Huckabee's Use of Religion In Iowa Campaign Attracts Increasing Attention

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's appeal to Iowa's evangelical voters has become the center of press attention as the Iowa caucuses approach. Today's Dallas Morning News reviews Huckabee's strategy of working with the decentralized network of Christian evangelicals, lining up endorsements from high profile evangelical leaders. Reuters reported yesterday however that Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher, has angered some Catholics by delivering the Sunday sermon at Pastor John Hagee's Cornerstone megachurch in San Antonio, Texas. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, says that "Hagee has a history of denigrating the Catholic religion." And in today's Des Moines Register, two former Iowa Lieutenant Governors, Democrat Sally Pederson and Republican Joy Corning, co-authored an op-ed decrying the growing interjection of religion into the campaign. They said: "We call on the presidential candidates to run for office based on their vision, their judgment and their plans to deal with the challenges and issues that confront our nation. Do not ask us to vote for you based on your personal religious affiliation. Do not ask us to stand in judgment of your opponents' religious beliefs."