Posted on 09/19/2007 7:14:10 PM PDT by pissant
DENVER (AP) — James Dobson, one of the nation's most politically influential evangelical Christians, made it clear in a message to friends this week he will not support Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson.
In a private e-mail obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, Dobson accuses the former Tennessee senator and actor of being weak on the campaign trail and wrong on issues dear to social conservatives.
"Isn't Thompson the candidate who is opposed to a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, believes there should be 50 different definitions of marriage in the U.S., favors McCain-Feingold, won't talk at all about what he believes, and can't speak his way out of a paper bag on the campaign trail?" Dobson wrote.
"He has no passion, no zeal, and no apparent 'want to.' And yet he is apparently the Great Hope that burns in the breasts of many conservative Christians? Well, not for me, my brothers. Not for me!"
The founder and chairman of Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, Dobson draws a radio audience in the millions, many of whom who first came to trust the child psychologist for his conservative Christian advice on child-rearing.
Gary Schneeberger, a Focus on the Family spokesman, confirmed that Dobson wrote the e-mail. Schneeberger declined to comment further, saying it would be inappropriate because Dobson's comments about presidential candidates are made as an individual and not as a representative of Focus on the Family, a nonprofit organization restricted from partisan politics.
Dobson's strong words about Thompson underscore the frustration and lack of unity among Christian conservatives about the GOP field. Some Christian right leaders have pinned their hopes on Thompson, describing him as a Southern-fried Ronald Reagan. But others have voiced doubts in recent weeks about some of the same issues Dobson highlighted: his position on gay marriage and support for the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation.
Dobson and other Christian conservatives support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would bar gay marriage nationally. Thompson has said he would support a constitutional amendment that would prohibit states from imposing their gay marriage laws on other states, which falls well short of that.
Karen Hanretty, a spokeswoman for the Thompson campaign, said Wednesday in response to the Dobson e-mail: "Fred Thompson has a 100 percent pro-life voting record. He believes strongly in returning authority to the levels of government closest to families and communities, protecting states from intrusion by the federal government and activist judges.
"We're confident as voters get to know Fred, they'll appreciate his conservative principles, and he is the one conservative in this race who can win the nomination and can go on to defeat the Democratic nominee."
In his e-mail addressed "Dear friends," Dobson includes the text of a recent news story highlighting Thompson's statement that while he was baptized in the Church of Christ, he does not attend church regularly and won't speak about his faith on the stump.
U.S. News and World Report quoted Dobson earlier this year as questioning Thompson's commitment to the Christian faith — comments Dobson contended were not put in proper context. Dobson in this week's e-mail writes that suppositions "about the former senator's never having professed to be a Christian are turning out to be accurate in substance."
Earlier this year, Dobson said he wouldn't back John McCain because of the Arizona senator's opposition to a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Later, Dobson wrote on a conservative news Web site that he wouldn't support former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani should he win the Republican nomination. Dobson called Giuliani an "unapologetic supporter of abortion on demand" and criticized him for signing a bill in 1997 creating domestic-partnership benefits in New York City.
Last week, Dobson announced on his radio show that the IRS had cleared him of accusations that he had endangered his organization's nonprofit status by endorsing Republican candidates in 2004. The IRS said Dobson, who endorsed President Bush's re-election bid, was acting as an individual and not on behalf of the nonprofit group.
Give me one piece of evidence that Dobson is a “huckster.” One.
If you can’t, perhaps you should apologize for trashing a decent Christian man who is doing his best to serve the Lord.
If what you say is true, then the essence of what our country used to be is gone already. We will do what the elite tells us to do and like it or else. Who wants to live in that kind of world? I thank the dear Lord that I am in the waning years of my life. I’ve known the absolute best, and must, according to what you say, make the most of the dregs we will be forced to accept.
I will continue to fight for what I think is best for my beloved country, for my grandchildren, and their grandchildren until my last breath. May God have mercy on us all.
GO DUNCAN HUNTER!
“not true. this just killed thompson’s nomination. he’s now a dead man walking. a zombie. sad but true.”
“dead man walking is the same as your post...a dumb man talking”
Billy Graham doesn't see that as his job. He only seeks to bring people closer to God, which is something Dobson cannot claim. And I say that as a Catholic who doesn't have a horse in the Graham/dobson race.
Mormons keep insisting that they’re Christian, all the while insisting that Christians aren’t saved.
****
You are saying things about the Lord’s Church that is not true!
Jesus said in my Father’s house are many maison I go and prepare a place for you.
I don’t profess to speak for the Lord as to who will lives where.
Unless one is the Son of Perdition all will have a place in the Lord Kingdom.
Where is Dobson’s “dictate”? Wasn’t this a *private* email? Publicized by people who hate Dobson?
“I, for one, don’t take my marching or thinking orders from a flawed scripture spewer.”
Just out of curiosity, from whom do you take your marching and thinking orders?
Why should I listen to some preacher about who to vote for?
VERY well said.
Enough of the anti-Christian spewing. Calling Dobson an anti-Semite? Where is the evidence? Or are you merely eager to throw stones at a decent Christian man? Such blood lust....
I'm a protestant who knows history. We don't need no stink'n theocracy. Trust me on that one.
The laws protecting marriage don't need to be Federal just like the laws protecting abortion should never have been Federal.
We all know the answer to that question.
I generally like Dobson, and I like Thompson a lot. Dobson is a pretty good radio psychologist, I don’t agree with everything he says, I obviously don’t agree with his every political insight. Being good at something doesn’t make you an expert on everything, he’s not a prophet, and it doesn’t bother me a bit to disagree with him.
Hunter is my first preference, but Thompson is a good man. Its not necessary that I agree with either man 100 percent of the time, but I agree with both of them more than I do anyone else out there. Both of them are fairly blunt (as is Tancredo, who I also like quite a lot). Those are my top three. If Dobson doesn’t like one or another of them, it doesn’t bother me in the least.
What a ridiculous statement. Most of our civil law is based on morality.
Mormons lie. If the truth came out about their religion, their members would leave in droves.
What kind of “subscription” do you have? Or are you just speaking figuratively?
Where did I say any of THIS was a dictate? How would I know if this information was public or private? How would I know who released it?
Why would I care?
Any conservatives on this thread?
Correct - Dobson is probably one of the most misquoted, or taken out of context people in the country.
They follow Joseph Smith and his false doctrine, read the book he supposedly got from an angel/golden tablets. Their false religion would be sad if it weren’t so laughable.
***
You keep trying to describe what the LDS believe and all that you say is so foreign to the LDS.
It is you who are passing on false information.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.