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April 29, 2008
The Triumphant Return of the Christian Coalition
Times have been tough for the Christian Coalition in recent years. Since its meteoric rise to prominence under the helm of Ralph Reed in the1990s, the Coalition has become but a shell of its former self since Reed’s departure in 1997.
While Reed struck out on his own only to see his once promising political career strangled by his ties to corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff , the organization he built has likewise struggled to stay in business, losing nearly all of its relevance in the political arena:
After Reed’s 1997 exit, the Christian Coalition continued to deteriorate and, by 1999, found itself $2.5 million in debt, as well as facing the repayment of back taxes after having had its tax-exempt status revoked and fines for having improperly supported Newt Gingrich’s election and sharing its mailing list with right-wing Senate candidate Oliver North.
The Coalition moved its headquarters to Washington, DC in 2000 and just a few months later was sued by 10 black employees who alleged that they had been forced to eat in a segregated section and enter the office through the back door. The Coalition settled the suit for a reported $300,000 and its decline continued. Revenue shrank from a high of $26 million in 1996 to just $1.3 million in 2004 and the organization soon found itself facing lawsuits from landlords, lawyers, and clients for failure to pay its bills. In 2002, nearly broke and in shambles, the organization was forced to relocate to South Carolina, and was even sued by its moving company as it tried to collect $1,890 on an unpaid bill
Since then, the Christian Coalition only seems to be able to generate press when it gets embroiled in embarrassing fights, like when state chapters sever their ties with the national organization and then start suing each other or when they try to hire a new president to turn the organization around, only to have him resign before ever taking office because they are unwilling to consider broadening their agenda.
Still, the Coalition continues to limp along, occasionally getting some press for its efforts on behalf of “net neutrality” but, beyond that, doing nobody knows what since they haven’t even issued a press release in six months.
But just because the Coalition has been dormant for years doesn’t mean they are not longer capable of quickly reacting to breaking developments that threaten this nation:
Miley Cyrus should be held accountable for taking the semi-topless Vanity Fair photos, Michele Combs, a spokesperson for Christian Coalition of America, tells Usmagazine.com.
"Disney should reprimand her," Combs says.
Combs is calling for a televised press conference, where "Miley should say it was a mistake and that kids have to be very careful at such a young age." (Cyrus issued a statement, apologizing; the Disney Channel claims the magazine "manipulated" her, which Vanity Fair denies.)
"Kids look up to her," Combs adds. "Something needs to be done."
Miley, 15, also admitted in the interview that Sex and the City is her favorite TV show.
"If she's gonna go out there and represent wholesome values, she needs to be more accountable for her actions," Combs says.
Combs adds that famed photographer Annie Leibovitz has "a reputation for doing racy things ... Miley should have thought this out before she agreed to go in front of Annie."
She said the photos — as well as other ones of a lingerie-clad Cyrus that recently hit the Internet — are "very disappointing ... sad.
The photos are "gonna hurt a lot of people," Combs says. "It's gonna hurt her image.
Posted by Kyle at 4:14 PM | Permalink
February 6, 2008
"Is Anyone Going to Care What Grade They Get From the Christian Coalition?"
So asks the Florida Christian Coalition's incoming president, Dennis Baxley.
Posted by Kyle at 2:11 PM | Permalink
January 29, 2008
Romney Winning Over Christian Coalition Figures
Mitt Romney has secured the support of Randy Tate, former head of the Christian Coalition, and Ralph Reed was spotted at a Romney event in Florida.
Posted by Kyle at 2:32 PM | Permalink
November 30, 2007
'Patriot Pastors' ... for Huckabee?
Rick Scarborough, a pioneer in organizing churches around partisan politics, has seen his national stature rise dramatically in the last few years—the Texas ex-pastor even starred on CNN’s “God’s Warriors” series—but he’s also faced some setbacks. His “Patriot Pastors” strategy was dealt a blow last November when voters in South Dakota rejected an abortion ban and Missourians voted in favor of embryonic stem cell research, despite non-stop church-based organizing by Scarborough in both states up to Election Day. He also discovered the fact, known by most other political advocacy groups, that full-time lobbying or organizing for or against legislation is not tax-deductible—a sad day for him.
