Back in January, the Iowa Family Policy Center, a state affiliate of Focus on the Family, hosted a rally ostensibly designed to oppose gay marriage in the state that turned into a campaign event for GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats.
At the event, the IFPC’s chairman explicitly ruled out the possibility of supporting Vander Plaats’ opponent should Vander Plaats lose the primary election, says “[Terry Branstad] has failed to boldly address the values that we embrace. And even if he were to win the nomination, the Iowa Family PAC would not support him.”
On Tuesday Branstad won the primary and, as the Iowa Independent reports, the IFPC is following through on its threat:
The Iowa Family Policy Center is prepared to make good on its threat not to support former Gov. Terry Branstad’s campaign to unseat incumbent Gov. Chet Culver, and have sent an e-mail message to supporters encouraging them to do the same.
…The Iowa Family PAC has been clear about what we are looking for in political candidates. We owe it to God, and to those who sacrificially give to support the work of [Iowa Family Policy Center] Action and the Iowa Family PAC to hold fast to the standards that we established.
If and when a political party provides a candidate we can support, we will be happy to unify around that candidate. We do not, however, accept the notion that voting for one candidate makes us responsible for the election of another. We answer to God, so if there are no candidates worthy of our support, that is the problem of the political parties, not ours. …
Of course one has to wonder if the IFPC will be able to stick with its pledge or if they, like their allies at Focus on the Family, will suddenly have a change of heart as Election Day approaches.
