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A New Grassroots Political Organization Makes Its Mark by Deal W. Hudson    11/06/09 The election results of November 2 were not merely the spontaneous reaction of Republicans to the bad economy and liberal excesses of the Obama administration. The four pro-life, conservative GOP candidates in Virginia and New Jersey were elected in a groundswell of religious and social conservatives, many of them independent voters who had voted for Obama only a year ago. A new grassroots organization played a major role in getting these voters to the polls -- the Faith & Freedom Coalition was founded by Ralph...

Virginia Democrats are highlighting this video of GOP gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell from a rally-the-base speech earlier today at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg. McDonnell's promise to be a champion for traditional marriage and anti-abortion stalwart comes on the morning following the final debate of the governor's race Tuesday night -- a debate where the Republican said that, if elected, his focus would be on issues such as jobs, transportation and energy. Pressed about his opposition to abortion at the debate, McDonnell was far less expansive than in front of the evangelical students at Liberty. And, it should be...

Mormons: The Most Conservative Religious Group In America That's according to a new report from Pew, released today and based on data from the group's 2007 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. More Mormons (60 percent) identify themselves as conservatives than any other religious group; they also lead every other group in GOP party identification (at 65 percent)--much higher than the general population in both categories

Fellow freepers, join me for this event to raise money for the Family Foundation, our top pro-family organization in the state. This group is a family policy council for Virginia and is associated with Focus on the Family. The speaker will be Governor Mike Huckabee. Below is the link to sign up. Funds raised will help the Family Foundation in their important upcoming fight for the family during the 2010 Virginia General Assembly.

At the 2009 Value Voters Summit this past week, Mitt Romney directly addressed President Barack Obama’s incomprehensible and fatally flawed decision, unprecedented in the American political tradition, to tax future generations. In an administration quickly marked for its wistful look to the past, Obama’s decision brought to mind 15th-century Russia. Is that why they call them czars? "Putting such a spirit-crushing, back-breaking debt burden on our children is unworthy of our national character," Romney said. "That is why I believe that this spending and borrowing is not just economically irresponsible, it is morally wrong." It poisoned this most auspicious and...

Here’s the text of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s (R-Minn.) speech from the Values Voter Summit, annotated to note when the audience applauded. Thanks to the VVS organizers for providing it. Well, thank you very much. And no, Brett Favre is not part of the cash for clunkers program so – (laughter) – it’s going to be a Super Bowl quarterback this year. I’m delighted to be with you tonight, and I’m honored to be the governor of the great state of Minnesota. And of course, one of the privileges and perks of being governor of a state is you get to...

Anyone who thought that "values voters" were still licking their wounds after the Republican Party received a drubbing at the polls might have found the atmosphere in Washington's plush Omni Shoreham Hotel rather surprising. An audience of 2,000 Christian conservatives gathered to listen to their political and media icons, condemn the Obama administation's alleged socialist agenda and plot the downfall of the Democrats at the 2010 mid-term elections. The mood was angry and defiant at the annual "Values Voters Summit", which kicked off with a rousing call to arms from Republican Congressman Mike Pence, from Indiana, a man some see...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is the preferred 2012 GOP presidential nominee among Christian conservatives, according to the results of a straw poll announced Saturday at an annual gathering of the religion (sic) right in Washington. Prominent Republican leaders, including House Minority Leader John Boehner, took to the stage at the Value Voters Summit to blast President Obama's spending policies and announce the top 2012 presidential pick among conservative voters. The summit's poll, which featured 9 presidential prospects, found that 28 percent of Christian conservatives said Huckabee would revive the Republican party and traditional conservative principles while 12.4 percent preferred...

Minnesota Pastor Gus Booth of Warroad Community Church got an audit from the Internal Revenue Service because he advised his congregants in a sermon last year not to vote for Barack Obama. Booth was one of several pastors who endorsed presidential candidates from the pulpit last September. The Internal Revenue Service has...

It's striking that today's Associated Press profile of Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a possible 2012 Republican presidential candidate, excludes mention of his evangelical faith and strong ties to the evangelical world. I was struck by the same absence in a recent New York Times Pawlenty profile. How solid are Pawlently's evangelical bona fides? The pastor of his home church is president of the National Association of Evangelicals, the nation's largest evangelical interest. Last year, as John McCain struggled to win over evangelical leaders, Pawlently quietly tried to arrange a meeting between the Republican presidential nominee and National Association of Evangelical...

