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Published February 02, 2008 08:47 pm - John McCain may be leading Republican presidential candidates in the national polls, but in Republican-rich Southwest Missouri, there isn’t an organization working on behalf of the Arizona lawmaker. Local GOP backing several candidates By Susan Redden sredden@joplinglobe.com John McCain may be leading Republican presidential candidates in the national polls, but in Republican-rich Southwest Missouri, there isn’t an organization working on behalf of the Arizona lawmaker. In terms of active campaigns and numbers of local supporters, the nod in the Joplin area would have to go to efforts on behalf of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Republican candidates Mitt Romney also has local residents working on his behalf. Huckabee has received backing from an active group including John Putnam, chairman of the Jasper County Republican Central Committee. The group has distributed yard signs, worked phone banks and held demonstrations and debate-watch parties on behalf of the candidate. Putnam and his wife, Merre, worked on behalf of the Huckabee campaign in Des Moines during the Iowa primary. The local group is working phone banks to boost the Huckabee candidacy in Missouri, Florida and in other states involved in upcoming primaries. They also are distributing yard signs and door-to-door literature, and waving Huckabee signs at busy intersections, according to Jimmy Morris, Joplin, who is the local coordinator. About 100 area residents are working on the campaign in Joplin and the region, Morris said. Campaign efforts are going on in the Joplin area, and in Carthage, Lamar, Neosho, he said, and a number of local residents were in Jefferson City on Tuesday for a Huckabee campaign appearance. He said Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, is their choice, among GOP candidates, “because of his ability to communicate and relate to the American people.” “He’s solidly pro-life, solid on Second Amendment, probably got the most balanced detailed plan for dealing with illegal immigration,” he said. “He also supports the Fair Tax (a plan to eliminate the current tax system with a national sales tax).” McCain is leading Huckabee in national polls and a Missouri poll conducted by the St. Louis Post Dispatch, both in late January. But the Rasmussen Reports among Missouri voters shows Huckabee has the support of 27 percent of the voters in the state, McCain, 26 percent; Romney, 18 percent; and Paul, 5. McCain has gained support among Oklahoma political leaders. He’s been endorsed by Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, and former Gov. Frank Keating is serving as honorary state chairman of the McCain campaign in Oklahoma. Another McCain organizer, Chad Alexander, formerly worked for the campaign of GOP U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts Jr., then served as executive director of the Oklahoma Republican Party. About 100 people are working for Ron Paul in the Joplin area, said Candace Turner, Sarcoxie, a supporter. “There is a lot of enthusiasm for him,” she said. “He has conservative Christian values, and he’s a consistent abortion opponent. He also sticks with what is constitutionally correct.” She said Paul supporters have grass-roots headquarters in homes in the region, and said many more are participating via the campaign Web site. 
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