state of the economy should not dictate the release of ethics and morality.” Carlson’s First Baptist Church of Winterset is part of the Iowa Baptist Convention and a Southern Baptist Convention member church.
Faith and Freedom Coalition Chairman Ralph Reed, on the other hand, is not surprised by evangelical Christians’ support of Gingrich. “Evangelical voters are looking for the same thing as other voters. They weigh issues of character and morality in a broader calculus of whether a candidate has the unique qualities of leadership that the country needs at this moment in time,” Reed told TheDC.
For Bob Vander Plaats, president of The Family Leader, the Gingrich issue centers on reconciliation. “The heart of our faith is forgiveness. In the Scripture it says the heavens rejoice when a life has been changed. Gingrich talks very openly about his rise to power. He made some bad decisions that he deeply regrets. He’s transparent, and he’s repentant.”
Reed echoed the same sentiment, applauding Gingrich for consciously turning over a new leaf.
Vander Plaats also mused on where former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon, fits into the continuous churn of issues on evangelicals’ radar.
In short, he doesn’t.
“For some people, his Mormon faith might be a hurdle, but it’s going to be his issues and the trust gap with voters that will hurt him in Iowa,” Vander Plaats told TheDC.
“I hear almost zero people talking about his Mormon faith. It’s more his inconsistency on issues and the trust gap factor.”
The Iowa caucuses are sure to be starkly different from those in 2008, when former pastor, Gov. Mike Huckabee won after gaining the unified support of evangelical voters. Gingrich’s ascent has many church leaders worried.
“Sometimes ethical views are overlooked by some who may call themselves, or fit in, an evangelical group. But their values and ethics are not as conservative as they may think,” Carlson cautioned. “It’s a concern for me that we claim as evangelical Christians to be more conservative, to be pro-life, and try to hold moral values and standards, and yet when push comes to shove, that is not where we are and what we are deciding.”