What were they thinking?

For terminal politicos like me, last night was a much coveted but rarely experienced moment of real political drama. No one knew what was going to happen in yesterday’s Iowa caucuses. This just doesn’t happen in elections any more and it was fun to watch. There is more than enough analysis of the results on the web right now to satisfy even the most ravenous political junkie. As my beat is faith and politics, however, let me add one question to the mix that few people seem to be asking: We all know now that a huge turnout of evangelical voters was a big part of Huckabee’s win. But did they vote for the Baptist Huckabee or against the Mormon Romney? Check out these numbers from the CNN entrance polling: A third of Huckabee voters said it was important to them that a candidate "says what he believes," an problem for Romney who has done some obvious flip-flopping. But forty-four percent of Huckabee voters also said that it was important that a candidate "shares my values." What does that mean? Is it code for "I want a candidate who shares my denominational faith?" It’s not clear, but it’s a question worth asking considering that Mr. Romney and Mr. Huckabee both profess belief in the same values of life, family, etc. The pundits spent a lot of time rightly celebrating the breakthrough of the first really credible African American candidate for president. But is there another kind of bigotry (religious intolerance) lurking behind the results? Matt Malone, S.J.