Janet Porter (née Folger)

This morning, on a Detroit talk radio show, Huckabee said his candidacy is appealing to more than evangelical Christian voters. He said that national polls showing him ahead of the field prove he's reaching a broader audience. "This talk that it's just an Iowa thing or an evangelical thing has not proved to be true," he said.

In the final campaign stretch in South Carolina, Huckabee backers will distribute voter guides and air radio announcements urging Christian pastors to speak out on moral issues and encourage people to vote, said Janet Folger, a Florida-based talk show host and co-chair of Huckabee's Faith and Family Values Coalition.

But as in Iowa, the biggest secret to Huckabee's Michigan success seems to be his depth of support among evangelical Christians. Typically, somewhere between one-fifth and one-third of Michigan's Republican primary voters are self-identified evangelicals. A few weeks ago, a Detroit News survey found that number may be as high as 40 percent this year. So pro-Huckabee organizers say they are focusing their entire effort on turning out evangelical church goers. They plan to call every evangelical pastor in the state over the next few days. Those ministers can't endorse any candidate from the pulpit -- but they can tell their parishioners that "it's their Christian duty," to turn out on primary day, said [Gary] Glenn. "And we know who they'll be voting for." To help drive that message home, thousands of volunteers will be dropping leaflets and waving signs in church parking lots across Michigan this Sunday. Glenn says there will also be several news conferences across the state through the January 15 vote featuring groups of pastors announcing their personal support for Huckabee, an organized wave of callers into Michigan's Christian radio stations, and phone trees targeting the state's largest churches from within.

I've been told that Huckabee is slated to speak at the Pastors' Policy Briefing scheduled for this month in Orlando, Florida, which will also feature San Antonio televangelist John Hagee, who hosted Huckabee at his church in December. The Florida event is being facilitated by Orlando attorney John Stemberger, who was behind the drive to get a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage on the November ballot in Florida. ... The Pastors' Policy Briefings are secretive and closed to the press, and there's no evidence that any of the other presidential candidates spoke at them, or were even invited to speak at them.

Huckabee recently moved his campaign into larger offices in Columbia and has been invited to preach in local churches on topics such as family values and parenting. Randy Page, president of South Carolinians for Responsible Government, a Columbia-based advocacy group, said the invitations reflect Huckabee's appeal among evangelicals. "He's a preacher so it's easier for him to get into a pulpit," said Page, a Baptist who endorsed Thompson. "For a presidential candidate, it's unprecedented."

When the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ shut down earlier this year, all eyes were on its founder, televangelism titan D. James Kennedy, who passed away a few months later. But what about its low-key director, Gary Cass—whatever happened to him?

Well, he’s recently set up a new group called the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission. Like the Catholic League front group Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation, Cass’s organization plays on the reputation of the Anti-Defamation League to signify that there is currently a trend of “bigotry” against Christians in the U.S. on par with the anti-Semitism that marked the period leading up to the Holocaust.

The “persecuted majority” theme is nothing new on the Religious Right; nor is it new territory for Cass, who spoke at the “War on Christians” conference in 2006. Cass has apparently written a book called “Christian Bashing”: “It is time for Christians to stand up and call bigotry by its rightful name and to fight back when defamed," he cries.

And now Cass is turning to the presidential primary. He denounced Rudy Giuliani after the candidate said he didn’t take the biblical story of Jonah and the whale literally. “It’s either Jesus and Jonah or Giuliani. I prefer Christ’s approach to the Bible,” wrote Cass. When Mitt Romney gave his religion speech, Cass was quick to tread where few other religious-right activists would go, attacking Romney’s “Mormon dollars” and the church’s alleged “hostility to Christianity”:

As a Bishop in the Mormon Church, Mitt Romney is free to believe Mormonism's doctrines, practice their secret rituals and take their sacred vows, but Romney's Mormon beliefs are not Christian. More importantly, he has not renounced Mormonism's historic antipathy toward Christianity. This is an important aspect of any evaluation the American voters make regarding his fitness for office.

