Posted on 09/30/2007 10:15:25 AM PDT by indcons
A powerful group of conservative Christian leaders decided Saturday at a private meeting in Salt Lake City to consider supporting a third-party candidate for president if a pro-choice nominee like Rudy Giuliani wins the Republican nomination.
The meeting of about 50 leaders, including Focus on the Family's James Dobson, the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins and former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, who called in by phone, took place at the Grand America Hotel during a gathering of the Council for National Policy, a powerful shadow group of mostly religious conservatives. James Clymer, the chairman of the U.S. Constitution Party, was also present at the meeting, according to a person familiar with the proceedings.
"The conclusion was that if there is a pro-abortion nominee they will consider working with a third party," said the person, who spoke to Salon on the condition of anonymity. The private meeting was not a part of the official CNP schedule, which is itself a closely held secret. "Dobson came in just for this meeting," the person said.
The decision confirms the fears of many Republican Party officials, who have worried that a Giuliani nomination would irrevocably split the GOP in advance of the 2008 general election, given Giuliani's relatively liberal stands on gay unions and abortion, as well as his rocky marital history. The private meeting was held Saturday afternoon, during a lull in the official CNP schedule. Earlier in the day, Vice President Dick Cheney had traveled to Utah to deliver a brief address to the larger CNP gathering. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney also addressed the larger group.
The decision has also been reported in an unsigned article by WorldNetDaily, a conservative online news service. "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," the article said. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, WorldNetDaily's editor, Joseph Farah, attended the larger CNP gathering.
According to a New York Times profile, the CNP was established in 1981, with the help of Paul Weyrich, chairman of the Free Congress Foundation, and the Rev. Tim LaHaye, the bestselling author of the "Left Behind" book series. In recent years, President Bush, former Undersecretary of State John Bolton and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have met with the group, the Times reported. CNP membership is a closely held secret, and its meetings are not publicly announced or open to the press.
Dobson, who is one of the nation's most outspoken Christian leaders, has previously announced that he does not support Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain or former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson as nominees for the Republican Party.
Attendees at the Saturday afternoon meeting also discussed the possibility of recruiting another person to run for the Republican nomination, said the person familiar with the proceedings. Several names have already been floated, though no decision on a possible candidate has yet been made, the person said.
Please remove if inappropriate.
I won’t be voting for Rudy but it isn’t because of any meeting in Utah.
If Hillary Clinton wins the RAT nomination, the GOP could nominate Bozo the Clown in ‘08 and I’d be a Bozo supporter.
Hillary’s dream come true.
I’m no Rudy supporter, I wouldn’t vote for him UNLESS he was running against Hillary. Then a vote for Rudy would be in order because he does support the WOT. And not to vote for Rudy would be in essence voting for Hillary.
This third party stuff has been tried before. Is Dobson’s memory so short that he doesn’t remember what a 3rd party candidate gave us last time?
Great idea folks. Can you say President Hillary? We cannot let her get to the White House. No matter what. She must be stopped.
I expect more than a few democrats will read this, and cross over to support Rudy in the primaries, hoping to create such a split.
There are quite a few voters who absolutely will not vote, on principle, for a candidate who supports abortion. The Republican party benefitted from that vote, with pro-life candidates. If the party thinks it will garner more votes from crossover Democrats than from formerly staunch Republican pro-life voters, I say go ahead and try it, fools.
Even though Rudy was apparently pro “choice” in the past, I thought he’s been saying that he’d appoint pro-life judges if elected President.
The other two front-runners (McCain, Thompson) are also divorced and remarried, contrary to church doctrine, just as is Giuliani (the only front-runner who’s had only had only one wife is the Mormon!). But why single out Giuliani on this issue?
While I pray to God that the perfect candidate, Duncan Hunter, would somehow get the nomination, I concede that may not happen. So we may be faced with Hillary and Rudy in the general election. Giuliani is certainly not perfect, but he’s probably going to be the lesser of two evils.
So thanks to this group of evangelicals (whom I’ve actually followed at times), I guess we can look forward to a President Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2009.
Dr. Dobson is a fool for not supporting Senator Fred Thompson, unless he has worked out a deal with Senator Clinton, in which case he is evil.
Exactly. If you want to fight another day, you have to live to do it. You have to set your priorities. The first is survival. It's hard to fight gun control or abortion when your throat's cut.
If the religious right has the blackball power, why did it not blackball Bill Clinton?
Did anyone else tune Coast to Coast in last night? John Perkins, author of “The Secret History of the American Empire”, and Peter Lsske, “666” were both on, bringing Giuliani into a covert position leading up to 9/11. I’ve never heard of either author, but it sounded like they did their homework.
If Rudy gets the nomination, which I really don’t think he will, I will write in a candidate. I am so tired of voting for the lesser of the two evils. The way I see it, they will both screw me over, so why vote for either?
Because one will screw you far worse than the other.
Re: Bozo the clown, I agree. I consider myself a “pragmatic” conservative and while I would not vote for Giuliani in a primary I’m afraid if he gets nominated we would have to close ranks and support him. The alternative would be a nightmare. If as president Giuliani veers too far to the left it will be up to us on the right to hold his feet to the fire, so to speak.
Ping to read later
>If the religious right has the blackball power, why did it not blackball Bill Clinton?<
Oh, maybe a big NO to the New World Order GHWB, and a heavy shift toward Pat Buchanan. Of course, Ross Perot didn’t help, either. What do you think?
Probably because the religious right did not support Clinton in the first place and did not have any leverage over a Democrat president.
We all know how friendly the Clintons are to the religious right, don’t we? /sarc
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