Posted on Feb 13, 2008 | by Erin Roach

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--All three contests in the latest presidential primaries went to the same candidates on both the Republican and Democratic sides Feb. 12, further solidifying frontrunners in the two political parties.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain won Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, and Barack Obama's wins in the same three states propelled him past Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race.

The victories marked Obama's eighth straight primary win and helped McCain regain some of the momentum he lost when Mike Huckabee won two of the last three previous primaries.

Obama now leads Clinton in pledged delegates 1,215 to 1,190, with both candidates scrambling to grab the 2,025 delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination. On the Republican side, McCain leads Huckabee in the delegate count 812 to 217, with both working toward 1,191, according to CNN.com.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat who has enthusiastically supported Obama since the beginning of his campaign, attributed Obama's success Tuesday to winning independent voters, a Richmond newspaper said. Obama also did well among women, who have been Clinton's base, and among African Americans, Latinos and younger voters, CNN said.

In Virginia, Obama topped Clinton 64 percent to 35 percent; in Maryland 60 percent to 37 percent; and in D.C. 75 percent to 24 percent. In the Republican race, McCain won Virginia 50 percent to 41 percent over Huckabee; in Maryland 55 percent to 29 percent; and in D.C. 68 percent to 17 percent.

As Clinton turned her attention to winning the upcoming primaries in delegate-rich states like Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, Huckabee said Feb. 12 he has no intention of leaving the race.

"The nomination is not secured until somebody has 1,191 delegates," Huckabee said. "That has not yet happened. We're still continuing to work and to give voters in these states a choice."

Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and Southern Baptist pastor, enjoyed strong support from evangelical Christians, who made up half of Tuesday's voter turnout, CNN said. Sixty-six percent of Huckabee voters described themselves as born-again or evangelical, compared to about one-third of McCain voters.

SENDING MCCAIN A MESSAGE

In its post-primary analysis Feb. 12, the Associated Press said evangelicals in Virginia were sending John McCain a message by voting heavily for Mike Huckabee.

"Christian evangelicals in Virginia who favored [Huckabee] in droves seemed to send the would-be Republican presidential nominee John McCain a message from on high -- they won't roll over so easily," AP said.

McCain won Virginia with 50 percent of the vote to Huckabee's 41 percent, which was closer than the results in Maryland and the District of Columbia the same day. AP noted that McCain, a Vietnam prisoner of war, should have taken Virginia by a wider margin because of the state's long military tradition and because Virginia Sen. John Warner had endorsed him.

But twice as many white born-again and evangelical Christian voters participated in this year's Virginia Republican primary, AP said, compared with the last contested GOP presidential primary in 2000. Four in 10 Republican voters claimed that label Feb. 12, compared with two in 10 in 2000.

Huckabee said the results in Virginia showed "there's still a real sense in the Republican party of a desire to have a choice."

Exit polls indicated that McCain voters said their most important quality in a candidate was someone who "says what he believes," followed by someone with extensive experience, CNN said. Among Huckabee supporters, more than 70 percent said they wanted someone "who shares my values."

LAND MENTIONS RICE AS VP CANDIDATE

Calling her "one of the most impressive human beings that Americans will ever meet," Richard Land, president of the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, suggested Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's name as a potential vice president for McCain.

"If Sen. McCain were to ask me who he should pick as a running mate, I would say, 'Senator, do you really want to win?' and I guess he would say, 'Yes,' and I would say, 'Then you need to do whatever it takes to get Condoleezza Rice on the ticket with you, because you're going to be running against a tide of either the first woman president or the first African American president, and the best way to break that tide is to have as your running mate the first woman African American vice president,'" Land said during a televised discussion with PBS' Charlie Rose Feb. 8.

Land said the last time he can remember a vice presidential nominee making a decisive difference was when former President John F. Kennedy chose Lyndon Johnson. Johnson helped Kennedy carry his home state of Texas, and Land said he believes Rice would help McCain pick up votes anywhere.

When other guests on the show mentioned Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee as a possible running mate for McCain, Land said he has known Huckabee for 28 years and believes he would be "an impressive figure on the ticket."

"I'm a little concerned that perhaps the 20 percent in the middle that decide our elections -- let's face it, 35 to 40 percent of this country is going to vote for the Republican nominee if it's Mickey Mouse and 35 to 40 percent are going to vote for the Democratic nominee if it's Donald Duck," Land said. "And so the elections are decided by the 20 percent in the middle who are the least engaged, and they vote for sometimes odd reasons.

"I hate to say this because I'm a Southern Baptist minister, but I'm not certain that among that 20 percent they're not going to hesitate about voting for a Southern Baptist minister, even though he has been governor of a state, to be the number two person on the ticket and to be vice president of the United States," Land added. "I mean I hate to say that, but I think there is still enough of a prejudice against ordained people in the public policy process that that might be problematic."

And for McCain to "close the deal" with conservatives, Land said he must do more than say, "I'm better than Hillary," or "I'm better than Obama."

"If he really wants the kind of enthusiasm you're talking about, he's going to have to generate it himself by convincing them that he really cares about their issues and he's not going to compromise on their issues," Land said. "And even when he disagrees with them on things like McCain-Feingold, he respects their right to disagree and is respectful of them and not condescending and not dismissive."
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Erin Roach is a staff writer for Baptist Press.