DebateGate
General Category => 3DHS => Topic started by: BT on March 28, 2007, 10:31:37 PM
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Dobson Offers Insight on 2008 Republican Hopefuls
Focus on Family Founder Snubs Thompson, Praises Gingrich
By Dan Gilgoff
Posted 3/28/07
Focus on the Family founder James Dobson appeared to throw cold water on a possible presidential bid by former Sen. Fred Thompson while praising former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is also weighing a presidential run, in a phone interview Tuesday.
"Everyone knows he's conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for," Dobson said of Thompson. "[But] I don't think he's a Christian; at least that's my impression," Dobson added, saying that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party's conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.
Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Thompson, took issue with Dobson's characterization of the former Tennessee senator. "Thompson is indeed a Christian," he said. "He was baptized into the Church of Christ."
In a follow-up phone conversation, Focus on the Family spokesman Gary Schneeberger stood by Dobson's claim. He said that, while Dobson didn't believe Thompson to be a member of a non-Christian faith, Dobson nevertheless "has never known Thompson to be a committed Christian—someone who talks openly about his faith."
"We use that word—Christian—to refer to people who are evangelical Christians," Schneeberger added. "Dr. Dobson wasn't expressing a personal opinion about his reaction to a Thompson candidacy; he was trying to 'read the tea leaves' about such a possibility."
Thompson has said he is leaving the door open for a presidential run and has won plaudits from conservatives who are unenthusiastic about the Republican front-runners. A Gallup-USA Today poll, released Tuesday, showed Thompson in third place among Republican and Republican-leaning voters, behind former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain.
While making it clear he was not endorsing any Republican presidential candidate, Dobson, who is considered the most politically powerful evangelical figure in the country, also said that Gingrich was the "brightest guy out there" and "the most articulate politician on the scene today."
Gingrich recently appeared on Dobson's daily Focus on the Family radio program, carried by upward of 2,000 American radio stations, where he made headlines by discussing an extramarital affair he was having even as he pursued impeachment against President Bill Clinton for his handling of the investigation into the Monica Lewinsky affair.
Dobson's phone call to U.S. News senior editor Dan Gilgoff Tuesday was unsolicited. It marked Gilgoff's first discussion with Dobson in over two years, since the magazine's political writer began work on The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War, published this month by St. Martin's Press. Dobson had agreed to answer only written questions for the book.
Dobson's comments yesterday about the 2008 presidential race appear to be his first to a secular news organization in months.
Dobson recently sat down with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at Focus on the Family's Colorado Springs headquarters, marking his only meeting to date with a top-tier Republican presidential candidate. While Dobson would not comment directly on the Romney meeting, he stood by comments he made late last year that many evangelicals would find it difficult to support Romney because of his Mormonism.
"I still think that might be an impediment for him," Dobson said. "There are conservative Christians who will not vote for him because of his Mormon faith. I'm not saying that's the correct view or my view. But [presidential nominees] lose elections by 5 or 6 percent of the vote, so you don't have to lose much of the conservative Christian vote" to make a difference in the election.
Dobson said that neither of the two other Republican presidential front-runners—Giuliani or McCain—has attempted to contact him. "I do not believe that the current excitement over Giuliani will continue," Dobson said.
Dobson was a major force in the 2004 election, giving the first public presidential endorsement of his career to George W. Bush. Bush got nearly 6 million new white evangelical votes in 2004 that he didn't get in 2000, accounting for about twice his margin of victory. Dobson's national activist network led an unprecedented effort to get conservative evangelicals to the polls. Its greatest impact was likely in Ohio, the lynchpin to Bush's re-election, where Bush won by fewer than 120,000 votes.
Dobson, who turns 71 years old next month, has been the subject of recent rumors that he would retire from his position of Focus on the Family chairman and possibly step out of the political spotlight in the next couple of years. In the interview, however, Dobson said that he no intention of doing either.
"I have 10-to-12-hour-a-day energy," Dobson said. "I feel that God has asked me to do what I'm doing. I have no intention to stay away."
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070328/28dobson_print.htm
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Speaking as a Christian, the President doesn't have to be
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We use that word—Christian—to refer to people who are evangelical Christians
Interesting.
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Slapping labels on others can be a tricky business, can't it? Maybe it would be less confusing if they just used the term 'evangelical Christian' instead of 'Christian' next time.
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Poor Fred Thompson has to make the rounds and kiss rings before they'll believe he's a Christian.
What if he really believes in Jesus' teaching that one should pray in a closet, and not be like the man loudly praying in the street?
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Poor Fred Thompson has to make the rounds and kiss rings before they'll believe he's a Christian.
Who's saying that? What if he isn't a Christian? Should it matter? Are you pulling the same dren in implying that Dobson runs the GOP, kinda like Republicans want women to die of Cancer, because some don't believe a medication should be made mandatory??
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There is not a dimes difference between a Republican reaching out to evangelicals and a dem reaching out for the black vote at Ebeneezer Baptist (Daddy Kings Church) in Atlanta.
