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January 25, 2008
Faith-Based Earmarks
In September, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that Sen. David Vitter inserted an earmark into the federal budget to provide $100,000 to the Louisiana Family Forum, a Focus on the Family affiliate, apparently for the purpose of combating the teaching of evolution and global warming in public schools. Now the Kansas City Star is raising questions about whether earmarks from Sens. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) and Kit Bond (R-Missouri) are going to religious purposes:
Sens. Sam Brownback and Kit Bond used earmarks last year to direct about $1 million to an area group "empowering the un-churched urban poor for the kingdom of Christ."
On the surface, the taxpayer-supported appropriations for World Impact Inc. raise constitutional questions about the separation of church and state.
… Brownback, a Kansas Republican, and Bond, a Missouri Republican, note that World Impact does a lot of good for the urban poor in the region, with wanting to create an outreach and education center in St. Louis and running a ranch in central Kansas that is used as a "Christian training center for inner-city young men ages 18-25."
World Impact operates programs in several other states and received nearly $2 million in earmarks in the 2008 spending bill, according to a report last fall in Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.
While recent rule changes have made the earmarking process a little more open, there is still far less scrutiny than to budget items that have been debated or the Bush administration’s own faith-based efforts. Still, the president of the World Impact charity assures us that “We are faith-based, but federal funds will be kept separate from our faith programs."
Posted by Ezra at 5:53 PM | Permalink
Who You Gonna Call?
The wide-open Republican presidential race narrowed a bit with Fred Thompson’s withdrawal, but some pundits are speculating that the primaries will be inconclusive, and that the various camps will choose a consensus nominee at a brokered convention. Indeed, the desperate hope that a dark horse could seize such an opportunity at the last minute appears to be the campaign strategy of Alan Keyes. But right-wing commentator Michael Reagan is counting on another spectral candidate: Newt Gingrich.
Who, then, could conservatives end up backing? Well, who recently has come out with a new book? Who's doing all the shows talking about his new book? Who is advocating common-sense solutions to the most pressing problems America faces?
Newt Gingrich, that's who. He was out of the race for a long time, he toyed with the idea of running until Fred Thompson entered the race, and then he more or less pulled back.
… I wouldn't be surprised if he was out there quietly working the phones and hoping for a wide-open convention where the delegates -- not the primaries that selected many of them -- decide for themselves who they want to carry the GOP banner in the presidential election in November.
If Newt throws his hat in the ring he knows that in the blink of an eye he will have the grass roots behind him. … As a result, if the nomination gets thrown open in a brokered convention, the person who comes out of the struggle the winner will most likely be Newt Gingrich.
There’s no question the former House Speaker wants to be thought of as a contender. Gingrich teased the Right with his candidacy for months before laying it to rest in October, blaming campaign-finance laws that would have prevented him from maintaining control of his 527 political group (American Solutions) and its unrestricted funding. Nevertheless, he soon came back on the scene, showing up in Iowa before the caucuses to tout his dopey “Platform of the American People.”
Despite the efforts of some right-wing fans to replace Gingrich’s old, unpopular image with a futuristic and brainy image, it’s still hard to imagine Gingrich as a national candidate. But one thing it has done is let Gingrich bask in the attention. And it seems to be paying off: American Solutions, which still appears to be something of a one-man show, raised $5.8 million through November. And he’s churned out four books since he set about “winning the future” last summer.
Posted by Ezra at 5:50 PM | Permalink
Keyes In It to Win It
Alan Keyes is blaming "communist style of politics" for his lackluster campaign, but says his strategy "is based on support at the grass roots. I'm running to win."
Posted by Kyle at 3:03 PM | Permalink
"Purple Heart Bandages" Blackwell Endorses Romney
Morton Blackwell, perhaps best known as the man behind the Purple Heart band-aids worn by delegates to the 2004 Republican National Convention, has endorsed Mitt Romney.
Posted by Kyle at 2:56 PM | Permalink
David Barton at Work
We have written about David Barton, a right-wing political activist and self-styled historian, here many times pointing out that, for all of his claims to be dedicated to uncovering “America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on the moral, religious, and constitutional foundation on which America was built,” his primary functions appears to be using his supposed historical expertise as cover for run-of-the-mill Republican political activism.
