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The Right Saves One of Two

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 11/5/2008 4:22 pm

A few weeks ago, the Right swung into action to try and save a couple of their imperiled "shining stars" in Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN) and Rep. Marilyn Musgrave. 

The Family Research Council lit into the National Republican Campaign Committee for pulling its advertising from their races, as did David Barton who then took it upon himself to raise money for Musgrave himself. 

As it turned out, Bachmann barely managed to hang onto her seat, but Musgrave did not:

Betsy Markey won a sweeping victory over incumbent Rep. Marilyn Musgrave on Tuesday, becoming the first Democrat in two generations to represent Northern Colorado in Congress.

So at least the Right can take solace in knowing that they manged to keep at least one of their shining stars in office, while we can take solace in the fact that there will be one less right-wing anti-gay zealot on the Hill. 

Speaking of which, Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern also managed to hang onto her seat:

FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT NO. 84

SALLY KERN REP 7,230 57.95%
RON MARLETT DEM 5,247 42.05%

Seriously, how big of an anti-gay bigot do you have to be for it to actually cost you your seat in Oklahoma? Apparently, an even bigger one than Kern which, I dare say, is nearly impossible.  

Party At Brent Bozell's House!

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 11/5/2008 3:47 pm

A week or so ago, Politico reported that various right-wing leaders were set to gather following the election to plot strategy on how to move their agenda forward and revitalize the conservative movement.  Now Politico is adding a few more details regarding who will be in attendance and what will be on the agenda:

A group of prominent conservatives will meet tomorrow at the Virginia weekend home of Brent Bozell to discuss the future of the movement and the GOP.

Bozell, chairman of the conservative watchdog group, the Media Research Center, is convening the group along with longtime GOP strategist and conservative pr executive Greg Mueller.

“There will be roughly twenty leaders at the meeting all of whom have been successful fundraisers and grassroots organizers, combined with a few conservative political and media strategists," said Mueller.

As I reported last week, on the agenda will be the role of conservatives in the party, how to go forward in a capital dominated by Democrats and ultimately what path to take to recapture power in the mid-term elections and beyond.

In addition to Mueller and Bozell, other conservatives attending the private session will be: Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society, and a leading figure in the movement on judicial and Catholic issues; Grover Norquist, the anti-tax crusader who heads Americans for Tax Reform; and Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Center and one of the most high-profile social conservatives.

The Right's Muted Response to Their Anti-Gay Victories

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 11/5/2008 3:17 pm

I've been having a bit of difficulty putting together a post regarding what the Right has to say about their anti-gay amendment wins in Florida, California, and Arizona not because I don't know what to say about it, but because they don't seem to know what to say about it. 

As of this writing, aside from ProtectMarriage.com thanking supporters and voters and insisting that their victory in California "doesn’t discriminate or take rights away from anyone," no major Religious Right groups have had much to say about any of this.  Powerhouse groups like Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, Eagle Forum, and the ACLJ have all been oddly silent. 

In fact, the only things I've really been able to find have been Richard Land crowing that "if traditional marriage can win in California, it can win in any of the 50 states when it's put to a vote of the people" and Ken Blackwell saying if Prop 8 "hadn't passed, we would have seen a floodgate opened in terms of same-sex marriage. Now, we've closed that gate." 

Of course, you can always count on Matt Barber to having something to say about it and he does not disappoint by providing his unique spin which suggests that Barack Obama's historic victory last night means he is now obligated to embrace the Right's anti-gay agenda:  

The passage of these three state constitutional amendments is an indicator that Obama, who has pledged full support for every single demand of extremist homosexual pressure groups, must recalibrate his far-left positions on these and other social issues if he wishes to be an effective leader ... The institution of legitimate marriage is a cornerstone of any healthy society. If you introduce counterfeit money into society, it devalues the dollar. By the same token, if you introduce counterfeit "gay marriage" into society, it devalues the institution of natural marriage. President-elect Obama owes his African-American supporters and the rest of America assurances that he will work to protect the cornerstone institution of legitimate marriage and reject the free-speech killing, religious liberties chilling agenda of the radical homosexual lobby."

If History Is Any Guide

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 11/5/2008 1:15 pm

One of the big questions now is "what becomes of Sarah Palin?"  Throughout the election, all we heard from the Religious Right was that she had been chosen by God as the answer to their prayers and had overnight become their new leader around whom they intend to plot their return to power. 

