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Can Evangelicals Help Romney Take Election?
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The Wall Street Journal’s Dan Henninger on the support for the Romney/Ryan campaign from Evangelical groups.
- Duration 5:03
- Date Nov 1, 2012
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The Wall Street Journal’s Dan Henninger on the support for the Romney/Ryan campaign from Evangelical groups.
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Approaching the Rasmussen tracking poll earlier which still shows governor Romney with a two point lead nationally of a President Obama.
Most of the all the polls are still saying this election is now a dead heat.
-- heading to assess various -- voting bloc that could come out and may be pushed Mitt Romney over the top and -- is here with us now.
I'm I'm going to -- it be you know identify this group on -- gonna do that but all the big enough to push Mitt Romney over the top.
Yes they are it's the group that during the Republican primaries was described as the reason Mitt Romney had no chance of winning because he was a Mormon.
And that was the evangelicals that -- -- talking about remember the conventional wisdom the evangelicals would not vote for Mitt Romney.
And I've been spending some time the past few days talking to some other leaders and they are intensely supporting Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.
And why that's important is that Ohio as we know is kind of the linchpin of the election.
In in Ohio evangelicals constitute about 30% of the vote -- -- Barack Obama just carried Ohio in four years ago but.
Because John McCain had really done -- -- reached EB evangelicals and because they were loaded up on our colleague Mike Huckabee.
Big stayed home 350000.
Evangelicals and Ohio.
Didn't vote in 2008.
Obama won by 260000.
Votes if they come out in large numbers.
For Romney and Ryan in Ohio next Tuesday as they did for George Bush in 2004.
And 2000.
I think Romney could take that state.
Now on the evangelicals voting positively.
-- Mitt Romney because they like Mitt Romney all our other voting.
Negatively against.
President Obama because they don't like President Obama.
Well the good news for Romney is -- -- a combination of both.
Romney has -- outreach to them are Richard land of the Southern Baptist Convention has endorsed them -- -- yesterday he met with Billy Graham about three -- three weeks ago Graham is publicly supporting him.
And I'm told that his selection of Paul Ryan was a huge loss.
Because Ryan is a practicing capital is very religious the evangelical white Paul Ryan.
On the negative side.
They were they noticed this battle that the Catholic Church got into with the Obama administration.
Over the Obama care requirement that they provide contraceptive services and their hospitals.
The evangelical evangelicals have enormous.
Amounts of outreach to people and base of two.
Hospitals and such and they saw that that was going to affected them as well and that the Catholic church's fight with their -- So -- for those combination of reasons they are ready to vote next Tuesday on -- is the evangelical vote big enough in other states to push Mitt Romney over the talk about 31% in Wisconsin about 26%.
In not Iowa and I believe 44%.
In North Carolina of course it's very large and ward is well.
So this I think is a factor of voting bloc that's been flying beneath the radar.
Media wrote about it a lot during the primaries but not in the last month I see appointed office -- -- argued.
But all these people already being counted in the polls with priority being taken.
I'm which represented dead heat or -- very -- to Obama victory.
You know it's this sort of factor of -- that I think is but a bit of a problem for the polls I'm not so sure they're picking up.
Voting groups like this or the intensity behind them -- But did appeared to guess which of the polls out there do you think would have picked up the evangelical.
Reaction -- vote here.
And that's a little hard to say may be the pew poll because they've.
Got that.
Arm of pew research that does were maybe.
Religious right groups and so forth and maybe the pew poll on Q is Scott though Romney up by about five point -- -- Would have via at this point in last second.
Rick Santorum was the one who gathered all those -- in the primary process would have been that plus -- net negative if he jumped in at the last second try to help push those voters.
Oh I think Libya on -- plots in part because he's an area where -- -- I don't know where he's been bogged down of this that this is the case you would think now will be the timing step up.
And especially since Pennsylvania is one of the states that Romney now thinks that they might have a chance of taking.
But just -- repeat.
Back in 2004.
The Kerry campaign thought in Ohio because they had sort of dominant control Cuyahoga County which is up near Cleveland.
Democratic stronghold.
That the state of Ohio was locked in fact.
Because you -- evangelicals voted strongly for bush from Cincinnati across rural counties out to the West Virginia border.
They offset that Cuyahoga County advantage and bush took Ohio.
That's the products really evangelicals I know we really -- -- about intrinsically safe by Dan Henning a always a pleasure thank you must end right.