This technique is most obvious in his 2006 DVD “Setting the Record Straight: American History in Black & White” which he claims is designed merely to recognize “the forgotten heroes and untold stories from our rich African American political history,” but is, in reality, little more than a 90-minute effort to portray the Democratic Party as responsible for every problem that has ever plagued the African American community in America and imply that the Republican Party is the antidote.
As we noted in our report on Barton, he runs through a litany of Democratic sins, ranging from slavery to Jim Crow to segregation while praising the Republican Party as the party of abolition and civil rights until his history lesson suddenly ends after the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and makes absolutely no mention of the political transformation that overtook the country in its wake and the rise of the Republican Party’s “Southern Strategy.” The video concludes with Barton concludes telling his audience that African Americans cannot be bound blindly to one party or the other, but must cast their votes based on the “standard of biblical righteousness … the principles of Christianity … and an awareness that voters will answer to God for their vote” – and there is no doubt about which party he has in mind, considering that he served as vice-chairman of the Texas Republican Party from 1998 until 2006.
Until now, there was little to no footage available of Barton delivering any of his “historical” lectures to religious audiences so it was difficult to know just how much his political work colored into his presentations. But the remarks he recently delivered at the Rediscovering God in America Conference in Florida dispel any doubt there may have been about just how much more political than historical Barton’s work really is.
After a half-hour of recounting the nation’s history to coincide with his preferred religious views, Barton segues into a lengthy political analysis of the importance of getting Christians to vote, delivering a presentation more befitting a Republican Party activist than a "historian":
Barton has carved out a niche for himself as the Religious Right’s favorite historian, regaling them with tales of the faith of our Founding Fathers and the central role their brand of Christianity played in the founding of this nation. But as this video makes clear, Barton’s “historical” presentations are really little more than thinly-veiled GOP get-out-the-vote efforts and thus it is no surprise that the RNC regularly pays him to deliver them around the nation during election years.
Posted by Kyle at 2:16 PM | Permalink
January 24, 2008
More on the Huckabee Stool
Mike Huckabee’s loss in South Carolina’s Republican primary made clear his weakness in the race: his inability to expand his support beyond conservative evangelicals. For all the talk in the press about Huckabee’s broad, populist appeal, and for all his own efforts to convince the GOP base otherwise (most recently with exuberant stands on immigration and the Confederate flag), it could be those two narratives just cancel out, leaving him with a campaign built on second-string religious-right activists and church-based get-out-the-vote.
Like Gary Bauer, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins has been critical of Huckabee for the candidate’s supposedly narrow appeal. This week, Perkins once again recalled the “three-legged stool” metaphor:
Perkins likens the coalition to a three-legged stool with Iowa winner Mike Huckabee representing the social leg, New Hampshire and South Carolina winner Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) the defense leg, and Michigan and Nevada victor Mitt Romney the economic leg.
"What's required is bringing those three together ... and I think we're seeing this," he continues. "We're moving closer to embracing all three of the components of the conservative coalition. Fiscal conservatism, defense conservatism, and social conservatism."
If that’s the strategy, Huckabee’s got his work cut out for him. His attempt to establish foreign-policy credentials entailed a visit to apocalyptic megachurch pastor John Hagee, but that only managed to alienate Catholics. His tax plan is so far to the Right that even the Right wants no part of it.
Writing in Human Events, Marvin Olasky—architect of faith-based government initiatives—suggests Huckabee adopt a fusionist argument: “Social conservatism makes possible fiscal conservatism.” Sounds simple, but the argument can get a little tricky:
The key is realizing that growth in governmental "human services" has come in part through the recognition of real problems. When a guy and a gal shack up, it's not purely a personal matter. That's because one result, a certain percentage of the time, is likely to be a child with a single mom, and that child at some point is likely to receive governmental support.
Olasky continues, arguing that equal rights for gays “also lead to bigger government”:
Ave Maria University Professor Seana Sugrue has pointed out that the same-sex marriage movement is a subset of a sexual revolution based in liberty, but liberty "achieved through the empowerment of a state with the strength to destroy sexual norms." Since referendum after referendum has shown that most people do not favor same-sex marriage, it requires overreaching courts to decree it, and propagandistic schools to get students to see as normal what most instinctively recognize as weird.
