Dobson lauds Huckabee's showing, but no endorsement

In late October, before Mike Huckabee's star had risen in the GOP presidential race, the Baptist pastor turned politician wondered why Focus on the Family founder James Dobson hadn't endorsed him.

"I just don't understand his neutrality," said Huckabee, according to a profile published in December in The New York Times Magazine. "I'd be an obvious choice for his endorsement. We're old friends. I love him and I love his wife, Shirley. I just don't know how to explain it."

He can wonder still. On Friday, the day after Huckabee's astonishing win in the Iowa caucuses, Dobson released a statement that noted the key role of "conservative Christians" in Huckabee's win, but fell far short of backing him personally: "The former governor may not become the Republican nominee, and I have not endorsed him..."

Dobson's full statement follows:

“The results of the Iowa caucuses reveal that conservative Christians remain a powerful force in American politics. That had to be a great shock to those on the far Left! The New York Times wrote a demeaning obituary of Values Voters in an article called 'The Evangelical Crackup.' CNN piled on, proclaiming the demise of the 'old values,' referring to traditional marriage and the sanctity of human life. They and other media elites turned out to be dead wrong.

“Sixty percent of the participants in the Iowa caucuses were self-identified evangelicals, and 45 percent of them backed Mike Huckabee. The former governor may not become the Republican nominee, and I have not endorsed him, but what happened there last night was evidence of an energized and highly motivated conservative community. Not bad for a supposed bunch of demoralized, depressed, disillusioned and disengaged Reaganites.”

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