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REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS
Evangelicals squabble over nominee
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 9:20 AM
NIKI2
Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...
Quote:With new calls on Monday for Republicans to rally around Mitt Romney as their presidential nominee, some conservatives showed new signs of fracturing despite a vote over the weekend by religious leaders to coalesce behind Rick Santorum as an anti-Romney alternative. Evangelical leaders, intent on blocking Mr. Romney’s path to the nomination, showed new divisions after having appeared on Saturday to settle on Mr. Santorum as their conservative choice. Four conservative Christian leaders who attended a meeting of evangelicals in Texas asserted their independence on Monday, issuing a statement that said, “Many there were and still are for Newt Gingrich.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/us/politics/discord-among-conservatives-as-romney-picks-up-steam.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss hard to find much mention of it, but apparently their little "caucus" wasn't as rosy as most headlines suggest. Supposedly the Gingrich supporters said they were "conned" into leaving before the third vote was taken--the first two having been inconclusive--and were pissed off that they're now portrayed as supposedly supporting Santorum, and there were accusations of ballot stuffing. Wish we could get the whole story, it would be amusing. Okay, a wider search found more of what I had heard:Quote:In an evolving power struggle, religious conservatives are feuding about whether a weekend meeting in Texas yielded a consensus that former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is the best bet to stop Mitt Romney’s drive for the Republican presidential nomination. A leading evangelical and former aide to President George H.W. Bush said he agreed with suspicions voiced by others at the meeting of evangelical and conservative Catholic activists that organizers “manipulated” the gathering and may even have stuffed the ballot to produce an endorsement of Mr. Santorum over former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Mr. Santorum, who nearly upset Mr. Romney in the Iowa caucuses, won the first ballot ahead of Mr. Gingrich in Saturday’s Texas meeting but the margin was too slim for organizers to claim a consensus. It was not until the third ballot, taken after many people had left to catch flights back home, that Mr. Santorum won more than 70 percent of those still in attendance and claimed the endorsement. Former White House evangelical-outreach official Doug Wead, who represented GOP presidential hopeful Texas Rep. Ron Paul at the event, said it appeared the outcome obviously was determined in advance by the choice of the people invited. “By the time the weekend was over, it was clear that this had been definitely planned all along as a Rick Santorum event,” Mr. Wead said, noting that he was the only supporter of Mr. Paul to receive an invitation. “The organizer was for Santorum, the person who created the invitation list was for Santorum, the emcee was for Santorum, and after making sure all of the Gingrich people had vented early, the last three speakers before the vote were for Santorum,” he said. Added a Gingrich supporter, a prominent social conservative who asked not to be named, “My view is that the vote was manipulated.” Yet another evangelical political organizer who attended the meeting said he witnessed a possible incident of ballot-box stuffing. In at least one instance, the witness said, a participant was seen writing Mr. Santorum´s name on four separate ballots and putting all four in the box. The closed-door gathering of about 150 activists at the Benham, Texas, ranch of Nancy and Paul Pressler was being closely watched as perhaps a last chance for social and religious conservatives in the party to change the direction of the nomination fight by uniting around a single alternative to Mr. Romney, whom many distrust. The Wead allegations are part of an acrimonious power struggle — some involved call it a “civil war” — on the religious right about whether to back Mr. Gingrich, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Paul or Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Just what happened in the meeting and whether the result was manipulated have sparked a stream of emails back and forth among leading conservatives after the meeting broke up. Supporters of Mr. Santorum defended both the process and the result of the Texas vote. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins told The Washington Times that he thinks it “is unfortunate that there were a few individuals that have chosen to malign the process and their conservative colleagues. This is not reflective of the tone of tenor of the meeting in Houston.” http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/16/activists-say-pro-santorum-vote-was-rigged/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSSAlso foundQuote:Religious conservatives get together hoping to form a united front against the moderate Mitt Romney — and instead, wind up embroiled in a "civil war" Rick Santorum got a potentially important boost over the weekend when a prominent group of evangelical Christian leaders voted to join ranks and back the ex-senator's presidential campaign. But Santorum might not benefit as much as he would like. The endorsement has become tainted by controversy, with religious conservatives who support Newt Gingrich charging that the vote was rigged. So instead of presenting a united front, says Ralph Z. Hallow in The Washington Times, the meeting touched off a what some evangelicals are calling a "civil war."Funny we're not hearing more about it; maybe they've decided not to air their dirty laundry in public or something.
Quote:In an evolving power struggle, religious conservatives are feuding about whether a weekend meeting in Texas yielded a consensus that former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is the best bet to stop Mitt Romney’s drive for the Republican presidential nomination. A leading evangelical and former aide to President George H.W. Bush said he agreed with suspicions voiced by others at the meeting of evangelical and conservative Catholic activists that organizers “manipulated” the gathering and may even have stuffed the ballot to produce an endorsement of Mr. Santorum over former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Mr. Santorum, who nearly upset Mr. Romney in the Iowa caucuses, won the first ballot ahead of Mr. Gingrich in Saturday’s Texas meeting but the margin was too slim for organizers to claim a consensus. It was not until the third ballot, taken after many people had left to catch flights back home, that Mr. Santorum won more than 70 percent of those still in attendance and claimed the endorsement. Former White House evangelical-outreach official Doug Wead, who represented GOP presidential hopeful Texas Rep. Ron Paul at the event, said it appeared the outcome obviously was determined in advance by the choice of the people invited. “By the time the weekend was over, it was clear that this had been definitely planned all along as a Rick Santorum event,” Mr. Wead said, noting that he was the only supporter of Mr. Paul to receive an invitation. “The organizer was for Santorum, the person who created the invitation list was for Santorum, the emcee was for Santorum, and after making sure all of the Gingrich people had vented early, the last three speakers before the vote were for Santorum,” he said. Added a Gingrich supporter, a prominent social conservative who asked not to be named, “My view is that the vote was manipulated.” Yet another evangelical political organizer who attended the meeting said he witnessed a possible incident of ballot-box stuffing. In at least one instance, the witness said, a participant was seen writing Mr. Santorum´s name on four separate ballots and putting all four in the box. The closed-door gathering of about 150 activists at the Benham, Texas, ranch of Nancy and Paul Pressler was being closely watched as perhaps a last chance for social and religious conservatives in the party to change the direction of the nomination fight by uniting around a single alternative to Mr. Romney, whom many distrust. The Wead allegations are part of an acrimonious power struggle — some involved call it a “civil war” — on the religious right about whether to back Mr. Gingrich, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Paul or Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Just what happened in the meeting and whether the result was manipulated have sparked a stream of emails back and forth among leading conservatives after the meeting broke up. Supporters of Mr. Santorum defended both the process and the result of the Texas vote. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins told The Washington Times that he thinks it “is unfortunate that there were a few individuals that have chosen to malign the process and their conservative colleagues. This is not reflective of the tone of tenor of the meeting in Houston.” http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/16/activists-say-pro-santorum-vote-was-rigged/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS
Quote:Religious conservatives get together hoping to form a united front against the moderate Mitt Romney — and instead, wind up embroiled in a "civil war" Rick Santorum got a potentially important boost over the weekend when a prominent group of evangelical Christian leaders voted to join ranks and back the ex-senator's presidential campaign. But Santorum might not benefit as much as he would like. The endorsement has become tainted by controversy, with religious conservatives who support Newt Gingrich charging that the vote was rigged. So instead of presenting a united front, says Ralph Z. Hallow in The Washington Times, the meeting touched off a what some evangelicals are calling a "civil war."
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