Libertarians rightly relish the theme throughout American history of government ordaining and individuals disdaining. But what happens when individuals or their churches believe that homosexuality is wrong? Gays need strong governmental action to keep people from speaking out against it. They need criticism of homosexuality to be declared "hate speech." They need government to force religious organizations to hire gays or facilitate adoption by gays.
Huckabee may be in a tight spot now, but he may want to wait until he’s really desperate to try to pass off recycled anti-gay talking points as “libertarian” economic philosophy.
Posted by Ezra at 6:30 PM | Permalink
Romney Picks Up Where He Left Off
In the early going, before the entrance of Fred Thompson and the rise of Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney set out to be the preferred candidate of the Religious Right. And he was well positioned to do so, since Rudy Giuliani and John McCain were (and are) widely reviled by the Religious Right establishment and their supporters.
Back then, Romney was hard at work meeting with Jerry Falwell and others, hobnobbing with right-wing leaders at their events, and buying victories in conservative straw polls. But then Fred Thompson appeared on the scene and began siphoning off potential right-wing supporters while Mike Huckabee staked his claim as the most religious candidate in the field on his way to winning the support of a wide-range of Religious Right leaders.
Through it all, Romney plodded along, picking up a handful of right-wing backer here and there, but the pickings were slim. But now, with Thompson out of the race, it looks like things might be turning around for his campaign:
Joining Romney for President after having served as National Co-Chair of Lawyers for Fred Thompson, Victoria Toensing said, "Appointing strong judges is one of our President's most important responsibilities. The next President will make a number of appointments, and I am confident Governor Romney will nominate judges in the mold of President Bush's nominees, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito. I am proud to work with Governor Romney and this outstanding group of legal minds."
Also joining the Advisory committee from Lawyers for Fred Thompson are Lizette D. Benedi, Rachel L. Brand, Reginald Brown, Charles J. Cooper, Joseph E. diGenova, Michael R. Dimino, Viet D. Dinh, Noel J. Francisco and Eileen J. O'Connor.
And with Huckabee’s campaign slowly collapsing due to lack of funds, Romney is able to starting picking up the support of right-wing leaders once again:
Dennis Baxley, David Caton, Carole Griffin and Anthony Verdugo, representing over fifty years of combined pro-family leadership in Florida, support Mitt Romney in the Florida Presidential Preference Primary.
…
Mitt Romney is clearly the most conservative candidate among the top three competitive candidates (Giuliani, McCain, Romney) appearing on the Florida Presidential Preference ballot in Florida.
Dennis Baxley is the incoming Executive Director for Christian Coalition of Florida and former Florida State Representative for District 24.
David Caton is the Executive Director of Florida Family Association.
Carole Griffin is a pro-family lobbyist in Tallahassee and heads the Eagle Forum in Florida.
Anthony Verdugo is the president of Christian Family Coalition.
So, with the field thinning, things are starting to look up for Romney, at least as far as being the Republican candidate most willing and able to pander to the Right is concerned.
Posted by Kyle at 5:02 PM | Permalink
January 23, 2008
Don't Cry for Me, Gary Bauer
“My assessment is that at this moment in time it is Fred Thompson's race to lose,” said Richard Land, Southern Baptist Convention political leader, back in July. “It may be a convergence of the right man, in the right place and at the right time. I have never seen anything like this grassroots swell for Thompson.”
Needless to say, the swelling went down—after a disappointing “last stand” in the South Carolina primary, Thompson put an end to his presidential campaign. Thompson joined the race late, but in spite of that fact that he was going after the same voters as all the other Republican candidates, he started off with strong polling, thanks to the gushing support from Land, Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer, and other high-profile figures. Given Thompson’s lackluster campaign—in which the candidate developed a reputation for laziness and boring speeches—it seems likely that his run was propped up more by these big-name supporters than by the grassroots.
We haven’t heard from Land yet, but Bauer had some strong words for his former boss, James Dobson—who came out early against Thompson, even saying he “doesn’t think [Thompson’s] a Christian”—and others who failed to recognize the hidden beauty of the senator-turned-actor:
Gary Bauer says Thompson was the victim of identity politics during his White House bid. … "He was a good candidate with a great record on the life issue and on other issues we care about," says Bauer, "and I'm saddened that some leaders of our movement attacked him and treated him as if he were the enemy when he is much, much better than most of the candidates who have a chance of getting the nomination." …
"I ran into a lot of Christians out there as I traveled around the country who were for Mike Huckabee, first and foremost, because they saw him as an evangelical like them -- and I understand the appeal to that because I am an evangelical Christian," says the conservative leader. "But I kept reminding people, 'So is Jimmy Carter. Bill Clinton sang in the choir in his church in Arkansas.'"
