Electability isn't everything!

You have to give it up for Jim Dobson. Like me, you might not like his politics or his social principles, but it appears that in this election cycle he and others are willing to vote their "values." With Rudy leading the pack -- and garnering significant conservative Christian voters -- Dobson has declared that he and a large number of conservative movers and shakers are willing to abandon the GOP if it doesn't nominate someone to their liking. They're also willing to set up a third party or a third party candidacy.

Dobson writes in the New York Times:

Speaking personally, and not for the organization I represent or the other leaders gathered in Salt Lake City, I firmly believe that the selection of a president should begin with a recommitment to traditional moral values and beliefs. Those include the sanctity of human life, the institution of marriage, and other inviolable pro-family principles. Only after that determination is made can the acceptability of a nominee be assessed.

The other approach, which I find problematic, is to choose a candidate according to the likelihood of electoral success or failure. Polls don’t measure right and wrong; voting according to the possibility of winning or losing can lead directly to the compromise of one’s principles. In the present political climate, it could result in the abandonment of cherished beliefs that conservative Christians have promoted and defended for decades. Winning the presidential election is vitally important, but not at the expense of what we hold most dear.

That this movement hasn't gotten behind Mike Huckabee or Sam Brownback is interesting. Both are right on their key issues. I can't say why Brownback hasn't gotten their attention, but perhaps Huckabee is deemed too independent for their liking. You would think they'd go gangbusters for an SBC pastor, but even Richard Land, who seems to like Fred "the lackluster one" Thompson disses Huckabee.

So, will they walk? Only time will tell!

Hat tip to Blogging Faith.