And last week, rather than follow in the footsteps of Mike Huckabee-booster Janet Folger, Cass’s predecessor at the Center for Reclaiming America, Cass endorsed the slumberous campaign of Fred Thompson. Thompson, who appears to be hoping for a “strong third” in Iowa, said that he was “deeply grateful” and that Cass was “held in high regard by conservative Evangelical Christians across the country.” So can we expect Thompson to liven up his campaign by alleging widespread “bigotry” against Christians and muttering about the “secret rituals” of his opponent’s religion?

Mike Huckabee’s rapid ascent in the polls has come as a surprise to many. It began with his performance and win at the Values Voter Debate, where he assured a bevy of second and third-tier right-wing activists that he was different from the other candidates - for while they simply come “to” them seeking support, he comes “from” them.   

Huckabee rode the wave from the Debate into the Value Voter Summit where he wooed the audience by telling them everything they longed to hear from a presidential candidate and walked away with the majority of votes of those in attendance in the straw poll.

Since then, Huckabee has been racking up endorsements from right-wing figures like Janet Folger, Rick Scarborough, and Tim and Beverly LaHaye and been transformed into a viable front-runner.  

In addition, Huckabee has undoubtedly benefited from the fact that many in the press seem smitten with his affability, humor, and “ah shucks” demeanor – but, as we noted in a report we recently released, they are ignoring his “a long record of rhetoric and actions that reveal an ideologue’s agenda and a zealot’s intolerance for differing opinions.”

For example, in this recent profile of Huckabee, the New York Times undertook no real investigation of any of Huckabee’s past work or inflammatory remarks, stating simply:

Mr. Huckabee served as Mr. [James] Robison’s announcer, advance man and public relations representative, drumming up attendance and coverage for his prayer meetings and appearing on broadcasts. (The organization was based near Dallas, which is how Mr. Huckabee came to work on the 1980 Reagan rally). Mr. Robison could be harsh — he yelled in the pulpit and referred to gay people as perverts — but Mr. Huckabee was a genial ambassador

That is all well and good, until you realize just who Huckabee was working for:

Likewise, the Times goes on to perfunctorily recount Huckabee’s failed 1992 Senate campaign:

Mr. Huckabee ran largely on social issues like abortion, portraying his opponent, Senator Dale Bumpers, a Democrat who was virtually an Arkansas institution, as a pornographer because he supported the National Endowment for the Arts. But attacking the popular veteran backfired; Mr. Huckabee was badly beaten.

Of course, there is more to it than that – such as the positions he put forward during his campaign, which he discussed with the Associated Press:

Having gays and lesbians in the military would be a disgrace for the nation, according to Huckabee.

"I agree with the leadership of our military, who believe it is not in the best interest of the armed forces to have homosexuals serving on active duty," he said. "I believe to try to legitimize that which is inherently illegitimate would be a disgraceful act of government. I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk."

…

Q: Do you approve of a man and a woman living together out of marriage?

Huckabee: Whether or not I approve of a man and woman living together is not as much of an issue as whether or not it is right and whether or not God approves of it. The "living together" relationship is demeaning to the highest expression of human love and commitment. I reject it as an alternate lifestyle, because it robs people of the highest possible relationship one can experience: marriage. We should always strive to encourage every human being to experience his or her full potential and possibilities.  

Huckabee also shared his views regarding the proper treatment of people who are infected with HIV:

"It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population," he said. "This deadly disease, for which there is no cure, is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents.

"If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague."

This was 1992 – four years after the federal government distributed a pamphlet penned by then Surgeon General C. Everett Koop entitled “Understanding AIDS” which explained that the disease could not be contracted through everyday contact.  And is not as if Huckabee just didn’t see the pamphlet, since it “was sent to all 107 million households in the United States in 1988, the largest public health mailing ever done.”

Huckabee likes to portray himself as a different kind of right-wing leader, one who is conservative but “is not angry about it.” But judging by his past remarks, he appears far more like his right-wing allies than he would like the nation to believe. 

