Pennsylvania

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.

Focus on the Family is getting involved in House and Senate races in Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas, sending out scorecards in which Republican candidates are praised for their “consistently pro-life and pro-family records” and the Democrats are blasted for having “taken audaciously liberal positions – particularly on life and marriage.” 

The text of all the mailers are more or less the same, with the exception of the paragraphs about the specific candidates – here is the text of the one targeting the Minnesota Senate Race [PDF]:

It’s not every day that individuals find themselves in a position to significantly impact the direction of an entire nation, but that’s exactly where you are today. As a Minnesota voter, you are right in the middle of one of the most important and closely watched Senate races in the country.

The stakes in this contest could not be higher. If Barack Obama wins the White House—a very real possibility—the U.S. Senate will be the last defense against his liberal agenda on abortion and marriage. Sen. Obama has already promised to support the Freedom of Choice Act, which would overturn every pro-life law on abortion in the nation. He has also pledged to abolish the Defense of Marriage Act and to allow open homosexuality in our military. The only hope of stopping this radical onslaught will be a strong showing of commonsense conservatives in the Senate.

A conservative Senate will be no less important under a McCain presidency. If John McCain should emerge victorious in November, he’ll need every Senate vote he can get to confirm Supreme Court judges who will uphold the Constitution and restore sanity to our courts.

That’s why Minnesota’s Senate race is so critical. The contrast between the candidates is sharp. Norm Coleman has maintained a stellar pro-life record and a generally pro-family record in the U.S. Senate. Al Franken, on the other hand, has not only taken strikingly liberal positions since returning to Minnesota, but his comedic record in New York is an embarrassment to those who
care about family values.

Please take a careful look at the issue checklist to the right. It contains details regarding the candidates’ stands on life, marriage and the judiciary, as well as insights on other issues that are important to families—such as gas prices and the threat of higher taxes.

Furthermore, Focus has also customized each mailing … seemingly using backdrops leftover from the 1970’s:

No surprise here: "Eagle Forum PAC supports the outspoken Hazleton mayor in his 11th Congressional District race against incumbent Democrat Paul Kanjorski. 'I am happy to endorse Lou Barletta,' said Eagle Forum founder and president, Phyllis Schlafly. 'Lou's championing of the illegal immigration issue has been truly inspiring. His fight to protect his community from the crime and overcrowding caused by illegal aliens highlights the need for stronger enforcement of our immigration laws.'"

Matt Lewis, writing for Politico, suggests that Pat Toomey might be considering making another Senate run Pennsylvania while the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins might be considering his own run against embattled Louisiana Senator David Vitter in 2010:

Former Louisiana state Rep. Tony Perkins, president of the socially conservative Family Research Council, and former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), president of the fiscally conservative Club for Growth, are both rumored to be considering leaving their positions to run for the U.S. Senate — an office both have unsuccessfully sought before.

Perkins would presumably seek to “primary” Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter, who was linked to the “D.C. Madam” prostitution scandal last summer. After all, who better to challenge the first-term senator than the head of the Family Research Council? “Social conservatives in Louisiana would be pleased to support a candidate like Tony Perkins, who would have just as strong or stronger of a voting record than Sen. Vitter has had in the Senate but who comes to the race without all the personal baggage,” said Gary Marx, who has served as conservative coalitions director for the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and Mitt Romney.

And if Vitter’s personal peccadilloes aren’t enough of a contrast to satisfy fiscal conservatives, Perkins can also bring up the fact that the senator opposed the one-year ban on earmarks recently championed by presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).

Of course, Perkins might have a hard time attacking Vitter, since has claimed that he would gladly vote for Vitter, provided he can prove he has "moved on" from his scandal and that Vitter last year earmarked $100,000 for the Louisiana Family Forum, which was founded by Perkins in 1999, for its efforts to “combat evolution.”