New York

I knew that the Right had gone all-in behind Doug Hoffman's campaign in the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district, but I didn't realize how complete this mobilization was until I took a look at his endorsement list - it reads like a list of the top individuals and organizations we track on this blog:

Fred Thompson
Club For Growth
Concerned Women for America
Susan B. Anthony List
American Conservative Union
Citizens United Political Victory Fund
Campaign for Working Families
NYS Right to Life PAC
Government Is Not God-PAC
Conservative Victory Fund
Eagle Forum
National Organization for Marriage
America's Independent Party
Dick Armey
Steve Forbes
Sarah Palin
Rick Santorum
U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-Kansas)
James Dobson, PhD
Tim Pawlenty
Jim Demint
National Conservative Fund
Gun Owners of American-PVF
Life and Liberty PAC
Minuteman PAC
Congressman Jeff Flake - AZ
Family Research Council PAC
Freedom First PAC
Congressman Steve King - IA

Update: See this letter from the National Conservative Campaign Fund for even more evidence of Hoffman's right-wing support.

Today, the National Organization for Marriage unveiled a new political action committee and announced that it has a half-a-million dollars ready to go to back primary challenges to any Republican legislator in the state of New York that votes to grant marriage equality to gays and lesbians:

On the heels of the chaos in Albany which has thrown the future of marriage into doubt, the National Organization for Marriage announced today the formation of a state political action committee, NOM PAC New York, which will allow NOM to engage in New York state legislative races.

...

"We are now in direct contact with thousands of New Yorkers in every senate district who care about the marriage issue," said [Brian Brown, executive director of NOM.], "and they have a warning for Albany: Vote our values or we'll find someone who else who will."

Brown announced an initial target goal of $500,000 to fund primary challenges for any Republican state senator who votes for gay marriage.

"The first half million dollars will be used in GOP primaries," noted Brown, "but we are also looking to aid Democratic candidates who want to buck the establishment on the marriage issue, and to help in general election contests."

The New York Times has published an extensive feature revisiting the unfortunate public battle that emerged last summer over the opening of a charter school offering Arabic language and cultural instruction. As we wrote in September, while 67 other schools in New York City were earning applause for dual-language instruction, the announcement of the Khalil Gibran International Academy resulted in a right-wing backlash that seemed to presume Arab American culture to be of a piece with international terrorism. In the end, a handful of fringe websites and third-string commentators, with promotion by two conservative newspapers, managed to force the resignation of the respected founding principal and to tarnish the new school, essentially sabotaging the first year of the educational effort.

Daniel Pipes led the charge against the school and its architect, Debbie Almontaser. He described to the Times how he sees openly Muslim Americans as posing a new threat, not of violence or law-breaking but of cultural change:

The conflict tapped into a well of post-9/11 anxieties. But Ms. Almontaser’s downfall was not merely the result of a spontaneous outcry by concerned parents and neighborhood activists. It was also the work of a growing and organized movement to stop Muslim citizens who are seeking an expanded role in American public life. The fight against the school, participants in the effort say, was only an early skirmish in a broader, national struggle.

“It’s a battle that’s really just begun,” said Daniel Pipes, who directs a conservative research group, the Middle East Forum, and helped lead the charge against Ms. Almontaser and the school.

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, critics of radical Islam focused largely on terrorism, scrutinizing Muslim-American charities or asserting links between Muslim organizations and violent groups like Hamas. But as the authorities have stepped up the war on terror, those critics have shifted their gaze to a new frontier, what they describe as law-abiding Muslim-Americans who are imposing their religious values in the public domain.

Mr. Pipes and others reel off a list of examples: Muslim cabdrivers in Minneapolis who have refused to take passengers carrying liquor; municipal pools and a gym at Harvard that have adopted female-only hours to accommodate Muslim women; candidates for office who are suspected of supporting political Islam; and banks that are offering financial products compliant with sharia, the Islamic code of law.

The danger, Mr. Pipes says, is that the United States stands to become another England or France, a place where Muslims are balkanized and ultimately threaten to impose sharia.

“It is hard to see how violence, how terrorism will lead to the implementation of sharia,” Mr. Pipes said. “It is much easier to see how, working through the system — the school system, the media, the religious organizations, the government, businesses and the like — you can promote radical Islam.”

Almontaser is suing the city for forcing her resignation, but it’s remarkable that such a small group of people—led by activists like Pipes and Aryeh Spero, who are as a rule ignored—could intimidate New York City, armed only with overactive imaginations and a paranoid suspicion of Muslims.

Since Truman, U.S. presidents have issued annual proclamations declaring a non-sectarian National Day of Prayer, and this year is no different. What has changed in recent years is the rise in influence of a sectarian group that has appointed itself the “official” organizer of the occasion. The National Day of Prayer Task Force, headed by James Dobson’s wife Shirley and based out of Focus on the Family offices in Colorado, admits that its purpose is “organizing and promoting prayer observances conforming to a Judeo-Christian system of values” – in particular, evangelical Christianity based on Biblical inerrancy and fighting the “cultural war” – but it acts like it’s a federal agency and the arbiter of the holiday itself.

This past week, prior to New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s signing of a state proclamation on the day of prayer, Dobson issued an attack on his radio program. Focus’s Citizenlink web site published this indignant article on Friday accusing Spitzer of purposefully “insult[ing] and offend[ing] millions” of “people of faith”:

We want to make you aware of a slap in the face the governor of New York has delivered to people of faith all across the country.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer – who just a few days ago promised to sign a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in his state, should one land on his desk – apparently has refused to sign a proclamation supporting Thursday’s observance of the National Day of Prayer. The governors of the other 49 states have already issued such proclamations, acknowledging the need for America to unite in prayer.

Won’t you take a minute or two – no matter what state you live in – to let Gov. Spitzer know what you think about his refusal to acknowledge the National Day of Prayer? Remind him that this country was founded as a Christian nation – and he will insult and offend millions if he continues down the path he is on.

Focus also asserted that “the governor of New York, which was the target of the vicious and unprovoked attacks on 9/11, does not believe the people of his state need divine guidance and protection.” After Spitzer signed the proclamation, Citizenlink replaced the article with a declaration of victory, asserting that Spitzer “changed his mind … after Dr. James Dobson alerted the nation through his Focus on the Family broadcast.”

However, the only evidence Focus has provided that Spitzer had decided not to issue a proclamation is that his office didn’t return phone calls from the National Day of Prayer Task Force. From Citizenlink:

Susan Castilla, the New York coordinator for NDP [sic], said she was put off time and time again by the governor’s staff.

“It seemed the National Day of Prayer was on the back burner,” she said. “We don’t get phone calls returned. You never hear back. This has kind of been a constant thing.”

Castilla is actually the state coordinator for the NDP Task Force, not for the federal observance itself. Apparently, the NDP Task Force expects state governors to follow its commands, having set a deadline:

Jean Truty, who works for the National Day of Prayer Task Force, said a letter requesting a proclamation was mailed to Spitzer in January. The letter asked for a response by April 1.

Notably, the proclamation that was issued today is dated April 25. Christine Anderson, press secretary for Spitzer, said delays can happen in paperwork. “He always intended to sign it,” she said.

Why is it so important to Focus on the Family that the NDP Task Force be presumed to be an “official” body? A clue might be found in the group’s prayer guide, which describes the media as “hostile to those who voice their belief in Christ” and schools as “promoting a radical social agenda” including “Condom distribution, and a refusal to acknowledge God.” By co-opting the observance, the NDP Task Force isn’t just promoting prayer – it’s promoting the talking points of the Religious Right.