The Political Gap That Divides Generations Susan Fikse, Issue Number 24, July 2009 Kim is a 25-year-old Christian, a nurse who graduated from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. She voted for President Bush in 2004 and characterizes herself as pro-life. With just that information, it would be easy to categorize Kim as a conservative Republican. But in November, she cast her vote for Barack Obama. She was not alone.Survey data shows that while fewer than a quarter of white evangelicals between 30 and 64 supported Obama, that number increased to a third for white evangelicals under 30. Kim’s reasons for...

Several Hawaii churches are uniting to register tens of thousands of new voters in hopes of influencing 2010 elections for the Legislature and governor's office. Hawaii Family Forum is leading the effort, which also includes several Protestant Churches, the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, and the Mormon Church.... Even in the 2nd most unionized US state (NY is #1), churches are 64% larger than unions.

Irrespective of race, it seems that nowadays the primary question asked when deciding which party to support is, “What will you do for me (and my downtrodden brethren)?” Looking at the “comments” section of an article about diversifying the GOP, it’s clear that for many African Americans, the answer expected from and assumed of Republicans is: nothing. (One of Asim’s reader’s comments: ” The Republican Party has not done anything in recent time to warrant an AFRICAN AMERICAN caring about it.”) This despite the fact that it was Richard Nixon who signed the first major application of affirmative action into...

Will scandals inspire evangelicals to stray from Republican Party? Cases like Gov. Mark Sanford's have undercut GOP assertions of moral authority. They could also reinforce some Christian conservatives' doubts about politics in general. By Mark Z. Barabak June 28, 2009 While Mark Sanford works to salvage his marriage, Republicans are facing the prospect of a different kind of breakup: religious voters walking out on the GOP. A series of sex-related scandals over the last few years has undercut the party's assertions of moral authority and, worse, may serve to reinforce the doubts that many evangelical voters have traditionally harbored about...

Many patriotic Americans, including many retired and former military personnel, are increasingly chagrined at the direction the U.S. armed forces are taking. For one thing, there were numerous instances in the Clinton and both Bush administrations when American GIs were required to serve under foreign or United Nations commanders. Does anyone remember the Michael New case? How can any American GI, who has taken an oath to the U.S. Constitution, willingly surrender himself to a foreign commander, flag, or uniform? That is a potential conflict that has caused many to question modern military service. Another potential moral conflict in modern...

The huge crowds, with a great many young people, following Sarah Palin last year on the campaign trail seem to have gone unnoticed by the D.C. crowd. And wouldn't you know it? The polling data supports those huge crowds for Palin and the young people inspired by her stout pro-life position, among other factors. Support for keeping abortion legal in most or all cases among the 18-29 year olds has fallen a full 5% since last August. In August 2008, legal abortion support among 18-29 year olds stood at 52%; this April it's down to 47%. Support for making abortion...

Last summer, I was in Long Beach, California, attending a Christian evangelistic event. Sitting next to me was a vocal, female supporter of Barack Obama. Because of my proximity to her, I tried to tell her the reasons why I opposed his candidacy. I cited his liberal voting record while a member of both the U.S. Senate and the Illinois legislature, not to mention his extreme pro-abortion stand.   But regardless what I said, the young lady remained enamored with the 47-year-old Democratic "community organizer" -- and she shared with me that she "felt" God wanted her to vote for...

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a possible 2012 Republican presidential contender, quietly addressed a gathering of evangelical leaders in Minneapolis today. Pawlenty, an evangelical, tried to get the McCain campaign to focus more on born-again Christians last year but to little avail. Pawlenty's appearance today is a reminder that, for all the talk of the Christian right's flagging influence, the current field of Republican front-runners for 2012 presidential race is composed entirely of social conservatives. Besides Pawlenty, the field includes: - Sarah Palin, a nondenominational Christian and former Pentecostal who is opening up about her faith. - Newt Gingrich, a recently...

Gov. Rick Perry is playing politics behind closed doors this week but the message is clear: He's doing all he can to wrap up religious, conservative voters in his face-off with Kay Bailey Hutchison, the senator who plans to come back and run for governor. On Wednesday, Perry attended a fundraiser for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal in Austin, strengthening ties with one of the Republican Party's conservative stars. The event, closed to the public, was designed to give Republican money-types a chance to spend private time with Jindal and Perry. The Louisiana governor is a favorite of the party's social...

McCain Strategist Warns GOP Risks Becoming 'Religious Party' Steve Schmidt urges Republicans to begin voicing more support for civil unions and gay rights. FOXNews.com Friday, April 17, 2009 Steve Schmidt, former top adviser to John McCain during the presidential campaign, is urging Republicans to shift their views on gay marriage. (AP Photo) John McCain's top adviser from the presidential campaign urged fellow Republicans on Friday to warm up to gay rights and warned that the GOP risks becoming the "religious party" with its opposition to same-sex marriage. Steve Schmidt, in his first political appearance since the election, spoke at the...