The right-wing endorsements just keep pouring in for Mike Huckabee. In addition to B-list celebrities like Chuck Norris and Ric Flair, Huckabee has also been racking up endorsements from B-list Religious Right leaders such as Rick Scarborough, Don Wildmon, and Tim and Beverly LaHaye. And now Huckabee has secured the support of Jerry Falwell, Jr.:

Former Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee announced the personal endorsement of Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. Falwell is the son of the late Jerry Falwell, founder of Liberty University and Falwell Ministries. "I knew Jerry's dad for more than 30 years and have admired the long tradition of Liberty University and the legacy for creating 'Champions for Christ'," Huckabee said. "Dr. Falwell's vision of helping students to start with nothing to believe they can change the world is exactly what our campaign is all about."

Huckabee also unveiled his Faith and Family Values Coalition which, as one would expect, is chock full of Religious Right figures of varying fame and influence:

- Dr. Jerry Jenkins, best-selling author, including the Left Behind series; Colorado
- Star Parker, Founder and president of CURE;* Washington D.C. - Michael Farris, Chair of Home School Legal Defense Association* and Chancellor of Patrick Henry College;* Virginia
- William J. Murray, Chair of Religious Freedom Coalition,* Chair of Government is Not God PAC,* and author; Washington D.C.
- Don Wildmon, Founder and Chairman of American Family Association;* Mississippi
- Dr. Mark Bailey, President of Dallas Theological Seminary;* Texas
- Rick Scarborough, Founder and President of Vision America;* Texas
- Jerry Cox, President of Arkansas Family Council;* Arkansas
- Janet Folger, President of Faith2Action;* Florida
- Jim Pfaff, President and CEO of the Colorado Family Action;* Colorado
- Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel*/ Dean of Liberty University Law School;* Virginia
- Kelly Shackelford, Chief Counsel, Liberty Legal Institute and President of Free Market Foundation;* Texas
- Phil Burress, President of Citizens for Community Values;* Ohio

As for Janet Folger, not only is she a member of the coalition, she is also serving as co-chair. This comes as no surprise, as Folger has been Huckabee's most vocal backer ever since he won the straw poll at the Values Voter Debate, which she organized. It should also be noted that Folger personally invited the Grand Avenue Church of God choir to perform their rendition of "Why Should God Bless America?" at the debate:

In recent weeks, Folger has been going all out for Huckabee in her WorldNetDaily columns, calling Hillary Clinton "Queen of Slaughter" and claiming that, if elected, Clinton will put Christians in prison. For that, Huckabee appears to have decided that she deserves to serve as co-chair of his Faith and Family Values Coalition.

Mike Huckabee just keeps racking up endorsements from fringe right-wing activists and leaders.  In addition to the support of “celebrities” like Chuck Norris and Ric Flair, Huckabee has also won over second-tier Religious Right leaders such as Janet Folger, Rick Scarborough, and Don Wildmon - and now you can add Tim and Beverly LaHaye to that list:

Mike Huckabee, the Republican presidential candidate and former Southern Baptist minister, is getting help from Tim LaHaye, the Christian conservative organizer and co-author of the apocalyptic “Left Behind” novels.

“America and our Judeo-Christian heritage are under attack by a force that is more destructive than any America has faced” since Hitler, Dr. LaHaye and his wife, Beverly, wrote in letters sent to lists of conservative Christians in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. “Defeating the radical jihadists will require renewed resolve and spiritual rearmament by the evangelical pastors in America.”

The letters were distributed in part through an e-mail list maintained by Mrs. LaHaye’s organization, Concerned Women for America, to encourage pastors to attend two-day conferences held in each state (free, including meals and a hotel room). Mr. Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, is the only candidate speaking.