But is that really true?  Newsweek seems to think it must be somewhat likely, which is why it produced this playbook of what she needs to do to be the GOP nominee in 2012.  And given that exit polls showed that fully 60% of voters deemed Palin unqualified to be president, she'll certainly have her work cut out for her, especially considering that polls don't show much excitement for the idea of a Palin nomination:

NBC-WSJ GOP pollster Neil Newhouse did a post-election survey last night, and here's what he found: Just 12% of those surveyed believed Palin should be the GOP's new leader; instead 29% of voters said Romney, followed by 20% who say Huckabee. Among GOPers, it was Romney 33%, Huckabee 20% and Palin 18%.

Now, while I am no expert on these sorts of things, all of this speculation about Palin being the nominee in 2012 seems to miss a rather basic point that, in recent US history, no losing vice-presidential nominee has gone on the win their party's nomination in the next election. 

Just take a look at the history here. John Edwards did not become the Democratic nominee this year after serving as John Kerry's running mate in 2004, nor did Joe Lieberman become the nominee in 2004 after 2000.   Jack Kemp, Dan Quayle, Lloyd Bentsen, and Geraldine Ferraro failed to become their party's nominee during the next election following their loss.  Sargent Shriver, Edmund Muskie, William Miller, Henry Cabot Lodge, Estes Kefauver, John Sparkman, Earl Warren ... the list goes on but you get the point: each failed to become their party's nominee. 

In fact, the only losing VP nominee in recent history to become the presidential candidate the next time around was Walter Mondale, and we all know how that turned out.  Before that, you have Bob Dole who lost as Gerald Ford's VP in 1976 but did eventually become the Republican nominee ... twenty years later and then lost again. 

So not only is it historically unlikely that Palin will even become the GOP's nominee in 2012, it is even less historically likely that she will actually win the election if she does. 

Let The Right Wing Resurrection Begin

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 11/5/2008 11:43 am

It has been less than twelve hour since the historic election that saw Barack Obama become President-elect of the United States and the Democratic Party widen its margins in the House and Senate, and while we are still months away from them actually taking office, the Religious Right is already warning that their first order to business will be to presecute Christians:

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, believes Senator Obama was elected, in large part, because the church in America has failed to address sin in its own ranks and also in society.

Perkins says Christians should pray for and return to a biblical model of holiness and righteousness. And believers in America, he adds, should prepare for persecution.

Tony Perkins"We are going to see, I think, unprecedented attacks against our faith through measures like the hate crimes [legislation] to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act," he says. "We're going to see attacks on innocent human life through the Freedom of Choice Act, trying to erase all the gains that have been made in the pro-life movement. And I think even our freedoms are going to come under attack."

And before that happens, other right-wing leaders are rallying the troops to launch their own right-wing attacks with Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, declaring that Obama has already "failed miserably":

"Americans have made a grave mistake in electing Barack Obama to the presidency," Fr. Pavone wrote. "He said during the campaign that he does not know when a human being starts to have human rights. How can one govern from that starting point of ignorance? Governing is about protecting human rights; to do it successfully, you have to know where they come from, and when they begin. The President-elect has already failed that test miserably."

Fr. Pavone sounds a note of defiant confidence, declaring that the pro-life movement is winning in the culture and that "a new chapter of the pro-life movement has just begun. ...We will keep marching toward that pro-life America we seek, and won't stop until we get there."

For its part, the Christian Defense Coalition has announced its own "The Birmingham Letter Project" which they plan to use to "challenge the radical pro-abortion policies of President-elect Barack Obama":

"We will be coming to Washington, D.C., as President-elect Obama is sworn in, to boldly stand as public and prophetic witness for life. As the pro-life community, we will not go silently into the night and allow the violence to continue. Instead, we are issuing this national call for the pro-life community to come to the streets of our nation's capital and be a prayerful voice for those who have no voice.

As for the "conservative movement" that was so badly damaged by President George Bush, Phyllis Schlafly declares that they are already in the process of rebuilding:

"I think we’re going to be looking for new leaders who express conservatism across the board – whether its sovereignty, limited spending, limited government, cuts in spending, cuts in taxes, the social issues – to simply reject these groups who are trying to muscle into the driver’s seat of the Republican Party, such as the multinationals with their ‘free-trade globalism’ agenda ... We have about 30 very good members of Congress who are destined to become good leaders.”

