J.C. WATTS Advertisement

One of the things that has driven me crazy about my fellow evangelicals in this election is their mercurial, erratic and sometimes arbitrary approach to selecting their candidates for president.

Early in the Republican primary process we had a front-runner to whom none of the evangelical "leaders" could warm, and when John McCain imploded early on, you could almost hear the sighs of relief rising up from Colorado Springs.

Then came the dance with Fred Thompson, but he waited too long to buy his dance card, and Fred's last dance was his first.

All the while, we had the former governor of Arkansas, a Baptist preacher with all of the evangelical street cred one could ask for in a candidate. A pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, proven vote getter who drew support from a wide range of demographics and ideology.

But even then, the "leaders" couldn't get behind Mike Huckabee.

Several months ago when Huckabee was still a curiosity, they wouldn't give him the time of day. Not long later, as Marvin Olasky of World Magazine noted, the evangelical leaders were "following their followers" who had taken a shine to the Arkansan.

Now that Mac is back and has sewn up the GOP nomination, many of those same evangelical leaders are expressing their extreme discontentment with the will of the voters.

Where were they when Huckabee really needed them?

Granted, there were aspects of Mike Huckabee's record as governor of Arkansas that left some conservatives wanting. But his positions on the social issues that make the hearts of evangelicals fibrillate every election season were rock solid.

Many evangelicals passed over Mike Huckabee for reasons of national defense. They still viewed that as the prime issue facing our nation, and feared Huckabee came up a little short in that respect. But even the evangelicals and "compassionate conservatives" who did not vote for Huckabee will miss him now that he is gone from this race.

Indeed, Mike Huckabee spoke to so many issues that I've been trying to get the GOP establishment to speak to as a black, a social conservative and an opportunity conservative.

With Huckabee gone, those issues may be addressed due to politics, not from conviction. These issues were in Huckabee's DNA. Issues of life, strong families, compassion, outreach and opportunity for all.

Mike Huckabee got a substantial percentage of the black vote for governor in Arkansas. It's a natural outgrowth of his heart to reach out and deal with poverty.

The faith warriors that made up 25-30 percent of Huckabee's support are true believers. Their politics were driven by their faith. Their faith was not driven by their politics. Nor were they driven by polls or news cycles or political consultants.

Huckabee's exit leaves the Latino and black faith communities in a real quagmire because they don't feel like McCain and the GOP are in sync with them. While they agree with the GOP on most issues, they don't feel embraced by the party. They disagree with the Democrats, but the Dems reach out to them. Many white evangelicals are disgusted because the establishment and consultant class of the GOP are not connecting with them. This class of voters is abandoning that form of politics, but not their core beliefs.

I think of a young man I've known since he was a toddler. "Matt" was raised in an avowedly Christian home which was and is involved in the political process. He loves the church, he loves his country and is passionately concerned about the hurting people in his world. His foremost desire is to serve his Lord and his country and he prepares for such challenges today as one of our outstanding young cadets at West Point.

Today, many black, Latino, and young white evangelicals like Matt hated to see Huckabee go because they felt he's the only GOP candidate who had enough guts or heart to talk about their issues.

Do they believe the earth is melting? Not necessarily, but they believe in being good stewards of God's earth. Do they believe in big government? No, but they believe God is concerned with poverty, although the GOP establishment seems uninterested.

With Huckabee gone, what now? Folks like Matt fear it will be business as usual. Consultant-driven campaigns from the mold of 2000 and 2004. I know of no consultant who knows how to speak to the young crusaders of my party or the older crusaders like me who are black, socially conservative and seeking opportunity for all. Red, brown, yellow, black and white.

J.C. Watts is chairman of J.C. Watts Companies, a business consulting group. He is former chairman of the Republican Conference of the U.S. House, where he served as an Oklahoma representative from 1995 to 2002. His e-mail address is JCWatts01@jcwatts.com