Posted on 08/31/2008 11:01:15 PM PDT by LdSentinal
ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 31 -- Outside his evangelical church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Sunday, David Chung was mobbed by friends and church members suddenly excited about the Republican ticket. "I had half a dozen people come up to me," said Chung, a delegate to the Republican National Convention. "It's a night-and-day change."
Ralph Reed, former director of the Christian Coalition, reported the same reaction at his church in Atlanta to John McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. "It's really extraordinary," Reed said.
For Christian conservatives, who watched with dismay as their issues were ignored or trivialized during the long Republican primary, the surprise addition to the GOP ticket of a woman raised in a Pentecostal church, who once described herself as "pro-life as any candidate can be," has transformed an election many had come to regard with indifference. Now Republicans such as Reed -- who describes the Palin selection as a "shot directly into the heart of the evangelical movement" -- hope the party will benefit in November from a crucial part of its base that is as energized as the young supporters of Democrat Barack Obama.
Democratic electoral gains, the loss of vocal champions such as former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and the failure of any GOP presidential candidates to emerge as a successor to President Bush in championing their causes were signs that evangelicals' influence was ebbing. The emergence of McCain, who famously denounced leaders of the Christian right in his first presidential race in 2000, seemed to signal further decline.
"Everybody was depressed. Everybody," said Colleen Parro, executive director of the Republican National Coalition for Life.
But McCain's performance at the Saddleback Church candidates forum two weeks ago -- in which he solidly reaffirmed his antiabortion stance --
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Now what she needs to do is not waver. Speak from her heart using her baseline principles as a guideline.
The whole election is in her hands in a very literal sense.
“For Christian conservatives, who watched with dismay as their issues were ignored or trivialized during the long Republican primary, the surprise addition to the GOP ticket of a woman raised in a Pentecostal church, who once described herself as “pro-life as any candidate can be,” has transformed an election many had come to regard with indifference.”
Things sure worked out well in the end.
As the Japanese said after Pearl Harbor:
“I fear we have awoken a sleeping giant.”
I can attest to this. Today I was at an all-day picnic for one of our smaller church groups, and everyone was very excited about Governor Palin. They were very impressed with her speech and are so eager to “get to know” her better.
They feel really energized by this pick.
The Base has awakened from deep slumber.
Let’s roll!
Have been thinking this myself since Friday. :)
Dems hate Palin because she a strong Christian who tries to lives it. Instead of fitting into their ideal of a flawed/irresponsible woman she looks more like superwoman and that makes them look bad.
I give it a week before the rats trot out their Marxists in frocks to demean Palin.
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