-
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Mr. September Blackballed By Christian Right? The Reaction Part Two
Terry Perkins of the Family Research Council, Rev. Herbert Lusk and Dr. James Dobson
After reading this interview of Tony Perkins by CBN’s David Brody I am inclined to believe cynically that the Evangelical Christian RIGHT wants the Democrats and Hillary Clinton to win the Presidency and control of Congress.
“This is about the life issue. There is absolutely no way that we will go with a candidate that is pro-abortion. It’s an issue of principle and conviction. It’s what we’ve worked for, what we’ve fought for. Do you really think they (social conservative activists) would go to work for a Giuliani led campaign? It’s an unreasonable request for the GOP to ask these people to invest their time and energy into it. Giuliani becomes a drag on the party because social conservatives won’t work for him. I think you can see a landslide with Giuliani at the head of the ticket.”
“We’re not here to advance the agenda of the Republican Party. If they’re not willing to advance the agenda of social conservatives, then we’re not with them. There has been too much willingness of social conservatives to go along.”
It is almost time to send these folks packing from the GOP. They will get NOWHERE with Rudy, Thompson, Romney or McCain in any case.
And, why do you ask, they would prefer a pro-choice liberal Democrat like Hillary Clinton in the White House?
MONEY AND INFLUENCE, baby.
This blog piece hits the nail on the head (h/t Soren):
A smart strategy for Christian conservatives. Mr Giuliani may now redouble his efforts to woo them. Or, if he balks, primary voters might be put out and go for a more socially conservative candidate. Either way, all the way, the fundraising dollars flow in. And there’s always the possibility that the right might actually go ahead and put up a third-party candidate who splits the Republican vote and assures a Democratic victory.
That last scenario sounds bad for all Republicans, because it would be a help to the dread Hillary Clinton. But at this point it looks like a Democrat, Hillary or otherwise, is going to win this election regardless. If Christian conservatives can argue that by withholding their support they caused the GOP to lose, they will enjoy more leverage in future, more winnable elections. It’ll be hard for moderate Republicans to take their marching orders from Tony Perkins but they have, after all, volunteered for and nurtured the relationship.
Hypocritical or principled?
Flap suggests the former rather than the latter.
Dr. James Dobson, Rudy and Dr. Richard Land
Time for the GOP to cut the cord.
Previous:
Rudy – Send Judith to Voice Mail
Anti-Giuliani Group Punks Rudy But Gets IT Wrong
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Mr. September Blackballed By Christian Right? The Reaction
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Continues to Contend in South Carolina
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Wins GOP Women Straw Poll
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Contends in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Mr. September Blackballed By Christian Right?
Technorati Tags: Rudy Giuliani
-
Rudy – Send Judith to Voice Mail
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=9eFOotpUjqk[/youtube]
Rudy, do yourself a favor and push END.
Previous:
Anti-Giuliani Group Punks Rudy But Gets IT Wrong
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Mr. September Blackballed By Christian Right? The Reaction
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Continues to Contend in South Carolina
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Wins GOP Women Straw Poll
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Contends in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Mr. September Blackballed By Christian Right?
Technorati Tags: Rudy Giuliani
-
Anti-Giuliani Group Punks Rudy But Gets IT Wrong
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ0GupTQVpA[/youtube]
So, Rudy had scheduling conflicts. Big Deal. None of the leading GOP candidates showed.
But, what Robert Greenwald says in his video is WRONG. Flap was there. See in this screen capture:
Flap is holding the video camera. The reporter on his laptop was Marc Santora of the New York Times.
Three reporters?
NOPE
What Greenwald did not show was the bank of at least ten television cameras on a podium directly behind where Flap was sitting. And he didn’t show the multitude of television and print reporters behind the cameras preparing to charge the Mayor and Pete Wilson after their announcement and Q & A presser.