The God TV Election Special

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 11/4/2008 6:52 pm

Among the myriad of excuses the Religious Right will roll out tomorrow should John McCain lose will be the idea that McCain just didn’t energize the base and so they stayed home.  That may very well be the case, but it certainly won’t be because right-wing leaders sat on the sidelines and didn't do everything in their power to mobilize their base.  

Case in point: the God TV Election Special, which has been airing in constant rotation over the last several days.  

Because it is my job to watch these things so that you don’t have to, that is exactly what I did and I can say that I have never seen one program that included so many high-profile Religious Right leaders coupled with such egregious nuttiness.

Traditionally, when you see people like James Dobson and Tony Perkins, people like Pat Robertson and “prophetic intercessors” like Cindy Jacobs are nowhere to be found.  But in the case of the God TV Election Special, they have all come together to plead with Christians to pray, fast, and above all, vote:

GOD TV's 2008 US Election Special is a passionate call for GOD TV's viewers in America and around the world to pray for the election and to encourage all American believers to exercise their right to vote. The two-hour program features many high-profile Christian leaders such as: Pat Robertson, Founder of CBN; Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice; Bishop Wellington Boone, Pastor, Father's House Church; Luis Palau, Evangelist; Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council; Rick Joyner, Senior Pastor, Morningstar Fellowship Church; Jill Austin, Founder, Master Potter Ministries; John Hagee,  Senior Pastor, Cornerstone Church; Cindy Jacobs, Founder, Generals International; Lou Engle, Co-founder of TheCall; Mike Bickle, Director of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, (IHOP-KC);  Harry Jackson, Founder and Chairman of the High Impact Leadership. Coalition (HILC); and Jim Garlow, Senior Pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church.

Below is a ten-minute synopsis of the two hour program featuring Rick Joyner proclaiming that they will see a “dramatic victory of light over dark,” but only if the church will finally stand up; Bishop Harry Jackson saying that an Obama victory will signal that “we have not chosen God’s best” and predicting that there will be riots in Washington, DC if Obama loses; John Hagee warning that the righteous cannot get into positions of authority if the righteous do not vote; Jill Austin recounting a vision she received from the Lord of the forces of evil commiserating at a casino in the sky where they smoked cigars and drank whiskey and had the faces of dogs; Rep. Trent Franks sharing God’s blessing with the entire world; Harry Jackson (again) saying that the only way John McCain will get elected is if Christian rise up to put him in office despite his failure to adequately reach out to them, in which case he owes them big time; Cindy Jacobs getting increasingly worked up over the need to pray to let God’s will be done in America as it is in Heaven; Election Special co-host Wendy Alec lamenting to Pat Robertson that he was not running for president this cycle; Tony Perkins explaining that we are in a “spiritual battle”; James Dobson asking for worldwide prayer because “absolutely everything” is on the line; and finally Lou Engle, well, being Lou Engle.

So while you are waiting for the polls to close and the election results to start rolling in, sit back and enjoy ten minutes of unfettered Religious Right hysteria (or at least fast forward and watch the Jill Austin and Cindy Jacobs portions):

Focus on the Family Is Quite Pleased With Itself

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 11/4/2008 3:53 pm

Since we first wrote about Focus on the Family’s dystopian “Letter from 2012” a little over a week ago, it has generated a lot of publicity for FOF, most of it negative.  

For instance, it was mentioned in an AFP article on pre-election “dirty tricks,” listed by the New York Times as among the “season’s slimiest political messages,” been featured in a CNN report in which FOF was referred to as “religious extremists,” and generated a demand for an apology from Jim Wallis.

But just in case you thought that Focus might have been in any way embarrassed by the outrage they sparked, think again because it seems as if they are pretty proud of it and, more importantly, their supporters seem to have loved it:

The letter has been viewed more than 215,000 times, and CitizenLink has received about 1,500 e-mails. Most CitizenLink readers found it insightful, and many told us they had forwarded the letter to their friends.

"The letter has started a dialogue, and that was what we hoped when we published it," said Gary Schneeberger, vice president of media and public relations at Focus Action. "The intent was to motivate voters to think seriously about how they cast their ballots — by providing an informed, researched look at what the implications of this election could be.

"We hope and pray the scenarios discussed in the letter never come to pass, but it is certainly not outside the realm of possibility that many of them could."

