In this months survey, the gap between evangelical insiders in World’s poll and GOP survey respondents remains wide on Donald Trump. No participant in World’s survey chose Trump as first choice for president.
Ted Cruz gained ground and Marco Rubio remained first in the results.
As I noted yesterday, it worries me that support for Cruz is rising. His views lean toward the Christian dominionist wing of religion and that is just one reason I believe he cannot appeal to independents and moderates.
His governmental experience is very limited. He was elected to the Senate in 2013 and if elected will have been a Senator about as long as Barack Obama was before his first term. Republicans were rightly worried about Obama’s lack of experience in 2008. Cruz will face the same attacks from the left. In a time when fear seems to be prevailing emotion, Cruz’s thin resume’ does not inspire confidence.
Rubio has a bit more experience in the Senate but much more previous experience in state politics. Of the two, Rubio seems more electable. While he may hold similar positions as Cruz, he articulates them more frequently in general political terms rather than apocalyptic religious ones.
While I have not and probably won’t endorse a candidate until much later in the process, I know what concerns me and I know what I can’t endorse. Right now, Cruz falls into that category.
Tag: World
Marco Rubio Again Leads World Magazine's Evangelical Insider Survey
Ted Cruz surged to second place among candidates for President in the survey.
Marco Rubio continues to enjoy strong support from evangelicals surveyed with 44.8% of the respondents choosing Rubio as their first choice. Cruz increased to around 25% with the rest of the candidates lagging behind. Ben Carson’s stock fell and Donald Trump is near the bottom with apparently one respondent picking Trump.
The World survey has made some enemies in recent weeks. Ann Coulter exploded about it because Trump isn’t doing better. World’s J.C. Derrick replied to her rant with some facts.
Although Cruz supporters may take hope in this month’s results, I doubt they will have much more to celebrate. Said plainly, I believe a Cruz nomination assures a Hillary Clinton win. Cruz is not center-right as he implies he is; rather he is far right with supporters who want U.S. law to reflect Old Testament injunctions. He cannot back away from this and maintain any integrity with his base. In the general election, all of the pandering to the right wing fringe will be remembered.
World Magazine: Gospel for Asia Admits Some Lack of Disclosure; Hopes to Regain ECFA Membership
World magazine’s Warren Smith has an article out today which provides some additional information regarding the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability’s termination of Gospel for Asia’s ECFA membership.
According to Smith’s reporting, the lack of disclosure surrounding the $40+ million headquarters was key. As I first reported here, GFA failed to disclose the $19.8 million transfer of cash from Believers’ Church to help complete GFA’s new Wills Point, TX headquarters. This cash was not reported as a related party transaction but as an anonymous donation. GFA’s leaders told staff that the organization would not borrow money for the construction but in fact did borrow money from a U.S. bank in 2014 and then took money which Believers’ Church borrowed from an undisclosed source in India.
GFA’s CFO David Carroll said ECFA changes had been made and hopes to regain membership. I will have more to say about this in coming posts.
According to World, Ministry Watch’s Rusty Leonard has advised donors to halt all donations to GFA due to the extent of the problems.
Look for another article on this news from Christianity Today. Spokespeople for the magazine disclosed via multiple channels that an article is coming.
Rubio, Cruz, and Fiorina Lead Poll of Evangelical Insiders
On the heels of a strong debate performance, Carly Fiorina has surged in a monthly poll of evangelical insiders published at World.
Marco Rubio recorded a strong showing and is by far the candidate most participants believe can beat the Democratic nominee.
I am interested in the issues which motivate these participants. For most participants, the top two are religious liberty and abortion. Relatively speaking, presidents have little to do with moving policy on these issues. While I would like someone who agrees with me on these matters, I prefer a president who is experienced and skilled in dealing with defense, foreign policy, and economic policy.
Other observations of interest:
- Trump continues to do badly with this group. He has the highest negative ratings among Republicans. The survey participant quoted, Kay James, said Trump’s numbers are due to his policy positions being insufficiently biblical. One would have to have policy positions to be able to evaluate them, and mostly what I hear from Trump is that he wants to build a wall. I also think many evangelicals are turned off by Trump’s demeanor.
- Obamacare is way down the list of reasons to choose a president. There goes one of Ted Cruz’s wedge issues with this group.
At about this time in 2007, Rudy Guiliani was supposed to run against Hillary Clinton. We have a long way to go.