Let’s see who was there:
David Brody and about three staff members from CBN (Christian Broadcast Network), Conan Nolan of KNBC, Channel 4, Los Angeles Television, ABC television, CBS television, Fox Television and News and reporters from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, AP, etc. Sorry I did not get all of their names or cards. Plus, there were all of the photographers, television camera and sound guys.
Sorry Greenwald you are WRONG and INACCURATE.
One of Flap’s videos of the endorsement is here.
Oh and furthermore at 6 PM, Rudy was on his way to Joe’s cafe in Santa Barbara after his fundraiser at the Santa Barbara Biltmore.
Rudy also had events in Lancaster, California and a fundraiser in Las Vegas that evening.
A busy schedule, wouldn’t you say, Greenwald?
A couple of Flap’s videos on Joe’s cafe in Santa Barbara are here.
Previous:
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Mr. September Blackballed By Christian Right? The Reaction
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Continues to Contend in South Carolina
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Wins GOP Women Straw Poll
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Contends in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Mr. September Blackballed By Christian Right?
Rudy Giuliani Video: Rudy in Santa Barbara California Part 3
Running With Rudy at National House Party Night
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Former California Governor Pete Wilson Endorses Giuliani for President
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy in Santa Barbara California Part 2
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy in Santa Barbara California
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Catches Mitt Romney in New Hampshire
Former California Governor Pete Wilson to Endorse Rudy Giuliani for President Tomorrow
Technorati Tags: Rudy Giuliani
-
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Mr. September Blackballed By Christian Right? The Reaction
Flap wrote yesterday about this New York Times account about ANGST of the Christian RIGHT with a Rudy Giuliani GOP nomination and the fact they may support a third party candidate.
Well, it is Monday and others in the RIGHT blogopshere have started to weigh into this ANGST:
David Brody of the Christian Broadcast Network:
If this ends up happening, it becomes a HUGE gamble for these groups. Let’s face facts. A third party nominee isn’t going to win the presidency so if social conservative leaders get behind a “to be announced” candidate, you very well could have millions of Evangelicals voting for that candidate as a “protest” vote against Giuliani. That could leave Hillary Clinton with a straight path to the presidency. Is the calculation here that a pro-choice, pro-gay rights GOP leader in Giuliani is worse than Hillary Clinton? It seems like this is about making a statement of purity more than anything else.
The problem with the Christian Right is that they have consistently made these threats in the past and have always dropped the idea when they started counting numbers. The groups have significant influence in the Republican Party because of their ability to organize and contribute, but their influence outstrips their actual size. Forming a third party would set them back at least a generation, and it would push Republican politics away from their agenda and towards the center, just when Democrats appear poised to abandon it.
The immediate effect, however, would probably be the election of Hillary Clinton to the White House. Hillary has tremendous negatives, higher than anyone seeking a first-term Presidency in recent memory. At the moment, Rasmussen has her in the best position she’s had — and that’s an anemic +6, with a whopping 46% negative. People don’t get elected with those kinds of negatives in a two-party general election … unless someone runs as a third-party candidate that drains support from the other option. It’s how Bill Clinton won in 1992, when fiscal conservatives abandoned George H. W. Bush for Ross Perot because of Bush’s tax increase in 1990.
If the Christian Right did the same by organizing a third party, they may as well write themselves off as a significant force in American politics. They have plenty of candidates to support in the primaries, including Mike Huckabee, who matches up well with their platform. If they can’t get Huckabee nominated within the system, then the faction should acknowledge that the party made a different choice and support the end result of the primary process. If they cannot do that, no one in Republican politics will ever trust them, and their influence will wane substantially.
Yesterday Salon reported about a meeting that occurred concurrently with the quarterly meeting of the Council on National Policy, a conservative organization that tries to coordinate the actions of various components of the conservative movement. The top-level story that people are taking from this is that the conservative movement organizations will walk away and try to sabotage a Rudy Giuliani campaign.