He adds "it's nice to know that somebody shares our values, [but] it's not enough that that be the justification to support them."
Given Thompson’s extra-special treatment from some well-established religious-right leaders, Bauer’s complaint that the establishment blackballed Thompson rings a little hollow—especially in as much as it echoes that of Mike Huckabee and his supporters, who say leaders like Bauer have been unfairly dismissing him as a real candidate. (“‘Richard Land swoons for Fred Thompson,’’ Huckabee said last month. ‘‘I don’t know what that’s about. For reasons I don’t fully understand, some of these Washington-based people forget why they are there.’’)
But at least one old-guard movement figure is happy to see Thompson out: “Thompson snoozed through the campaign the same way he snoozed through his Senate career. … He did little and left even less of a mark,” crowed Richard Viguerie, who never liked Thompson.
Posted by Ezra at 6:03 PM | Permalink
If a Keyes Falls in the Woods …
Now that Tommy Thompson, Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo, Jim Gilmore, and even Fred Thompson have all dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, it is good to see that there are some candidates who have no chance of winning but still refuse to let reality get in the way of their personal vanity and desire to seem relevant … and no, we are not talking about Ron Paul, but rather Alan Keyes.
You would be forgiven for not knowing that Keyes is even running, but indeed he is, even though he can’t get into the GOP debates, has no money, and nobody is counting his votes. But to his credit, Keyes remains undaunted by such obstacles and is currently positioning himself for a major breakthrough:
On Tuesday, presidential candidate Alan Keyes began a six-week grassroots tour of Texas, originally his home state. Keyes is a 1968 graduate of Cole High School in San Antonio.
Although Keyes will make excursions outside Texas as needed, and will continue his nationwide radio blitz to counter the media's virtual blackout of his campaign, he plans to camp out in Texas until its primary on March 4. As most pundits agree, if Super Tuesday fails to produce a "presumptive" Republican nominee, Texas becomes all the more important as the last big prize of the primaries.
For all intents and purposes, the headquarters of the Keyes campaign has moved to Texas.
“For all intents and purposes,” the Keyes campaign appears to be a sham, with the majority of its expenditures going to “contribution refunds” which dwarf the $10,000 that has gone to a consulting firm linked to Keyes’ Declaration Foundation and Renew America organizations.
At this point, Keyes’ only hope of securing the GOP presidential nomination is if every major Republican politician in the nation gets embroiled in a sex scandal, reducing the party to desperately seeking a D-list nobody to serve as a sacrificial lamb – a position for which Keyes is perfectly qualified.
Posted by Kyle at 4:31 PM | Permalink
Who Is Bundling Cash for Huck?
The Washington Post wants to know (and maybe the Huckabee campaign should tap them again, since the campaign is struggling financially.)
Posted by Kyle at 2:33 PM | Permalink
God Wants You To Vote … Republican
Right-wing pseudo-historian David Barton has unveiled a new web video encouraging “church leaders” to get “people of faith” to vote in upcoming elections:
God ordained the institutions of civil government and it’s the Bible that provides us with clear guidance about electing God-fearing leaders of moral character and wise judgment. In fact, it’s our duty as Christians to elect such leaders, for Proverbs 29:2 tells us that “When the RIGHTEOUS rule, the people rejoice. But when the WICKED rule, the people groan.” Or, to put it simply, when people of faith elect God-honoring representatives and government, all of America benefits. As Christians, we must take this to heart and vote in the coming elections.
Gratefully, in recent years, we’ve seen slow but steady progress not only in protecting traditional biblical, moral values in public policy but even in advancing them throughout the culture. But as you know, there are still several key issues at stake, and the leaders we select in this election will affect the future of issues such as traditional marriage, protection of unborn human life, and the right of public religious expression, just to name a few.
…
Voting is not only your right as an American citizen, but it’s your duty as a citizen in God’s kingdom.
