Posted on 10/13/2006 2:04:59 AM PDT by CutePuppy
Book: Bush Aides Called Evangelicals 'Nuts' White House advisors sought the support of conservative Christians but mocked them in private, writes a onetime administration official. By Peter Wallsten, Times Staff Writer October 13, 2006
WASHINGTON — A new book by a former White House official says that President Bush's top political advisors privately ridiculed evangelical supporters as "nuts" and "goofy" while embracing them in public and using their votes to help win elections.
The former official also writes that the White House office of faith-based initiatives, which Bush promoted as a nonpolitical effort to support religious social-service organizations, was told to host pre-election events designed to mobilize religious voters who would most likely favor Republican candidates.
The assertions by David Kuo, a top official in the faith-based initiatives program, have rattled Republican strategists already struggling to persuade evangelical voters to turn out this fall for the GOP.
Kuo is scheduled to appear Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes" as part of a rollout arranged by his publisher, Simon & Schuster, which shares a corporate parent with CBS.
Despite a publisher-enforced embargo, a copy of the book was purchased early at a Manhattan bookstore by a producer for MSNBC's "Countdown," a spokesman for the cable channel said. Program host Keith Olbermann began reading excerpts on his Wednesday show.
While many Democrats opposed the initiative as a violation of church-state separation, the White House used the program to build alliances with prominent African American ministers, some of whom switched political allegiances to back Bush. It was part of a larger minority outreach program designed by Rove and other conservative activists to slice off pieces of the traditional Democratic coalitions in order to build a lasting GOP majority.
peter.wallsten@latimes.com
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Oh, that was nice of you. I have thought of non-denominational Christian churches, but I became so accustomed to the Episcopal liturgy and Eucharist that converting to Catholic would be a natural for me.
I am still pondering these things . . .
I was raised Catholic. Every now and then I go to mass with family members... I just skip the Mary worship parts.
What is your solution? I don't believe that America is the new Israel. But you'd better believe that I want Christians voting and involved in politics. I see no contradiction in the two, nor do I have any problem with evangelicals voting in large numbers for conservative candidates.
Maybe he simply changed his mind. Maybe he realized his true convictions, coming from his Christian faith, and changed his job accordingly. Who knows?
I agree. Which evangelical said that "God wants Bush elected?"
:)
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