October 01, 2007

Evangelical Leaders (Once Again) Threatening to Abandon GOP

Via WND:

Not only was there a consensus among activists to withhold support for the Republican nominee, there was even discussion about supporting the entry of a new candidate to challenge the frontrunners....

While some of those present found candidate Mitt Romney acceptable as a nominee because of his current positions, others were skeptical of him because of his past positions on issues of life and death.

Some of those present, including Rev. [James] Dobson, have expressed skepticism about Fred Thompson's bona fides as a leader on the key social issues of concern to the groups.

Perhaps the most surprising development in the meeting was the floating of an idea to recruit yet another candidate to enter the fray.

Among the more intriguing names mentioned was billionaire Foster Friess, a major Republican contributor and philanthropist who lives in Jackson, Wyoming.

Those of you who've been watching politics for any length of time know that the evangelical leaders go through this routine every few election cycles. They threaten, the candidates capitulate, and we're back to being one happy family.

I'm not sure why Dobson and crew are fired-up against Fred, but I suspect it has quite a bit to do with Fred's hardcore federalism--i.e., the fact that he refuses to endorse uniform national top-down answers to the social questions.

There was a time, not too long ago, that the evangelical leaders were more than happy to get the federal government out of the abortion question and other social issues. Federalism was a perspective upon which a broad cross-section of conservatives and moderates were able to come together in agreement.

Unfortunately, that accomodation fell apart a while back--and here we are.

By Ragnar Danneskjold, Typical Bitter Gun-Clinger at 10:09 AM | |