Huckabee's Appeal and Media Objectivity

I recommend you check out CNN's Election Center some time and bring along your salt shaker because many items require a lot more than a grain of salt! Although the election and poll number are "accurate," you do need to ask yourself, what question (s) the media is not asking in their entrance and exit polls. Bottom line, the media would like to characterize Mike as a one-note evangelical candidate.

The data suggests a broader base of support. For instance, if you shift through the South Carolina exit poll data (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#SC), you'd find out that Mike polled well among people who considered themselves very conservative (41%) and somewhat conservative (30%). Further, Mike won the Republican vote (South Carolina being an open primary) with 32% (Giuliani 2%, McCain 31%, Paul 2%, Romney 16%, and Thompson 17%) and finished second among independents (25% compared to McCain's 42%). Mike also took the lion's share of those who identified immigration as their number 1 issue (taking 33% of those voters). He tied McCain with 32% of the people who identified the economy as their top priority. Mike was also tops for people earning under $50,000 a year (two categories: $15-30,000 and $30-50,000). He was the second choice of the people in the categories of $50-75,000, $75-100,000, and $100-150,000. He was top among voters who characterized their family financial situation as being "Getting Ahead" and "Falling Behind." (Second among those saying "Holding Steady.") And finally for the 71% of the electorate which feels abortion should be illegal Mike won their support overwhelmingly!

So to generalize, Mike could be called the candidate of the average conservative/conservative leaning, Republican middle-class American, who cares about issues like immigration, the state of the economy and the right to life for the unborn. Hey, that's me and I'm Roman Catholic. Go figure!