Evangelicals Deliver Votes for Huckabee

Mike Huckabee's convincing victory in the Iowa caucuses last night demonstrated the superior might of grassroots evangelical Christian organization over even the slickest and most well financed political machine.

"Tonight what we have seen is a new day in American politics. Tonight we have proved that American politics is still in the hands of people like you," Huckabee told a victory party in Des Moines.

The former governor of Arkansas now takes his folksy campaign to New Hampshire where he is scheduled to appear today with martial arts performer Chuck Norris.

His victory in Iowa damages the hopes of Mitt Romney, who held hundreds of events in Iowa and spent millions of his own fortune building an organization in the state. It deepens the pressure on him to win in New Hampshire on Tuesday.

Romney conceded defeat, but claimed he could rebound in New Hampshire, practically home terrain for the former governor of Massachusetts.

"Well, we won the silver and congratulations to Governor Huckabee for winning the gold. Nice job. You win the silver in one event, it doesn't mean that you are not going to come back and win the gold in the final event, and that we are going to do."

With nearly all of the 1,781 precincts reporting, Huckabee had 34% of the vote, a clear lead over Romney, who was on 25%.

But the surge for Huckabee was set against a marked lack of Republican enthusiasm for their field of candidates. Republican turnout at the caucuses was less than half of that of Democrats, who saw a historic turnout of 232,000.

The general state of disaffection could prove especially damaging for Romney who now faces another strong opponent in New Hampshire in addition to Huckabee.

John McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona, has been rising in the polls in New Hampshire. McCain also had a good night in Iowa last night. He came in a close fourth behind Fred Thompson - even without airing a single television ad in the state.

Ron Paul, the anti-war Republican congressman from Texas who was a favorite on the internet came in fifth place, and Rudy Giuliani was a distance sixth - although he also did not compete in the state.

Huckabee, a Baptist preacher and a former governor of Arkansas, became a default candidate of evangelical Christians who were disappointed with the field of Republican candidates. Evangelical Christians make up between 30 and 50% of Republican caucus-goers in Iowa.

They were won over by his unabashedly religious stand. His television ads proclaimed him a CHRISTIAN LEADER in capital letters, and he argued that America's founders had been pro-life.

For all the protestations of piety, Huckabee also was a slick entertainer, playing the bass and campaigning with Norris.

With little in the way of a formal campaign network, he relied on church groups, parents who teach their children at home and radio talk-show hosts to promote his campaign and get voters to the caucuses.

The former Arkansas governor may not see the same response from voters in New Hampshire, who tend to be far more preoccupied with government spending and taxes than with religion.

But his success in Iowa highlighted the effectiveness of a new kind of grassroots organization.

It also exposed potential fault lines in the Republican party establishment, with fiscal conservatives in arms against Huckabee's record as governor. Huckabee also has had run-ins with some evangelical leaders for his approach to immigration.