What's on the minds of 'values voters'?

by Dennis Coday

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dcoday@ncronline.org

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"To me, there are so many more important issues than health care right now," said John Leaman, a retired yacht builder from Lancaster, Pa.

According to a Religion News Service report, that quote pretty much sums up the feelings of attendees at the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit held in Washington this past weekend.

Added [Leaman's] wife Linda, a waitress: "I don't think it's as urgent as Obama's making it out to be." The real problem, she said, is illegal immigrants "cluttering up our emergency rooms."

In a straw poll of 10 possible Republican presidential candidates in 2012, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was the clear favorite among the attendees. Huckabee won 28 percent of the 597 votes cast. Four candidates -- former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., -- tied for second place, each with about 12 percent.

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