Huckabee supporters aren't slowing down in Texas
Dallas Morning News
February 19, 2008
AUSTIN ?- Here was Huck's Army, or at least a remnant of it, defiantly drawing the line in the sand.
"This is Texas," declared Rick Green, a Mike Huckabee supporter. "In Texas, we don't cut and run. In Texas, we don't give up and go home before the fight is over."
About a dozen Huckabee backers on Monday stood midway between the Capitol and the Governor's Mansion ?- one of four such events in the state ?- to remind voters that despite the political arithmetic, the race for the Republican nomination isn't over.
Wayne Slater
John McCain has a sizable lead in delegates and is reaping a tidal wave of endorsements from establishment figures in the party eager to assert the Arizona senator's conservative credentials.
On Monday morning, former President George Bush publicly endorsed Mr. McCain. That afternoon, Huckabee supporters in four cities, including Dallas, were out in force.
"We disagree with having our elected officials tell us what we are supposed to do," said Rob Hurlburt, a Christian-software maker in Austin, who promised "one heck of a grass-roots campaign."
"We're only down four points right now in Texas," he said. "We're going to take Texas and send a message to the rest of the country that the debate is not over."
The fight underscores a sharp division within the GOP between social conservatives and economic conservatives who have yet to reconcile differences over who should be the party nominee.
Religious conservatives have been at the heart of Mr. Huckabee's political base. Evangelicals were key to Mr. Huckabee's early win in Iowa and have been a primary source of support since then.
Although the Huckabee camp has worked to define its candidate more broadly as a tax-cutting economic populist, Monday's supporters made it clear why they were there.
"Protecting life and protecting the family," said the Rev. Steve Washburn, pastor of First Baptist Church of Pflugerville. "We are to vote for the candidate who will best champion this cause of the Lord, this moral cause."
Brent Bullock, who works for a Christian nonprofit group, warned of corrosive "secular humanism and socialist ideologies."
As he spoke, the Austin Duck Tour ?- a large open-air bus-like vehicle carrying tourists ?- pulled up in front of the Governor's Mansion.
None of the tourists looked at the mansion. They were all looking at the Huckabee supporters on the sidewalk, circled by TV cameras.
"Is this the kind of change Texas wants?" said Mr. Bullock, soldiering on about the liberalizing tendencies of moderate government.
Aboard the Duck Tour, the driver signaled riders to prepare their plastic duck calls.
"Ready
aim
fire!" he said.
"Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!" came the sound from the bus.
Mr. Hurlburt shrugged as the bus drove away. "The full Austin experience," he said.
A recent poll shows that Mr. Huckabee's strongest support comes from Texas Republicans who consider themselves "very conservative" and identify themselves as religious conservatives. Mr. McCain does better among independents and moderates in the party.
Mr. Green, a former legislator who works with the Aledo-based group WallBuilders, recalled how in 1976, insurgent Texas Republicans voted for Ronald Reagan even though the party establishment was aligned with incumbent Gerald Ford.
"I believe today, 32 years later in 2008, we are in a very similar situation," Mr. Green said. "They're telling us we don't get a voice in this thing. They're telling us we need to fall in line and obey the commands of the elite."
A reporter asked whether Huckabee supporters would stay home if Mr. McCain ultimately wins the nomination.
"That time," he said, "has not come."
