By Elaine Donnelly
Extending sexual misconduct to combat units
Evangelical organizers from as far away as California have been quietly mining Ohio pastors and their pews for evangelical voters, hoping to tip the election Mitt Romney's way, just as they did for President George W. Bush in 2004.
Seeking to boost his vote totals among a crucial Florida voting bloc, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took part in a mass conference call Wednesday involving large numbers of Florida evangelical and religious conservative voters.
After stumbling badly out of the gate, Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign is showing surprising signs of life — rising in the polls and even attracting rising support from evangelical voters who have long been cool to the former House speaker.
Rep. Michelle Bachmann's two-pronged attack on Texas Gov. Rick Perry in Tuesday's GOP debate — accusing him of "crony capitalism" and usurping parents' rights in his ill-fated 2006 plan to vaccinate Texas schoolgirls against the HPV virus — could prove effective in raising doubts about the GOP front-runner among both tea party backers and social-religious conservatives, activists in both camps said.
"Evangelicals will vote for a Mormon for president for the same reason that I did not object when a Muslim oncological surgeon recently performed surgery on my wife," said Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego and an ally of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Evangelicals mine Ohio seeking redux of Bush’s 2004 stealth surge →
"Evangelicals view Romney in the same way and will vote for him in high percentages because he will lead this nation based on the right principles," Mr. Garlow said.
Evangelicals mine Ohio seeking redux of Bush’s 2004 stealth surge →