McCain Strategist Warns GOP Risks Becoming 'Religious Party' Steve Schmidt urges Republicans to begin voicing more support for civil unions and gay rights. FOXNews.com Friday, April 17, 2009 John McCain's top adviser from the presidential campaign urged fellow Republicans on Friday to warm up to gay rights and warned that the GOP risks becoming the "religious party" with its opposition to same-sex marriage. Steve Schmidt, in his first political appearance since the election, spoke at the Washington, D.C., convention for the Log Cabin Republicans -- a grassroots group for gay and lesbian Republicans. He urged Republicans, in the near-term, to...

<p>America's religious Right has conceded that the election of US President Barack Obama has sealed its defeat in the cultural war with permissiveness and secularism.</p> <p>Leading evangelicals have admitted that their association with George W. Bush has not only hurt the cause of social conservatives but contributed to the failure of the key objectives of their 30-year struggle.</p>

Another obituary was written about the "Religious Right," and as we Christians just passed Palm Sunday on the way to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, it is an excellent time to do some soul searching. Washington Post reporter Kathleen Parker queries in her article "Political Pullback for the Christian Right" whether the movement is dead, ineffective or has lost its way. "Is the Christian right finished as a political entity? Or, more to the point, are principled Christians finished with politics?" she asks. She then goes on to include criticisms of leaders like Dr. James Dobson as either having compromised...

Many Evangelical Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christians did support then candidate Obama. Some observers say that the support from the Christian community secured his election to the Presidency. I believed that Christians who bought the “abortion reduction” claims would be sorry. I feared those on the “religious left” were making the same mistake that many on the “religious right” made in years past. They were being wooed by one Party and would be used by that same Party. The outspoken support of “Catholics United” and “Catholics in Alliance” for Obama nominees such as Kathleen Sebelius is inexplicable to me. They...

Conservative evangelical and Catholic leaders who went out on a political limb by aligning themselves with the Obama administration are expressing feelings ranging from disappointment to optimism in their reaction to the president's decisions so far on culture war issues. Although most of President Obama's moves on abortion and stem cell research have been expected, some right-leaning Christian leaders who took a risk sitting down at the table with a Democratic president feel that several major decisions fall short of the common ground Obama had promised on divisive social issues.

I was recently telling a Democratic friend about Obama's abortion balancing act. One day he repeals the Mexico City "gag rule" delighting pro-choice activists. The next week he seems intent on making it up to pro-life voters, announcing that one priority of a new faith-based council will be reducing the need for abortion. My friend interrupted and said, "why should we care about appeasing the pro-lifers? We won." The first reason, I said, is because Obama promised. But then I thought about the word "we." Obviously my friend was making a realpolitick assumption that his side, the Obama coalition, was...

As President Barack Obama begins his administration, this might be a good time for evangelicals to consider how they might best respond to the new administration - fulfilling their duties to both their faith and their nation. The dilemma for evangelicals, as you might imagine, is that in many things - from foreign policy to social issues to economic strategies -- President Obama has expressed views that appear to be diametrically opposed to those held by most conservative Christians. So, in this first of two posts, let's examine how evangelicals can respond. Today we'll talk about some basic principles, and...

In less than a week after Obama’s swearing in, our nuevo POTUS unfurled his radically liberal abortion and family plans together with his juicy pro-homosexual agenda. Good job, all evangelicals who voted for Obama, as these aforementioned ditties—from a biblical perspective—are about as sanctified as the Antichrist French kissing a crack whore in Bret Michaels’ hot tub. Yep, I wanna give a special shout out to all the “major” ministers who fawned and swooned over Barack and swayed their congregations to vote for him in spite of his anti-scriptural stances on life, marriage and sexuality. Let’s take a look at...

Why did 18-to-29-year-old evangelicals vote for Barack Obama despite his apostasy on the fundamental moral issues of abortion and same-sex unions? They voted 32 percent for Obama, twice the percentage of that demographic group who voted for John Kerry in 2004. Many of these young people identify "social justice" as the reason that led them to relegate the prime moral issues of life and marriage to the back burner. But the term "social justice" does not define a moral cause -- it is left-wing jargon to overturn those who have economic and political power. What caused young evangelicals, the children...

Pat Robertson "Remarkably Pleased" With Obama, Gives Bush C- In an interview with CNN's Suzanne Malveaux, conservative Pat Robertson said he was "remarkably pleased" with President-elect Barack Obama. Not so for President Bush, who he blames for the economic crisis. On President Bush: ROBERTSON: Well, it's hard to assess blame, but I -- over the years -- I hate to be critical, I mean I am a Republican, and this is the president of the party that I'm a member of -- but I think we've had some serious goofs along the way. The Katrina matter was terrible. The rebuilding...