Here's what some of our folks are saying:

"I hope it wakes some people up!"
— Martha

"You've done a good job painting a clear picture of an Obama administration. Sure makes one pause for thought."
— Jeff

"Thank you for printing the Obama letter. We have printed several copies for distribution. It gave me a broader perspective and more to 'discuss' with Obama supporters."
— Debb

"It made me realize how very important it is that I vote! As I read further, an overwhelming peace came over me because I know God is in control … so I will not fear."
— Lindsy

"I thought it was amazing. It is very scary to think about what could really happen with complete liberal control over all of the government. I sent it to everyone I know."
— David

"I only hope and pray on Election Day, people will listen to what the Holy Spirit tells them to do."
— Kevin

Culture Warrior Plots Culture War

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 11/4/2008 3:17 pm

We’ve written before about the Right’s plan to unleash the “biggest culture war battles ever” should Barack Obama become president and now we have Matt Barber urging right-wing activists to be like Christ and storm “into a temple and started kicking over some tables and throwing some people out of there”: 

A pro-family activist is encouraging Christians to become and stay involved in the culture war no matter the outcome of the presidential election …

"We have too many Christians who are kind of sitting on their hands, being in the world but not of the world. Well, that doesn't mean that you don't get involved in the process and that you don't stand up for your religious liberties," he contends.

"We have this notion of Christ as being kind of passive and allowing himself to be pushed around. Well, as I recall, Christ at one point went into a temple and started kicking over some tables and throwing some people out of there....I'm not advocating violence -- but it's time for people to start standing up for their constitutionally guaranteed freedoms."

The interesting thing about this OneNewsNow article is how it describes Barber.  Noting that his claim to fame is having been fired from Allstate Insurance after penning anti-gay screeds for right-wing “news” outlets, Barber landed a gig at Concerned Women for America and recently became “director of cultural affairs with Liberty Counsel and also the associate dean of the Liberty University School of Law.”  As ONN put it, he “now serves full-time on the front lines of the culture war.”

Imagine that?  Someone who makes their living serving on the “front lines of the culture war” and ginning up right-wing outrages is planning on continue to do just that regardless of who wins the next election.

More on Barton’s Stumping for McCain

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 11/4/2008 1:18 pm

It’s certainly not going to generate any news that this point, but I just figured I’d highlight this article just for future reference since it reports that Marlys Popma, John McCain’s evangelical outreach coordinator, attended a forum last week where she made the case for McCain alongside David Barton:

Popma and other surrogates from the McCain and Obama campaigns participated in an event at Christian Life Assembly in Camp Hill, Pa., last Wednesday.

“Blue Like Jazz” author Don Miller was on the Obama side. He has visited several Christian campuses on the campaign’s behalf and spoke at Messiah earlier that day.

Miller was joined by Shaun Casey, the Obama campaign’s national evangelical coordinator, and Paul Monteiro, national deputy director of religious affairs.

There’s a “passion for social justice among Christian college students,” Monteiro said. “Once we knew they were there, we worked with them.”

On the McCain side, Popma joined David Barton, founder and president of WallBuilders, and Renee Amoore, deputy chairwoman of the state Republican Party.

This event was held around the same time that Barton was stumping for McCain in Pennsylvania along with Fred Thompson and others, so it is pretty clear that at some point in recent weeks the McCain campaign decided that it would benefit electorally from associating itself with Barton and exploiting his right-wing connections and biased pseudo-history.

A Generation of Anti-Americans

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 11/4/2008 12:43 pm

That is how OneNewsNow describes the Judicial Confirmation Network’s last minute messaging regarding the need to elect John McCain in order to save the Supreme Court:

Wendy Long, legal counsel to the JCN, warns that if elected, Senator Barack Obama would appoint ultra-liberal activist judges to the Supreme Court, who would set the pro-family movement back by at least a generation.

"We'd see things like a constitutional right to same-sex 'marriage,' a constitutional right to federal taxpayer funding of abortion. We'd likely see a so-called constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide and to human cloning. [References to God] would come out of the Pledge of Allegiance and perhaps off our currency and every other public place," she explains. "So we may wake up, but it would be too late -- because once Barack Obama has a chance to appoint a majority of a Supreme Court, then decisions like those would be out of the hands of voters for certainly a generation and perhaps longer."

Long does not believe that Obama will nominate anyone to the bench who would be acceptable to the vast majority of mainstream Americans of both major political parties.

You know, I suspect that the “mainstream Americans” in at least one political party would find Obama’s Supreme Court nominees perfectly acceptable.  In fact, the only people who would find them unacceptable would be the phony right-wing “grassroots” organizations that have spent the last eight years working to pack the court with more justices like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.