Christian vote had impact on
confusing campaign that put Bush in White House
You may have noticed that we finally have
a new president of the United States a Texas fellow who
promises stuff, such as enormous tax cuts. The truth about George W. Bush and his campaign
is that conservative religious people helped get him elected.
These supporters of George W. are Christian religious people with
a good deal of money. Some of them are Roman Catholic bishops
who can twist a vote simply by writing letters for their obedient
priests to read in church on Sunday morning. And some are fundamentalist,
right-wing Christians, such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell,
who claim to control the votes of millions of true believers. When those two disparate groups of Christians
mobilize their people, an election can be changed dramatically.
Robertsons chief tool in most campaigns is the voter guide
published by the Christian Coalition. This year, about 14 issues
were covered in the voter guide, and the answers were all simple
and clearly conservative. For instance, we should all be concerned
about education, and Pat Robertson believes that parents should
have control of the educational process. So the voter guide said
that it asked the candidates if they supported educational choice
for parents and that Vice President Al Gore said he did
not, while George W. said he did. The guide also asked the candidates
if they wanted powerful unions to control schools.
Of course, Gore said he did want union control while Bush said
he did not. I find it hard to believe that those questions
were put that directly to candidates and that their answers were
represented fairly. We know the numbers of conservative Christians
who follow the guidance of Robertson, pegged at about 70 million
now, is growing every year. Then we have to add other religious
right stars dozens of organizations that jump into the
campaigns and offer conservative candidates a helping hand
often a financial helping hand. For instance, Bush worked hard to get the
endorsement of the aging evangelist Billy Graham. Bush credits
Graham with his conversion to conservative religion and politics.
The president-elect claims that Graham and Jesus changed his perspective
in a midlife conversion at his parents vacation home in
Maine. Graham has never endorsed a presidential
candidate, but he sure enough wanted to give George W. the nod. During a Jacksonville, Fla., church rally,
Graham said he liked Bush a lot. I dont endorse candidates,
Graham said, according to Christians United for the Separation
of Church and State. But Ive come as close to it,
I guess, now as any time in my life, because I think its
extremely important. I believe in the integrity of this man. Weve always known that Billy had a
soft spot for presidents he has courted every chief executive
since Harry Truman. And this Jacksonville statement if
you squint just a bit starts to look an awful lot like
an endorsement. So Bush, who is a late addition to conservative
Christian troopers, got the endorsement of Robertson, Falwell,
Graham, Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum, the Rev. Donald Wildmon
of American Family Association and the Rev. D. James Kennedys
Center for Reclaiming America. Meanwhile, Al Gore, as the campaign
dragged on, looked more and more like the devil incarnate. Some
say thats why he chose Joe Lieberman as his running mate,
to give a little religious weight to his campaign. Gore was also the sacrificial lamb for the
Catholic bishops of America. Here are 350 powerful men who work
quietly and often secretly to bring their influence to bear upon
politicians on one particular issue: abortion. At the annual bishops gathering in
Washington, D.C., in 1998, the prelates voted overwhelmingly to
adopt a resolution that would make banning abortion the bishops
top political goal. But some of the bishops fear Internal Revenue
Service rules that threaten sharp penalties for involvement in
party politics. So they enlist organizations such as Priests
for Life to deliver the goods in these battles. Priests for Life
spent $250,000 to promote the anti-abortion stance of George W.
Bush. They send out faxes to Catholic parishes and purchased ads
in Catholic newspapers across the United States. Now political groups such as Christians
United for the Separation of Church and State are lamenting the
fact that Bush won with the help of conservative religious groups
across the United States. I wonder what weakened the resolve of
moderate and liberal religious groups. Where is their support
as good candidates seek Americas votes?
Clark D. Morphew
Posted For January 7, 2001