Romney Picks Up Endorsements Of Christian Conservatives

Mitt Romney received the endorsement of two prominent Christian conservatives over the weekend, a sign that rival Mike Huckabee hasn’t cornered the market on self-described “pro-family” voters.

Romney was endorsed by the Rev. Morris Hurd, a Burlington pastor and chairman of the Iowa Christian Alliance and State Rep. Betty De Boef, a What Cheer Republican and one of the most strident social conservatives in the Iowa legislature.

DeBoef’s endorsement came at a rally in Moscow, Iowa, on Sunday and Hurd’s came during a rally in Burlington on Saturday.

Hurd announced his intention to support Romney while introducing him at a campaign event, a move that campaign officials knew nothing about in advance.

“I’ll tell you a little secret. I haven’t told anybody else this. I’ll tell this secret out here,” Hurd told the crowd. “Next Thursday, when I go to the caucuses, I’m going to cast my vote for Governor Mitt Romney.”Hurd wasn’t identified at the event as chairman of the ICA and federal tax laws regulating non-profit organizations forbid political endorsements.

It is the policy of the ICA to remain politically neutral and instead provide its members with opportunities to meet with all candidates by hosting debates, house parties and other events. For instance, during its Friends of the Family awards dinner this summer, it offered booth space to politicians as a way to woo conservative and most Republicans presidential campaigns attended.

“Governor Romney is the candidate who shares my passion for pro-family issues, and will also be our best advocate for fiscal and defense conservatives,” De Boef said in a statement released by the campaign. “He is a leader in the fight to secure our border, and we can trust him to turn off the magnets that encourage illegal immigration.  I look forward to working hard for his team, making sure that other pro-family voters know Governor Romney is the candidate to support on caucus night.”

De Boef has served in the legislature House Of Representatives since January, 2001 and was a co-sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Amendment, Women’s Right to Know Bill, and the bill that banned human cloning in Iowa.  She is a past winner of the “Friend of the Family” Award from the Iowa Christian Alliance.

The announcements come as new polls released this weekend show that Romney and rival Huckabee, a Baptist minister and former governor of Arkansas, are in a dead heat in the race to win the Iowa Caucus. Huckabee, who lagged in the polls for most of the year, charged to the front of the pack last month and even held doubt-digit leads over Romney in some polls conducted before Christmas.

Huckabee’s poll numbers of dropped in recent days, in part because of barrage of questions about his foreign policy credentials, dedication to curbing illegal immigration, and his tax record.

Huckabee’s December surge has been attributed to his rising popularity with social conservatives, and he hasn’t been shy about courting their support, peppering his stump speech with Bible verses and reminding voters that he has the most consistent record on issues such abortion and gay marriage.

But in recent weeks Romney has been working to win back the support of Evangelicals, who account for 40 percent of Republican voters in the state. On Saturday, he was was accompanied on the campaign trail by Jay Sekulow, an influential Christian conservative lawyer.

Sekulow is director of the American Center for Law and Justice, sometimes referred to by Evangelicals as a conservative antidote to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Sekulow has also been meeting individually with ministers in the state to remind them of the importance of judicial appointments over the next few years.