And his latest “Patriot Pastors” campaign—the ambitious “70 Weeks to Save America” tour that was to culminate on Election Day 2008—has apparently suffered from a lack of media coverage, spotty participation, and finally abandonment by Scarborough’s partner, Alan Keyes, who is running for president again. “Needless to say, this created a serious reevaluation of our whole program to register voters and to educate Christians through our Seventy Week campaign,” wrote Scarborough, who announced that sparser church events would be “augment[ed]” by voter registration drives and rallies at state capitols, “followed by an all out effort to move Values Voters to vote their values on Election Day '08.”
But sometimes opportunity knocks. Joining Randy Brinson, head of the embattled Christian Coalition of Alabama as well as a voter-registration outfit, Scarborough is bringing his “Patriot Pastors” act to the Iowa caucuses:
Beginning December 6, Vision America will be joining forces with RedeemtheVote.com in an effort to mobilize thousands of Values Voters all over Iowa as we barnstorm the state for ten days. We have been offered the use of a bus that has been especially designed for rallies, complete with a roll out stage, satellites on the roof to connect with the worldwide media, loud speakers and spotlights.
We will be working with the Iowa Family Policy Institute as well as the Iowa Christian Alliance, two very aggressive and effective pro-family organizations. Our goal is to host three rallies a day as we crisscross the state, registering thousands of voters and mobilizing tens of thousands to vote their values during the Iowa caucuses in January.
"Fox News," "US News and World Report," and other national media have expressed interest in covering this groundbreaking event as we travel the length and breadth of this important state.
Scarborough’s “One Day Crusades” this year have so far been focused on next year’s general election. Why the sudden interest in the Republican presidential primary? Well, Scarborough has heartily endorsed his former seminary classmate, Mike Huckabee, as has Brinson. And media are reporting that Huckabee has a shot of winning the Iowa caucus.
While Scarborough’s help may or may not push Huckabee over the edge in Iowa, the activist is still hedging his bets. After all, Rudy Giuliani still leads in national polls, and some have speculated that Huckabee’s surge ultimately benefits Giuliani by siphoning off far-right support for Mitt Romney. Scarborough has publicly waffled over whether he would support Giuliani were he nominated, but while he’s said Giuliani’s stance on abortion is unacceptable, he’s also been giving himself some wiggle room. Radical Islam, he said recently, is “the ultimate life issue."
Posted by Ezra at 5:40 PM | Permalink
October 24, 2007
Hatred of Hillary Drives Republican Voters
So reports the AP: "A conservative voter visiting Georgia from Minnesota, Murphy said Clinton is his main motivation for voting. 'She is a socialist,' he said. 'She is a dirty, rotten scoundrel' ... A few blocks away from the Waffle House, Thompson drew a couple dozen Republican voters to an airport hangar for a rally. He walked into the event with his wife, Jeri, 24 years his junior. 'She‘s obviously a trophy wife,' whispered Patrick Gartland, founder of the Christian Coalition of Georgia."
Posted by Kyle at 11:17 AM | Permalink
October 4, 2007
Religious Right Loves McCain’s ‘Christian Nation’ Rhetoric
Senator John McCain has had a tough time attracting support from the Religious Right in his presidential bid. Some have never forgiven him for calling Religious Right leaders “agents of intolerance” during the 2000 presidential primary. And many hate the campaign finance bill that bears his name.
But he is now winning praise from Religious Right leaders for repeating the type of bogus claims promulgated by their favorite pseudo-historian David Barton. In an interview on interfaith religious website Beliefnet, McCain said, “the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation.” And in response to a question about the possibility of a Muslim for president, he said "I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles ... personally, I prefer someone who I know . . . has a solid grounding in my faith."
In the wake of some criticism, McCain has backpedaled a bit, saying that “I would vote for a Muslim if he or she was the candidate best able to lead the country and defend our political values.” His spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said: ''The senator did not intend to assert that members of one religious faith or another have a greater claim to American citizenship over another.''
But some Religoius Right leaders have leapt to his defense. Tony Perkins at the Family Research Council praised McCain’s “Straight Talk.” Christian Coalition of America blogger Jim Backlin went even further, gushing that “McCain’s ‘America is a Christian Nation’ Comments Might Make Him President.”