In defending his choice of Warren, Obama went further than arguing for inclusion: He argued for civility. "We can disagree without being disagreeable, and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans." Who can argue with that? Too bad it is only the political right that gets tagged by the media for bad manners. The president-elect may have to rap some liberal knuckles to convince them he really wants a better public tone from everyone. Many have called Obama's choice of Warren "shrewd." That may be, or perhaps Obama means what he says. We will see....

The attitude of white, liberal Hollywood toward African- American churches has long been one of almost participatory respect. ... It was only recently that the A-list discovered that this love is unrequited. Last month, Proposition 8 passed, making gay marriage illegal in California, and the demographic that lent insult to injury was the state’s African-American voters. They came to the polls in record numbers to support Barack Obama, and they brought with them a fiercely held and enduring antipathy toward homosexuality: 7 in 10 blacks voted in support of traditional marriage. ... “It’s their churches,” somebody whispered to one of...

Dennis Sanders’ recent post proclaimed clearly that the recent republican losses can be attributed to the religious conservative. Did John McCain lose sole[l]y because of the Religious Right? No. Dreher is correct that there are a lot of reasons that McCain lost. But the fact is, the Religious Right did play a role in loss nevertheless. Americans still have the whole Terry Schiavo fiasco in their minds, and young people don't understand why people who claim to be religious are so interested in banning same sex marriage or not allowing women to get an abortion if they are raped, or...

In 2002 and 2004, Republicans ran hard on social issues and the courts — and scored victories at every level of politics. In 2006 and 2008, they left those issues off the table, and got walloped. It follows, naturally, that the social issues are to blame for the Republican defeats. At least, that’s the conclusion that a chorus of commentators has reached. They are attempting to persuade Republicans to soften or downplay their party’s social conservatism and hide its social conservatives in order to resume winning elections. About this campaign to sideline the social Right, three things can be said...

Voters' economic status and religious convictions played a greater role than race and age in determining whether they supported the Nov. 4 ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California, a new poll shows. The ban drew its strongest support from both evangelical Christians and voters who didn't attend college, according to results released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California. Age and race, meanwhile, were not as strong factors as assumed. According to the poll, 56 percent of voters over age 55 and 57 percent of nonwhite voters cast a yes ballot for the gay marriage ban.

Do we need God in politics? Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker recently penned a provocative column titled "Giving Up on God," wherein she suggested that the Republican Party ditch G-O-D. The piece so rankled James Dobson (Ph.D. in divine insight) that he compared Parker to that seditious bum Benedict Arnold. Among factions of conservatism, there is a general willingness to coexist and -- sporadically -- win elections. Dobson, conversely, employs a saintly litmus test that marginalizes large swaths of his own party. He has redefined "traditional values," an essential ingredient for Republican victory, to mean illogical rigidity. Californians, Dobson rationalizes,...

So, Kathleen Parker has determined that getting rid of social conservatives and shelving the values they fight for is the solution to what ails the Republican Party (“Giving Up on God,” Nov. 19). Isn’t that a little like Benedict Arnold handing George Washington a battle plan to win the Revolution? Whatever she once was, Ms. Parker is certainly not a conservative anymore....

Mormons have a reason to be nervous. I didn't fully appreciate it two years ago, when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints first came under an intense political spotlight. In 2006, Mormon officials had begun making the media rounds, prepping for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's expected try for the Republican presidential nomination. This protective measure stood out. No evangelical contingents were giving theological primers in anticipation of Mike Huckabee's run. Few officials were warning Catholics to not do as Rudy Giuliani does on abortion before his run. Why did the Mormons need to do advance work? We...

Washington Post columnist says the Republican Party must ditch God in order to survive. So, Kathleen Parker has determined that getting rid of social conservatives and shelving the values they fight for is the solution to what ails the Republican Party (“Giving Up on God,” Nov. 19). Isn’t that a little like Benedict Arnold handing George Washington a battle plan to win the Revolution? Whatever she once was, Ms. Parker is certainly not a conservative anymore, having apparently realized it’s a lot easier to be popular among your journalistic peers when your keyboard tilts to the left. She writes that...

In an op-ed published after the election, former Governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman wrote, "Unless the Republican Party ends its self-imposed captivity to social fundamentalists, it will spend a long time in the political wilderness." And who are these "social fundamentalists?" In Whitman's political lexicon, they are "the people who base their votes on such social issues as abortion, gay rights, and stem cell research." When I read Whitman's column I had three thoughts: 1. Why is she putting the label "fundamentalist" on fellow Republican voters? 2. Does she know she's also talking about Catholic voters who consider...