Ms. LaHaye just happens to believe that “Christian values should dominate our government. The test of those values is the Bible. Politicians who do not use the Bible to guide their public and private lives do not belong in office.” Which probably explains why they are backing Huckabee who, with his most recent ad, portrays himself as a “Christian Leader” who says his “Faith doesn’t just influence me; it really defines me”:

At least that seems to be the wild scenario unfolding in the fevered imagination of Janet Folger:

I'm writing this letter from prison, where I've been since the beginning of 2010. Since Hillary was elected in '08, Christian persecution in America has gotten even worse than we predicted.

When the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" was signed into law, my radio program was yanked off the air along with all the others that dared discuss moral issues on Christian radio. The networks just couldn't bring themselves to air a pro-abortion program or one advocates the homosexual agenda for the government mandated "balance" because broadcasting lies went against their basic beliefs – I don't blame them.

We knew "Thought Crimes" was in danger of becoming law back when it passed Congress in 2007, but thankfully, President Bush kept his promise to veto it. But, tragically, Hillary signed that most dangerous bill in America – ushering in the criminalization of Christianity. And now, even my book, "The Criminalization of Christianity," has been banned as "hate speech" just as I predicted when I wrote it back in 2005.

When the "Employment Non-Discrimination Act" ("Thought Crimes" for the Workplace) became law, businesses and ministries were targeted by homosexual activists and were forced to close when they wouldn't comply with a law forcing them to hire those opposed to their beliefs on moral issues.

When they canceled my program, banned my book and targeted my ministry, I knew it was only a matter of time before I'd be forced into "prison ministry" against my will. Unfortunately for our nation, that ministry is growing fast. A homeschooling mom was assigned the cell next to me. I try to comfort her, but she cries constantly at the thought of her kids being raised in government foster care.

And wouldn’t you know it, if only the Right had rallied behind her preferred candidate, this relentless persecution could have been prevented:   

Just three years ago – in 2007 – we had a chance to unite and achieve our lifetime goals of restoring protection to children in the womb, and protecting our foundational relationship of marriage between a man and a woman.

No, in 2007 and 2008, American Christians were so used to the status quo that they forgot we were in this to win. Compromised and divided, they choose to protest rather than protect.

…

There was a tier-one candidate that stood for our goals of life and marriage – that man was Gov. Mike Huckabee. Had we nominated Huckabee to run against Hillary, the stark difference between the two would have brought voters out in droves.

So there you have it: vote for Mike Huckabee or end up in prison. 

Maybe when the novelty of the Hucakbee campaign’s Chuck Norris ad wears off, they’ll unveil a new ad featuring this message with Huckabee seated along-side Folger. 

“Religious Right Divides Its Vote at Summit” was the headline of the New York Times article on the Values Voter Summit, and indeed, Mitt Romney only edged out Mike Huckabee by a few votes in the straw poll, 1595 to 1565, with other candidates trailing significantly. But that headline had to be a real disappointment for Huckabee boosters, dreaming of pushing him up from the second-tier, who believe that official tally is illegitimate because it allowed FRC members to vote online. Among actual conference-goers, Huckabee, the crowd favorite, walked away with a majority vote, besting Romney 488-99.

Janet Folger, who endorsed Huckabee soon after he won the straw poll at her Values Voter Debate, accused Romney of “ballot-box stuffing”:

Efforts to try and skew the results of the Internet poll, such as the e-mail sent by Mark DeMoss (now on the Romney campaign), complete with a link and instructions to stack it, gained Romney a .5 percent edge for his prominently announced "win." By the way, when that announcement was made following fanfare, including a drum roll, the audience (who were 5-to-1 Huckabee supporters) sat stunned. Had they announced the results of the real grass-roots activists who actually attended the event, we would have heard explosive applause instead of the sound of crickets and the clapping of a few Romney shills.

A harsh allegation, to be sure, but hardly out of character: Romney managed to win the CPAC straw poll last spring solely on the basis of students he sponsored, and he similarly paid for votes at the straw poll in South Carolina. After announcing that he was scaling back his efforts at the Ames, Iowa straw poll, Romney’s campaign spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to get the best tent and the most buses to ferry Republicans to the event, presumably with their tickets paid in exchange for a vote commitment (as is common at Ames). Considering that membership to FRC Action and the code to vote in that straw poll could be purchased for a $1 donation, this latest effort was a steal. Then there’s money Romney pays to prominent right-wing figures, such as $25,000 to a company owned by Jay Sekulow, who endorsed Romney.

