Posts on Randy Brinson

We've written before about the odd fight underway in Alabama between the Alabama Christian Coalition and outside groups supporting Republican candidates for Congress.

Back in September, we noted that ALCC president Randy Brinson had attacked Freedom's Watch over ads its was running in the state because Sheldon Adelson, the man behind the organization, had made his fortune in the gambling industry.

Now Brinson and his organization are going after the National Republican Congressional Committee over this ad attacking Democratic Congressional Candidate Parker Griffith:

The Huntsville Times explains that Brinson is now coming to Griffith's defense

Griffith, now a state senator, has maintained since the audio was aired by the committee that his words were taken out of context and that he was speaking from a "spiritual" standpoint, and not about national security ... Randy Brinson, a Montgomery physician and chair of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, said Monday that the commercial intentionally misrepresented Griffith's statements "to cast aspersions on his character, patriotism and even Christian commitment."

"In response to the original questions about Griffith's comments, the Alabama Christian Coalition conducted an interview with Parker Griffith to probe more deeply what he said and meant," Brinson said in a prepared statement. "After speaking to him, we felt that his original statement and explanation were well-rooted in scripture and demonstrated a true love of country and trust in our Lord."

Brinson said the coalition's admonition of the television commercial should not be seen as an endorsement of Griffith but as an encouragement to Parker - and the committee - to campaign differently.

"Actually, I'm a very staunch Republican," Brinson said in a Monday telephone interview. "I just didn't think (Parker's campaign) should take something out of context. You need to win on the issues. That's a much better approach."

It's not every day that you see local right-wing groups blasting the Republican Party for unfairly attacking Democrats; nor do you often see the Republican Party start questioning the motives of those who represent its base:

Alabama Republican Party communications director Philip Bryan said the coalition wasn't giving equal time to both candidates ... "It is also interesting that the Alabama Christian Coalition is adamantly defending and campaigning for Parker Griffith in this race, considering that he is being funded by groups such as the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) - as many of this organization's members support abortion on-demand and gay marriage," Bryan said.

In an unlikely partnership, Christian Coalition of Alabama Chairman Randy Brinson joined forces with a Democratic state senator “to call for better health care for the state's uninsured.” Brinson: "Yes, we're ardently pro-life. Yes, we're ardently for marriage. But beyond just that, there's other moral failings that are having (an) impact. ... Not enough emphasis is put on that."

Yesterday, The Press Register in Alabama ran an op-ed by Randy Brinson entitled “Language of Faith Hijacked.”  In it, Brinson complained that all of the talk of faith in the current presidential election is confusing voters:

In this presidential cycle, nearly every campaign, both Democrat and Republican, has developed a faith outreach component to facilitate communicating to the faithful. The 2008 presidential election will focus on the faith and values of the individual candidates more than any in modern history.

While this may give solace to many faith-oriented political activists, it only makes it difficult for voters to decipher which candidate truly understands the link between personal faith and policy.

Despite this onslaught of personal spirituality, it has been even more difficult for voters to determine whether some of the candidates even understand the particular faith they profess to embrace.

Brinson went on to criticize Barack Obama, saying that his talk of faith, “may be losing the audience he seeks to engage,” and Mitt Romney, questioning “if his Mormon faith guided his present moral convictions, what guided him when he was pro-choice and pro-gay-rights?”

Brinson concluded by seemingly urging these candidates, and presumably others, to focus less on faith and more on “candor, integrity, honesty and character,” as that is what voters are looking for in a candidate.  

Of course, nowhere in the piece does Brinson bother to mention that he has been actively involved in assisting Mike Huckabee:

The Values Voter barnstorm [through Iowa] will be led by Pastor Rick Scarborough, an early Huckabee endorser. Participants include R. Randolph "Randy" Brinson, an iconoclastic social conservative doctor from Alabama who possesses a huge list of Iowa pastors and Christian conservatives. He's also the head of ReedemTheVote, which was active in 2004 and 2006 as a voter registration vehicle for young evangelicals.

As the Washington Post explained last month:

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee's surge in Iowa, from single digits in the polls to a virtual tie for the lead among Republicans, has captivated the political world and prompted speculation about just how he did it.

The Fix may have found the answer: a physician from Montgomery, Ala., named Randy Brinson.

Brinson is the keeper of a massive e-mail list of much-coveted Christian voters that Huckabee is using to reach and organize people in early-voting states such as Iowa.

Brinson's list numbers about 71 million contacts, with 25 million identified as belonging to "25 and 45 years old, upwardly mobile, right-of-center, conservative households," he said. In other words, a target-rich environment for a candidate such as Huckabee, who is preaching a compassionate conservative message heavily infused with religious sentiment.

In fact, this op-ed appears to be an outgrowth of an email Brinson sent around not too long ago attacking Mitt Romney for … you guessed it, hijacking the language of faith: 

Brinson wrote an e-mail distributed widely in Iowa that questioned the changed views of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on abortion and gay rights and that asked whether Romney was really being led by his Mormon faith.

Some political commentators have credited that e-mail with being one of several factors that helped turn out conservative Christians for Huckabee.

Brinson said Friday he sent the e-mail because he was concerned that some candidates had "hijacked the language of faith."

Since he’s backing Huckabee, who has made his faith the center of his campaign, Brinson is obviously not worried about political candidates using faith for political purposes.  But like many other religious right activists, he seems to think the “language of faith” is reserved for the “right” kind of “Christian Leader.”

As we reported a few weeks ago, a gaggle of right-wing Mike Huckabee supporters are poised to begin a series of non-partisan voter registration rallies in Iowa. 

Among those scheduled to take part are Rick Scarborough (who has endorsed Huckabee), Janet Folger (who has endorsed Huckabee and is co-chair of his Faith and Family Values Coalition), the Iowa Family Policy Center (whose president, Chuck Hurley, has also endorsed Huckabee and is also a member of his Iowa Pastors Coalition) and Redeem the Vote (whose president, Randy Brinson, has been working closely with Huckabee in Iowa.)

But rest assured, the events are “completely nonpartisan” – or so said Rick Scarborough when he discussed the events with Janet Folger on her radio show last week:

“[Our goal is to get] people who love Jesus to register and then vote their values – not as Republicans nor Democrats – but as follower and sons of God and Jesus Christ.  If we can get them to do that and then present to them what the candidates believe, I just happen to believe that the majority of them will vote right.” 

For those who want to know what the candidates believe, Folger suggested they check out the Values Voter Debate, which just so happens to be the event she organized and where she declared Huckabee “the David among Jesse’s sons” after he trounced the other candidates in the straw poll.    

As Scarborough explained:  

“Far too few [preachers] are involved in politics … but this is an election where you can say one of them is running for president and we need to see that God is raising up pastors … God is calling for men of God to take their place in leadership of this nation … Preachers need to go to their pulpits and encourage your people to do the righteous thing, to vote their values.  And then by example, you just say ‘I’m registered, I’m going to vote’ and then step around in front of that pulpit and say ‘I’m not saying this as pastor of this church’ and tell them what you believe about the candidates.”

So you can see:  the efforts of Huckabee’s supporters are entirely non-partisan.  

But for now, questions regarding the intent of those carrying out this endeavor are moot, as the rallies have become bogged down by weather and mechanical problems:

Last week we reported that we would be touring Iowa this week on a statewide bus tour. I regret to report that due to problems with the bus, coupled with the weather in Iowa, we made the decision to postpone the trip until a better time. At the time of this writing, there is still a discussion of going to Iowa and conducting some of the scheduled tour stops without the bus. If the tour goes forward we will send out a special report to communicate the schedule and solicit your prayers.