By Susan Redden
sredden@joplinglobe.com
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Mike Huckabee is the runaway favorite in the Republican presidential race, at least based on a vote by members of the Jasper County Republican Central Committee.
The former Arkansas governor got 28 votes from among 35 committee members who met Tuesday night in Carthage, said John Putnam, committee chairman.
Mitt Romney got two votes, and Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani received one each, while three committee members said they were undecided, said Putnam.
Putnam said he believes Huckabee is getting local support “because he’s an authentic conservative who has been consistent in his principles, and he’s been very strong in the debates.”
He said Huckabee “is climbing in the polls even though he doesn’t have the money and name recognition of some other candidates.”
Putnam said Republican committee members also voted to participate in National Presidential Caucus events set for Nov. 9 and Dec. 7. The goal of the bipartisan effort is to get residents involved in local caucuses to discuss the candidates, their stances and qualifications in advance of presidential preference primaries.
“This is a nonbinding effort to go online and get people involved and somehow make an expression of what they want,” Putnam said. “The current primary system is front-loaded, and it favors the candidate with the greatest name recognition or money, which is not necessarily the most qualified candidate. What they (caucus organizers) want to avoid is being stuck with a nine-month campaign between two people who are not the top choice.”
Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, is leading most GOP polls. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, has garnered support in Missouri, including that of Gov. Matt Blunt, state Sen. Gary Nodler and state Rep. Bryan Stevenson.
Most local Republicans are more socially conservative than Giuliani, Putnam said, and some are uncomfortable with Romney, who Putnam said “ran as a liberal then was fairly conservative” as governor of Massachusetts.
“He changed his position to veto bills on abortion and stem-cell research, which conservatives appreciated,” Putnam said. “But I’m not sure people are quite convinced that he’ll be consistent.”
Putnam said members of the Republican committee unanimously voted to participate in the National Presidential Caucus via the Internet.
Missouri is one of more than 20 states that will hold presidential preference primaries on Feb. 5. That election could come close to determining who will win the parties’ nominations, since in most of the states, the winner takes all the delegates to the nominating convention.
“We want to get the word out, so folks can find out more about the candidates before then,” Putnam said.
He noted that the caucus has the endorsement of bipartisan groups and individuals, including former Sens. Warren Rudman, R-N.H., and Bill Bradley, D-N.J., who are co-chairmen for Americans for Campaign Reform.
On the Net
More information on the National Presidential Caucus is available at www.nationalcaucus.com.