A good friend of mine (let's call him Bob) is convinced that unless the GOP puts abortion "aside as its focal point, it simply cannot win and regain power." That's especially interesting in light of Kathleen Parker's latest column, which disses the evangelical wing of the GOP. Bob's point is that "we've lost a majority of women over this issue as they have become one-issue voters." It's not only liberal women but also others who believe it's simply not the government's business. Kathleen Parker broadens the point considerably beyond abortion: "The evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what...

To listen to some Republicans, not to mention, the braying of media outlets such as MSNBC, and even, here and there, a few economic libertarians, you would think that traditional conservatives, the defenders of the unborn and the integrity of marriage as a venerable and ancient institution, were responsible for two wars gone sour, over-spending at a level to embarrass Lyndon Johnson, the largest expansion of entitlement spending since the Great Society, numerous cases of GOP corruption and betrayal of the public trust centering around earmarks and political favors and the miserable results in the presidential and congressional elections just...

As the dust settles on Washington following the Barack Obama earthquake, one group more than any other is expecting to be out in the cold. For the past eight years, the so-called Religious Right has enjoyed a warm reception at the centre of White House policy-making, and with the Republican coalition on Capitol Hill. Mainly white, "born again" evangelical Protestants, who adhere to a literal interpretation of the Bible - and oppose abortion rights above all - the Religious Right comprise around 40% of the Republican Party's support. "The Republican Party as it exists today could not exist without the...

Four years ago, in the week after the 2004 presidential election, we were working furiously to put the finishing touches on the book we co-authored, "It's My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America." Our central thesis was simple: The Republican Party had been taken hostage by "social fundamentalists," the people who base their votes on such social issues as abortion, gay rights and stem cell research. Unless the GOP freed itself from their grip, we argued, it would so alienate itself from the broad center of the American electorate that it...

The Coming Kulturkampf By Richard John Neuhaus Friday, November 14, 2008, 8:45 AM Many who do not embrace the Christian faith nonetheless have a high appreciation of the importance of Christianity to the cultural and social order. Theirs is an instrumental view of religion. Edward Gibbon caught the idea nicely, and in his usual caustic manner, when describing the religious cults of the Roman Empire. He says the common people viewed them as true, the philosophers viewed them as false, and the rulers viewed them as useful. Today’s political class in America has in recent decades undergone a conversion, so...

Dear Friends in Christ, We the People have spoken, and the 44th President of the United States will be Barack Hussein Obama. This election ends a political process that started two years ago and which has revealed deep and bitter divisions within the United States and also within the Catholic Church in the United States. This division is sometimes called a “Culture War,” by which is meant a heated clash between two radically different and incompatible conceptions of how we should order our common life together, the public life that constitutes civil society. And the chief battleground in this culture...

WARREN: Well, that's the — the answer to getting us out of this economic crisis, no doubt about it, is wealth creation, Sean. We — we tend to go to one of the two extremes. The pendulum goes back and forth. You know, America tends to have an economic crisis about every 20 years. In the 1930s, we decided that markets didn't work and we needed big government. And then in the '70s we decided that government didn't work. We needed free markets. And now we see this trend going back the other way. But the truth is there are...

Washington, DC -- A new survey that details the beliefs of evangelical voters and why they supported Barack Obama or John McCain finds those voters who supported Obama don't believe government can reduce abortions. Their views appear to be at odds with studies showing pro-life legislation save lives.

Nationally, 25% of white evangelicals voted for Obama. In certain key states, the numbers were higher. He saw a 14% increase in support from white evangelicals in Colorado, 8% in Indiana, 8% in North Carolina and 4% in Ohio. Most important, he won 32% of young evangelicals (up from 16% for McCain). Who are these Obamagelicals - and how do they compare with the larger group of evangelicals who voted for John McCain? Beliefnet recently surveyed its readership about who they voted for and why. 1,135 people who described themselves as "evangelical or Born Again" filled out the survey. (Full...

Stay Faithful to Core Values By RICHARD LAND To regain a majority, Republicans must embrace core values with such conviction that Americans will welcome where Republicans will lead them in the future. The first core value must be a pro-life agenda. Republicans must advocate for all life from conception to natural death. This is the decent thing to do. And there were 70 million white Evangelical voters on Election Day, 74% of whom voted for John McCain. The vast majority voted pro-life, not Republican. If the GOP turns away from a pro-life agenda, they will turn away from the GOP....