http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080815/POLITICS01/808150332Huckabee backers may bolt
A group of Michigan social conservatives who support former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee threatened Thursday to abandon Republican nominee John McCain, upset that McCain's vice presidential choice may not reflect their anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage positions.
The uproar came after a pair of meetings Wednesday -- while McCain was campaigning here -- in which his campaign hoped to strengthen its support with religious conservatives. Huckabee supporters said they were especially upset at word that, at a meeting in Birmingham between McCain and a small group of conservative activists, a top McCain ally had floated the possibility he'd pick a running mate who is for abortion rights.
"We are totally done with McCain at this point," said Debra Mantey, one of the organizers of the other meeting, in Saginaw. She said she and many others in the group will refuse to help McCain's campaign unless Huckabee is on the ballot, or given the keynote address at the GOP convention.
The McCain campaign downplayed the tension. "Three-fourths of them have found acceptance for Sen. McCain and are willing to work for him, but there is always a faction that takes a little more," said the Rev. Keith Butler, a Southfield minister and incoming Republican National Committeeman. He backed Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, in the primaries but now supports McCain.
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