Alabama activist Randy Brinson, head of the state’s reconstituted Christian Coalition chapter as well as a voter mobilization effort and an ally of Huckabee, thinks it’s that kind of cash that keeps people like Tony Perkins pooh-poohing Huckabee’s prospects. From U.S. News:

[Brinson] says he believes that "gatekeepers" like Bauer, Perkins, and Dobson are more interested in Romney or Thompson because their campaigns have money to pay for consultants from the big conservative evangelical organizations, ensuring them access to the White House if either of them wins.

James Dobson has decided to publicly weigh in on the reports that various right-wing leaders are considering abandoning the Republican Party should Rudy Giuliani win the presidential nomination with an op-ed in the New York Times:

After two hours of deliberation, we voted on a resolution that can be summarized as follows: If neither of the two major political parties nominates an individual who pledges himself or herself to the sanctity of human life, we will join others in voting for a minor-party candidate. Those agreeing with the proposition were invited to stand. The result was almost unanimous.

Dobson goes on to explain that they are not willing to compromise their anti-choice, anti-gay principles in order to ensure electoral success for the Republican Party and that “winning the presidential election is vitally important, but not at the expense of what we hold most dear.”

But the main reason Dobson penned this op-ed was to dampen reports that the Right is in disarray leading into the 2008 election:

One other clarification is germane, even though unrelated to the meeting in Salt Lake City. The secular news media has been reporting in recent months that the conservative Christian movement is hopelessly fractured and internally antagonistic. The Los Angeles Times reported on Monday, for example, that supporters of traditional family values are rapidly “splintering.” That is not true. The near unanimity in Salt Lake City is evidence of much greater harmony than supposed. Admittedly, differences of opinion exist among us about our choices for president.

That divergence is entirely reasonable, now just over a year before the national election. It is hardly indicative of a “splintering” of old alliances. If the major political parties decide to abandon conservative principles, the cohesion of pro-family advocates will be all too apparent in 2008.

It is true that many - but not all - “supporters of traditional family values,” as Dobson refers to his right-wing allies, are of the same mind when it comes to opposition to a Giuliani nomination, but beyond that, they are all over the place. 

Things don’t seem to be going very well for Fred Thompson’s nascent presidential campaign.  A few weeks ago, we noted that Thompson has failed to secure the endorsement of the members of the highly influential right-wing collective The Arlington Group and now, to make matters worse, he has apparently been declared unacceptable by James Dobson:

James Dobson, one of the nation's most politically influential evangelical Christians, this week wrote to friends that he will not support Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson.

In a private e-mail obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, Dobson accuses the former Tennessee senator and actor of being weak on the campaign trail and wrong on issues dear to social conservatives.

"Isn't Thompson the candidate who is opposed to a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, believes there should be 50 different definitions of marriage in the U.S., favors McCain-Feingold, won't talk at all about what he believes, and can't speak his way out of a paper bag on the campaign trail?" Dobson wrote. "He has no passion, no zeal and no apparent 'want to.' And yet he is apparently the Great Hope that burns in the breasts of many conservative Christians? Well, not for me, my brothers. Not for me!"

Thompson now joins John McCain and Rudy Giuliani as having been written off by Dobson, which leaves Mitt Romney as the last man standing among the top-tier Republican candidate and Dobson has had nice things to say about him in the past. 

In light of the attempts to anoint Mike Huckabee as the Right’s candidate of choice - or the “David among Jesse’s sons,” as Janet Folger put it – Dobson’s ultimate decision of which remaining candidate to back has the potential to not only shape the Republican presidential primary race but also exacerbate divisions among right-wing groups as they scramble to maintain their political influence heading into 2008.