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NOW is the Time for MI's Pro-Life Community to Rally Around Mike Huckabee for President!By Andrew Shirvell, Section News
(Editor's note: Remember boys and girls, the opinions expressed in folks' personal blogs on Right Michigan are their own and not necessarily those of... well... me.)
Ok. I'll admit it. Up until a little while ago, I remained uninspired by any of the GOP hopefuls running to be the country's next chief executive and I frankly was not convinced that the former Arkansas governor, and pro-life stalwart, Mike Huckabee, had any sort of realistic chance of actually winning the GOP nomination. Of course, now that he's caught fire in Iowa, New Hampshire, and here in Michigan, I'm officially joining the Huckabee bandwagon. After months of searching for a viable, hard-core pro-life candidate there is no doubt in my mind that pro-lifers and other social conservatives must rally around Huckabee if we want a true believer in the White House come January 2009. But before we get to January '09, we must get through January '08, and, more specifically, Michigan's rapidly approaching presidential primary - now cemented on January 15, 2008. Hence, time is very short and it's do or die for those of us in the Michigan pro-life community who want to see the next president finally dismantle Roe v Wade via a Supreme Court appointment in the mold of a John Roberts or Samuel Alito. REPEAT: We are most likely just ONE Supreme Court appointment away from DISMANTLING Roe! Grassroots leaders in the Michigan pro-life community - start your engines for the presidential primary race culminating here on January 15th. In fact, some leaders are already hard at work. A recent MIRS article relates that pro-life/pro-family champions Gary Glenn, the president of the American Family Association of Michigan, and long-time grassroots activist Tom McMillin are busy mobilizing Michigan's evangelical Christian community for Huckabee. Huckabee has a natural appeal to the evangelical community given his credentials as an ordained, and well-experienced, Baptist preacher.
Glenn's support of Huckabee is especially weighty. MIRS also reports that former U.S. Senate candidate, and Michigan GOP grassroots leader, Rev. Keith Butler is also now on board with Huckabee.
While Michigan's pro-life evangelical leadership is solidifying around Huckabee, conservative Catholics - the other half of the pro-life base here in Michigan - appear to be moving towards Huckabee as well. However, the pro-life conservative Catholic community, in general, is much more fractured. When Kansas Senator Sam Brownback entered the race, he seemed like a natural fit for conservative Catholics as he is a strong pro-life champion. However, a largely unspoken problem with Brownback's appeal to the larger conservative Christian community was that Brownback had actually converted from Methodism to Roman Catholicism, i.e. from being a baptized Protestant to a church-going Catholic, which really did not sit well with a large segment of the evangelical Christian community. Hence, despite throwing gobs of what little money he could raise into Iowa, Brownback just could not build the slow, but steady, support and trust of church-going evangelical Christians (and their leadership), and had to bow out of the presidential race very early. Thus, with Brownback gone, conservative, pro-life Catholics have been splitting their support among other presidential candidates, including former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson. Unlike the issue of Brownback's religious conversion within the evangelical Christian community, I do not believe that Huckabee's status as a Baptist preacher can really hurt him within the conservative Catholic community here in Michigan (and elsewhere). It's really a matter of whether Huckabee can inspire this crucial portion of the Michigan GOP's pro-life base by the time January 15th rolls around. How much support Huckabee may receive from conservative, pro-life Michigan Catholics may well depend on if Right to Life of Michigan (RTL of MI), the state's largest and most influential pro-life organization, decides to endorse a candidate prior to January 15th. So far, RTL of MI's PAC has not made any endorsement in the GOP presidential primary and it might just possibly sit this one out. The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) has placed its bet on Fred Thompson, and several state affiliates have followed suit, such as Wisconsin Right to Life and South Carolina Citizens for Life. But not all affiliates have marched in lock step with the NRLC. Last week, Georgia Right to Life broke with its mother organization and endorsed Mike Huckabee. See: http://www.lifenews.com/state2650.html I truly hope that RTL of MI follows the lead of Georgia Right to Life and makes a bold move in favor of Huckabee. Time is running short! The fate of countless, precious unborn lives depends upon a TRUE BELIEVER in the pro-life movement's goals occupying the White House come January 2009. If we really want to eradicate Roe v Wade and return the abortion debate to the individual State level in anticipation of an eventual national Human Life Amendment to the Constitution that will unequivocally enshrine the right to life for all, then the entire Michigan pro-life community must rally around a true believing presidential candidate. That candidate is Mike Huckabee. "Now is the Kingdom. Now is the day." About the author: Andrew Shirvell, Esq., is a pro-life citizen activist who writes a weekly column that is published every Thursday for RightMichigan.com in which he focuses upon Michigan pro-life issues. Shirvell attended Ave Maria School of Law - Ann Arbor, where he served as president of the school's Bioethics Society, from 2004-2005. He also served as president of Students for Life at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, from 2000-2002.
NOW is the Time for MI's Pro-Life Community to Rally Around Mike Huckabee for President! | 14 comments (14 topical, 0 hidden)
NOW is the Time for MI's Pro-Life Community to Rally Around Mike Huckabee for President! | 14 comments (14 topical, 0 hidden)
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