Here's something odd. According to the Pew Forum, a recent survey indicated that the preferred candidates of white evangelical Republicans were Guilliani and McCain. Huckabee and Brownback, who would seem more natural favorites, have not gotten much traction with these voters. Nearly a quarter of white evangelical Republicans do not yet have a favorite.

My speculation: White evangelical Republicans want to keep the Democrats out of the White House worse than they want ideological purity in their own candidates, and do not think Brownback and Huckabee have a chance. As I've said before, if Guilliani or McCain can convince evangelicals that they will nominate conservative judges, evangelicals will pull the lever for them in spite of their personal marital history and other positions.

My conclusion: with nearly a quarter of these voters undecided, and the support of the others probably not very deep, there is still an opening for someone like Fred Thompson to gain white evangelical support if he is perceived to be capable of beating Hillary or Obama.