Huckabee Mines South Carolina's Anti-Choice Supporters

(WOMENSENEWS)--As the contest for the Republican presidential nomination turns toward South Carolina, religious conservatives are torn between three staunch opponents of abortion: the anti-choice establishment choice Fred Thompson, comeback candidate John McCain and grassroots evangelical favorite, Mike Huckabee.

Except for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, all the Republican presidential candidates oppose abortion.

The National Right to Life Committee in Washington, D.C., gave its endorsement last year to Thompson--the former senator from Tennessee who appeared more viable when he entered the race last September--and many state affiliates followed suit.

Grassroots activists and voters in South Carolina, which holds a critical primary election on Jan. 19 in the heart of the Bible Belt, are bucking the establishment choice in light of surprise developments on the campaign trail.

Once considered unelectable, Huckabee, the Arkansas Baptist minister who got his start in politics lobbying for an anti-abortion law and pulled an upset victory in last week's Iowa caucuses, is now vying with McCain, who triumphed in the Jan. 8 New Hampshire primary, for frontrunner status in South Carolina.

McCain leads the GOP primary electorate in South Carolina with 27 percent of the vote, three points higher than Huckabee, according to a Jan. 9 poll of 785 likely Republican primary voters conducted by Rasmussen Reports. Thompson placed fourth with 12 percent of the vote, four points behind Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Huckabee Holds Polling Edge

However, Huckabee continues to hold a slight edge in national surveys, according to Rasmussen Reports. But he faces stiff competition from McCain, Romney and Giuliani in Michigan's Jan. 15 primary, Nevada's Jan. 19 primary, and Florida's Jan. 29 primary.

South Carolina Citizens for Life, the state's leading anti-choice organization, has endorsed Thompson, but smaller anti-choice groups, grassroots activists and voters are giving their support to Huckabee, according to David Woodard, a pollster and professor of political science at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Huckabee, meanwhile, has the backing of anti-choice religious pregnancy counseling centers and regular church-goers, who comprise the vast majority of the GOP primary electorate, Woodard said.

"If that's the Religious Right, that's who he's connecting with," Woodard said.

Laura Woliver, a professor of political science at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, cautioned against counting out McCain, who is enjoying a modest electoral bounce after his surprise victory in New Hampshire and whose emphasis on national security plays well with the state's large military constituency.

McCain faced resistance from anti-choice voters in his 2000 bid for the GOP nod because of his support for campaign finance laws that forced the producers of "issue ads"--such as those attacking politicians for not opposing abortion--to disclose contributors and potentially expose their connections to political parties.

Huckabee is the "candidate to beat" among anti-choice voters, Woliver said. "He speaks their language."

Visits Pregnancy Center

Huckabee courted anti-choice and religious conservative voters Wednesday during a trip to South Carolina, where he highlighted his opposition to abortion with a visit to the Carolina Pregnancy Center, a religious organization in Spartanburg that counsels pregnant women against abortion, and in speeches in Spartanburg and Greenville.

Huckabee, however, is still contending with the early endorsement of Thompson by established anti-choice groups. Holly Gatling, executive director of South Carolina Citizens for Life, says it gives Thompson "enthusiastic backing."

Woodard said the outcome of the primary will likely ripple across the South, which tends to follow South Carolina's lead. The victor will also head into "Super Tuesday" on Feb. 5, when more than 20 states hold their nominating contests, with considerable momentum.