Not surprisingly, Barton suggests that the voter guides put out by his organization, WallBuilders, can help “people of faith” choose the candidate most in-tune with their values.
This video is, in many ways, a condensed version of the message Barton regularly shares with pastors around the country, as he did over the weekend at the Rediscovering God in America Conference in Florida, where he shared the stage with Mike Huckabee, among others, and where he came across less like the academic historian he pretends to be and more like the right-wing political activist he truly is by delivering a Power Point presentation explaining to the right-wing crowd the importance of getting out the Christian vote in order to “control the political forces through elections.”
Barton’s proclaimed goal is to uncover “America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on the moral, religious, and constitutional foundation on which America was built,” but his real goal is to mobilize religious voters to support Republican candidates – which is, after all, what the RNC regularly pays him to do.
Posted by Kyle at 8:57 AM | Permalink
January 22, 2008
I'll Bet You Think This Day is About You
As we observed Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday yesterday, anti-abortion activists gathered for their own version of a march on Washington. It’s no secret that many on the Religious Right identify their struggle with the civil rights movement; they even frequently compare their battle against women’s reproductive choice to the effort to abolish slavery.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins claims celebrating Martin Luther King Day around the time the Right rallies against Roe v. Wade is “ironic”:
Today we celebrate a man who contributed greatly to both this nation and to the world. Dr. Martin Luther King's non-violent movement against segregation and injustice in the United States has inspired many to follow in his footsteps to fulfill the deeply rooted "dream" he spoke of, "that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'" There is irony in that Dr. King's observed birthday today comes the day before the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, which forcibly legalized abortion in the United States. The legalization of abortion was the culmination of a dream of Planned Parenthood founder and icon Margaret Sanger. In 1939 Ms. Sanger started the "Negro Project." The aim of the program was to restrict, many believe exterminate, the African-American population, under the pretense of "better health" and "family planning." By all accounts her efforts have been highly successful.
… We must all work together to make sure that more future leaders like Dr. King are not exterminated before they are born. It is up to us as a society to decide if the dreams of freedom and equality, or the nightmares of Margaret Sanger, will prevail.
Ranting about the supposed secret plans of early birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger is a frequent tactic on the Right, spearheaded by BlackGenocide.org; although she has been dead for many decades, Sanger makes an easier target than a woman whose freedom to choose was “forcibly legalized.” (Planned Parenthood has a fact sheet on the subject of Margaret Sanger.)
While it’s simple enough to give lip service to King while pushing your own agenda, it’s trickier for Perkins to imply that the legacy of King is to ban abortion, given King’s own words. From King’s 1966 speech accepting Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger Award:
There is a striking kinship between our movement and Margaret Sanger's early efforts. . . . Our sure beginning in the struggle for equality by nonviolent direct action may not have been so resolute without the tradition established by Margaret Sanger and people like her …
Perkins may have had better luck claiming King was just a patsy for “black genocide,” as Pat Robertson did in 2006:
But making King one of the villains in the “black genocide” conspiracy would make it hard for the Religious Right to piggyback on his legacy. In the end, they may have to admit that Martin Luther King Day is just not about them.
Posted by Ezra at 5:56 PM | Permalink
Huckabee Aides Forgoing Paychecks
The AP reports that "several top aides to Huckabee are now working without pay, while others have left. The adviser says some of those staying on have agreed to forgo their pay so that the campaign can run television ads in vital states. The adviser says campaign contributions are coming in, but the campaign is stretched thin as Florida's primary approaches."
Posted by Kyle at 4:00 PM | Permalink
Thompson Drops Out
Presumably, Fred Thompson's number-one fan Richard Land is weeping now that the GOP's savior has dropped out of the presidential race.
Posted by Kyle at 3:07 PM | Permalink
Rudy Gets Godly
The NY Daily News has Rudy Giuliani's latest religion-filled flyer.
Posted by Kyle at 2:23 PM | Permalink
Huckabee Picks Up a Baldwin
Right-wing Baldwin brother Stephen is the latest "celebrity" to endorse Mike Huckabee.
Posted by Kyle at 2:14 PM | Permalink
4th Circuit Nominee Withdraws
The Washington Post reports that Duncan Getchell has withdrawn his name due to opposition to his nomination, which is not surprising given the circumstances under which he was nominated in the first place.
Posted by Kyle at 2:08 PM | Permalink