Not praised by the Right was McCain’s comment in the same interview that “I think that our Founding Fathers believed in separation of Church and state and they stated it unequivocally.” Maybe the Right was mum on that point because McCain softened its impact by saying that “every statement that [the founders] made had to do with belief in a divine creator. So, they didn't mean, in my view, separation of church and state that there's no place for God, a superior being, a creator, in our discourse and in our lives.” Or maybe the Right ignored that part of McCain’s interview because they believe church-state separation is a “myth” and a “lie of the left.”
Posted by Peter at 10:00 AM | Permalink
August 14, 2007
NFL Reaches Out to the Right
The Financial Times reports "The National Football League has enlisted the support of the Christian right to help drum up opposition to a proposal in Congress that would legalise sports betting and reverse sweeping prohibitions on online gambling that were passed last year. The primary target of the lobbying campaign by the sports league and Focus on the Family, the evangelical group headed by James Dobson ... Bill Wichterman – a Washington lobbyist for the NFL who served as a top adviser to former Republican majority leader Bill Frist – encouraged conservative groups to co-sign a letter to Congress that ostensibly was written by Focus on the Family ... The letter was co-signed by the Christian Coalition and American Values, among others."
Posted by Kyle at 12:30 PM | Permalink
August 9, 2007
In 1994, Tennessee Christian Coalition Down on Fred Thompson
Group had "serious concerns" about his "principles," reports Brody.
Posted by Ezra at 3:04 PM | Permalink
August 2, 2007
Publisher, Former Christian Coalition Hire Accused of Fraud
Jason Christy, publisher of Church Report, is being accused of a long pattern of fraud, including selling advertisements in a magazine that was never printed. A lengthy report by Associated Baptist Press details the charges and a string of lawsuits related to Christy’s business practices, as well as Christy’s brief association with the struggling Christian Coalition of America, where he was hired as national director:
When young, charismatic Christian publisher Jason Christy was tapped two years ago to lead the powerful Christian Coalition, the group's leaders praised him for his ability "to inspire and encourage people of faith to action." But Christy's business dealings -- both before and after his one-month affiliation with the Coalition -- instead have inspired former customers and co-workers to file lawsuits charging Christy with defrauding their Christian businesses.
Christy, 36, who apparently had no previous public-policy experience, persuaded the Christian Coalition in 2005 to place him in one of the most visible and powerful positions in evangelical life. But before the coalition's leaders officially turned over the reins of their 1.2 million-member national lobbying group, they learned of a trail of legal and financial problems that has followed Christy from coast to coast. …
[C]oalition representatives were mum about Christy July 31 -- an unnamed spokesperson would only say the job offer was withdrawn before Christy was officially hired.
In the July 30 interview, Christy said he refused the 2005 job offer because he couldn’t run the coalition and continue operating his other business ventures at the same time, since it would require him to work on both the East and West coasts. That was the same year he declared bankruptcy.
Christy hasn’t been the only person hired to lead the Christian Coalition only to depart before even starting. Last year megachurch pastor Joel Hunter was announced as the new president before a dispute over religious-right tactics led him to step down. The once-mighty group, founded by Pat Robertson and led in the 1990s by the dynamic Ralph Reed, has been adrift in recent years, struggling with debt and disgruntled chapters breaking away.
For his part, Christy calls the fraud charges “ridiculous” and blames a competitor, Gary McCullough of Christian Communication Network. “While I did speak with the Associated Baptist Press writer prior to the release of this piece, they opted to support a friend of theirs, as opposed to holding themselves to a high standard of journalism ethics and ignoring the slander campaign my competitors have chosen to use in their business practice,” he said in a press release on his own CR Newswire.
Posted by Ezra at 5:38 PM | Permalink
July 26, 2007
60 Right-Wing Groups Demand Action on Judges
The Committee for Justice, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family and others come together to write [PDF] to the Senate, telling them to start confirming Bush's judges and ensure "that each and every judicial nominee is given a hearing and is reported out of committee for consideration by the full Senate in a timely manner." Of course, this standard was nowhere to be seen during the Clinton administration.
Posted by Kyle at 10:26 AM | Permalink
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