I had argued in July that the Christian Right and the conservative movement had dated Mitt Romney (really flirted) but married Fred Thompson. At least it seemed like an engagement. Between Schiavo, Thompson’s personal life, his apparent personal secularism, his positions on abortion and gay marriage, etc., the engagement is falling through. I also argued that this relationship felt strange but it had a purpose, to maintain a grip on the party apparatus…
Richard Viguerie, James Dobson and Richard Land are flirting with irrelevance in the Presidential cycle of 2008. They no longer control (if they ever did) the GOP Presidential nominee or his agenda. Rudy has NOT pandered and Fred Thompson has said he doesn’t need them. Mitt’s Mormonism is unacceptable to them.
Where does this leave the Christian RIGHT?
Left out. So, they MOAN they will take their ball and go home since they cannot get their own way with their own nominee who marches in their lockstep.
Flap says let them go. A good purging of the party post 9/11 and post-George Bush is due in any case.
Will Hillary win?
Perhaps. But, the GOP nominee will continue to capture a significant portion of Evangelical Christian voters – even without their leaders. Whatever loss comes from a third party candidacy will be votes gained from independent Catholic and non-religious voters in key electoral states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania and perhaps California.
And let’s look at some polling numbers:
The Gallup Poll states that “it is clear that at this point, Giuliani is in a relatively solid position in the Republican nomination race despite questions about his viability given some of his more liberal issue positions. He is no worse than tied for the lead among all major Republican constituencies, including those from groups that are most likely to disagree with him on some of these issues. And among Republicans who are most likely to vote in the primary, his lead is eight points over Thompson, 32% to 24.â€
http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=28828
And……….
CNN/WMUR NEW HAMPSHIRE SURVEY – Conducted 9/17-9/24
Mayor Giuliani FAV-UNFAV among:
Conservatives: 71%-22%
Protestants: 71%-17%
Catholic: 70%-23%
Attend Church 1 or more times a week: 66%-25%
1-2 times a month: 71%-29%
Stay tuned……..
Previous:
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Continues to Contend in South Carolina
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Wins GOP Women Straw Poll
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Contends in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Mr. September Blackballed By Christian Right?
Rudy Giuliani Video: Rudy in Santa Barbara California Part 3
Running With Rudy at National House Party Night
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Former California Governor Pete Wilson Endorses Giuliani for President
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy in Santa Barbara California Part 2
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy in Santa Barbara California
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Catches Mitt Romney in New Hampshire
Former California Governor Pete Wilson to Endorse Rudy Giuliani for President Tomorrow
Technorati Tags: Rudy Giuliani
-
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Continues to Contend in South Carolina
Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, left, with Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., speaks to reporters during a stop at a New York style restaurant in Portland, Ore., Saturday ,Sept. 29, 2007.
Flap posted on Sunday the ARG poll from South Carolina. Late Sunday evening the Rasmussen South Carolina GOP poll was released.
The South Carolina GOP NUTS:
- Rudy – 20%
- Thompson – 24%
- Romney – 15%
- McCain – 11%
- Huckabee – 3%
Let’s look at the Real Clear Politics averages for South Carolina:
Looks like a horse race in South Carolina. But, with Romney fading in Iowa and New Hampshire will Mitt have to divert more campaign assets there?
Or will he simply self-fund in South Carolina?
Stay tuned……
Previous:
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Wins GOP Women Straw Poll
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Contends in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Mr. September Blackballed By Christian Right?
Rudy Giuliani Video: Rudy in Santa Barbara California Part 3
Running With Rudy at National House Party Night
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Former California Governor Pete Wilson Endorses Giuliani for President
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy in Santa Barbara California Part 2
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy in Santa Barbara California
Giuliani Poll Watch: Rudy Catches Mitt Romney in New Hampshire
Former California Governor Pete Wilson to Endorse Rudy Giuliani for President Tomorrow
Technorati Tags: Rudy Giuliani
-
Day By Day by Chris Muir October 1, 2007
Yes, Chris, Cox & Forkum WILL be sadly missed.
Flap is hoping for a REPRISE in a few months. Maybe the first of the year?
Previous:
Technorati Tags: Day By Day, Chris Muir