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BT, you're right.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with trying to win the evangelical vote. But there's something wrong, in my mind, with Dobson setting himself up as someone who determines who is and isn't Christian.
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But there's something wrong, in my mind, with Dobson setting himself up as someone who determines who is and isn't Christian.
It is wrong, and Dobson has no business making that judgement. That is God's and God's alone. You, however, seem to be implying how Dobson defacto runs the GOP. The notion that Thompson has to prove he's a Christian to Dobson and company, in order to be taken seriously as a GOP Presidential candidate doesn't get any more transparent than that
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Dobson only ha a s much power as people give him. I haven't given him any. Have you?
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The notion that Thompson has to prove he's a Christian to Dobson and company, in order to be taken seriously as a GOP Presidential candidate doesn't get any more transparent than that
I'm guessing we'll see when it comes time to visit Bob Jones University and make a speech.
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Dobson only ha a s much power as people give him. I haven't given him any. Have you?
Not I
The notion that Thompson has to prove he's a Christian to Dobson and company, in order to be taken seriously as a GOP Presidential candidate doesn't get any more transparent than that
I'm guessing we'll see when it comes time to visit Bob Jones University and make a speech.
What are we supposed to see, with any such visit? A politician seeking votes from a specific voting block? Oh gads, tell me they're not stooping to that level now ::) I've noticed no comments or "observations" from your part regarding folks like Hillary, Gore, and Obama, starting to speak with a much thicker drawl, in front of large African American groups. Are they trying to prove to them that they're black?
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I've noticed no comments or "observations" from your part regarding folks like Hillary, Gore, and Obama, starting to speak with a much thicker drawl, in front of large African American groups.
A thicker drawl? I'm a southerner with a drawl and I have no idea what that even means or has to do with African Americans or "proving they're black."
And are you comparing African-Americans to Bob Jones university? An ethnic demographic to an ideological private university?
I really don't understand this post Sirs.
If you're asking if Democrats stoop as low as Republicans in winning votes? Of course they do, but that wasn't the subject of Bt's article. It was quite clearly an article concerning Republican candidates for president and how one has been considered "not Christian" by an evangelical Protestant leader. Personally I thought the remark linking Christians to evangelical Protestants was priceless.
Therefore my response which included a religious university known to appeal to evangelicals was appropriate.
Your little Black, Southern rant is just odd and I don't know why it is aimed at me.
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I've noticed no comments or "observations" from your part regarding folks like Hillary, Gore, and Obama, starting to speak with a much thicker drawl, in front of large African American groups.
A thicker drawl? I'm a southerner with a drawl and I have no idea what that even means or has to do with African Americans or "proving they're black."
It means messers Clinton, Gore, and even Obama, start speaking with a much more notable (and criticised) speech patter, that appears to mimic southern blacks. Why would they do that? You referenced Thompson heading to Bob Jones for an apparent implication he's going there to try and prove he's a Christian, in front of a bunch of Christian folk. How is that any different than what other Politicians do in going in front of large voting blocks, especially when they start speaking in altered dialect??
And are you comparing African-Americans to Bob Jones university?
I'm comparing the tactics used by Politicians, in trying to court a large voting block
I really don't understand this post Sirs.
Then I'm afraid you're not paying attention. Hopefully, it's not willfully
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I've never heard of anyone changing their dialect. I imagine that if it were really pronounced it would be offensive and black community leaders would point it out. Otherwise it may just be that they are in the South and their Southern accents are more enhanced from being around and talking with Southerners (though I couldn't explain Obama).
George W. Bush does the same thing if you'll notice when he goes to his ranch in Midland, TX. My mom's accent will be much more pronounced when she returns from a trip to Germany. My mother-in-law's central Virginia accent will be much more pronounced when she returns from a trip after visiting her relatives.
Otherwise I find this difficult to believe unless there is some proof that they have voice, public relations, or speech coaches specifically instructing them to do this beforehand.
Regardless, you clearly miss my point which was much more narrow than "he's going there to try and prove he's a Christian, in front of a bunch of Christian folk." One could ostensibly do that in any mainstream Christian Church or region in most of the nation. Bob Jones University is selected for much more specific reasons and I'd suggest you think about why that is, as opposed to acting in such a defensive and personal manner.
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Bob Jones University is selected for much more specific reasons and I'd suggest you think about why that is, as opposed to acting in such a defensive and personal manner.
What is the enrollment of Bob Jones University? Is it the students the pols are after or is it fundamentalist Christians who may or may not agree with the policies of BJU.
Seems to me it would be the larger group, and it seems to me the BJU tangent is just a masked effort to demonize the larger group.
Just because Dobson is being judgmental does not give half the posters in this forum to be judgmental in a different direction.
BTW what Sirs what referring to was the tendency of some politicians to alter their cadence when speaking to black churches.
Can i have an amen?
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BJU is a great place to go to speak if you want to influence that segment of the voters.
I went to a Pentecostal church for a while. "Dr. Dobson says..." "Pat Robertson says..." I think people in the congregation thought of them as authorities, and if it was OK with those men, it was OK. If you want those votes, you need to have their approval. That is what I meant.
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Lanya: "If you want those votes, you need to have their approval."
Isn't this trying to stereotype as well? After all, I am proudly a member of what is typically called the "Religious Right" and I place those people's opinions no more valid than some others.
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I went to a Pentecostal church for a while. "Dr. Dobson says..." "Pat Robertson says..." I think people in the congregation thought of them as authorities, and if it was OK with those men, it was OK. If you want those votes, you need to have their approval. That is what I meant.
So, then you're also saying that many African Americans will say "Jessie Jackson says...", "Al Sharpton says...", and that people in the African American "congregation" who think of them as authorities, and conclude if its ok with those men, it's OK. If you want the African American vote you need their approval?
It's the same thing Lanya. Are you giving prescious little ability for the African American community, a MUCH bigger congregation than BJU, to think for themselves? I realize there are many autobons who will just look to some "authority figure" and do anything they say, but what you're trying to lay claim to with Dobson and his supposed power over the GOP, is no different than Jackson's or Sharpton's power over the Democrat party
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Are you pulling the same dren in implying that Dobson runs the GOP, kinda like Republicans want women to die of Cancer, because some don't believe a medication should be made mandatory??
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Is it not true that if the medication is not taken by all that more women will die?
It hardly matters whether some Republicans want them dead or not.
If more die, then it will be as a consequence of this phoney crap about personal invasions of privacy.
If you want to take a USEFUL stand on behalf of individual rights, you should come out against the National ID that they put into the "Patriot" Act.
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Is it not true that if the medication is not taken by all that more women will die?
Well, you can put a huge dent in the death rate by outlawing all fast foods and banning cars. Probably more than making this vaccine mandatory will do.
Why don't we go for the "big hits" first?
Besides, this would be the first time that a vaccine has been made mandatory for a desease that cannot be contracted via casual contact.
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http://www.ifilm.com/profile/breitbart/video/2829104
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/columnists/cclack/stories/MYSA030807.01P.clack.10d3ae5.html
My friends, we have a march to finish. I will be reintroducing the Count Every Vote Act, to ensure that every voter is given the opportunity to vote, that every vote is counted, and each voter is given the chance to verify his or her vote before it is cast and made permanent.
We have to stay awake. We have a march to finish. On this Lord's day, let us say with one voice the words of James Cleveland's great freedom hymn, "I don't feel no ways tired/I come too far from where I started from/Nobody told me that the road would be easy/I don't believe he brought me this far to leave me."
And we know -- we know -- we know, if we finish this march, what awaits us? St. Paul told us, in the letter to the Galatians, "Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due seasons we shall reap, if we do not lose heart."
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/03/yet_another_win.php
http://proteinwisdom.com/index.php?/weblog/entry/22565/
Try to find this on a video , it is kinda like myself quoteing a Robert Burns Poem and attempting the brouge, it is hilarious , but it isn't really mocking anyone.
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Is it not true that if the medication is not taken by all that more women will die?
Is it not true that there are other means of not getting this specific form of cancer that this specific medication is targeting? Is it not true that this form of cancer is not caused by incidental contact?
It hardly matters whether some Republicans want them dead or not. If more die, then it will be as a consequence of this phoney crap about personal invasions of privacy.
No, it'll be as a consequence of poor choices, including not taking said medication. And strangely Republicans will have nothing to do with those choices
If you want to take a USEFUL stand on behalf of individual rights, you should come out against the National ID that they put into the "Patriot" Act.
Been there, done that
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Is it not true that if the medication is not taken by all that more women will die?
This is not necessacerily so , I would be pleased to take this vaccine myself , and I would reccomend it to anyone based on what I know about it , I might be wrong and this might turn out to be like tholitmide but I trust the FDA and the big pharmacy companys enough that I wouldn't mind the risk.
But I resist the idea that it must be manditory .
In this case we already had a foolproof , safe and certain method for preventing the transmission of this disease, how would ou feel about makeing that manditory?
May we say with a straight face that proponents of free love want women to die of cancer?
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3689185.stm
Patch 'boosts women's sex drive'
Women may soon be able to use a stick-on patch to boost their sex drive.
The patch is worn on the stomach for two weeks at a time and delivers the hormone testosterone, which has been linked to female sexual desire.
A trial involving 562 women who had had hysterectomies found the patch led to a 74% increase in satisfying sex.
Manufacturers Procter & Gamble are hoping to launch the patch in the US shortly and in the UK within the next two years.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3689185.stm
Patch 'boosts women's sex drive'
Women may soon be able to use a stick-on patch to boost their sex drive.
The patch is worn on the stomach for two weeks at a time and delivers the hormone testosterone, which has been linked to female sexual desire.
A trial involving 562 women who had had hysterectomies found the patch led to a 74% increase in satisfying sex.
Manufacturers Procter & Gamble are hoping to launch the patch in the US shortly and in the UK within the next two years.
Now THAT should be manditory.