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.
Know every candidate's major financial backers, and inner circle as well as closest campaign and policy advisors. This more than anything else will speak VOLUMES about where he is going to eventually end up on these issues in the White House, more so than ANY campaigning, soundbites and position papers right now which is nothing more than Madison Avenue selling soap in a box.
It is sad but I see a lot of good conservatives be seduced by the latter, stampeding into supporting some viewed as "saviors", but failing to do this key work of DUE DILIGENCE on the men who would be The President, much as we would do a background check, look at references, and not just go on how a candidate did in a job interview for a critical team position we in business would hire them for.
I would think we have had our fill of being tricked by RINOs running for President. We need a "real deal" as the nominee of the G.O.P. this time around. There is not much time left for our country.
Hunter disappointed me a bit at the Values Voter debate the other day - he had a few answers that just didn’t make sense. But even saying that - he is the most solid (and sane) conservative of the entire bunch of candidates.
Personality-wise, he could use some improvement, but I still like him. His campaign is either broke, or just run by folks with no sense of what it takes to be in the big show.
I’m not sure who he was “sounding off” to. Did you read the first the 2nd paragraph?
In a private e-mail obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press…
Assuming the AP is telling the truth, they admitted publishing a private email.
Depends on what you consider a "living prophet" - The fraudulent business of being a Mormon prophet, or something else?
God's use of prophets in the Old Testament sense ended with the introduction of the New Testament. Jesus Christ revealed all knowledge necessary. The New Testament definition of "to prophecy" is quite simply people that spread the news of Jesus Christ through preaching the Word in an exegetical manner.
But I am sure some will argue with me on the point. Might do some good to go back and study Greek and read a bit more in the Bible (and not look towards "additional revelations" found in other books...
Then those Republicans (or anyone else) are free to not listen to him. Restricting his right to free speech is not the answer. Exercising your right to not listen is...
And I am at least a little disturbed by the use of profanity (even in only in a acronym) towards Dobson.
With apologies to The Princess Bride, "No good. I've known too many youth pastors."
All humor aside, I agree 100% with you. Sen. Thompson is one of the few candidates unwilling to impose a "social conservative" agenda upon the States. He is one of the few who takes federalism seriously - at least to the extent that Sen. Thompson takes **anything** seriously.
There's the rub, and the reason I am hesitant to support Sen. Thompson. What's he done? He has less of a record than even Barack Obama!
Just a thought.
“This is a woefully uninformed comment.”
Woefully uninformed?
Any proabortion legislation is a violation of not only God’s laws, but US laws as well.
As you read, bear in mind that person was used interchangeably with human being until Blackmun said the court would “ignore the well-known facts of fetal development” in Roe v. Wade in 1973. Also keep in mind that capital punishment was legal.
The Declaration of Independence opens by stating the fundamental guiding principles of the new fledgling country:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are CREATED equal, that they are endowed by their CREATOR with certain UNALIENABLE RIGHTS, that among these are LIFE, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness...”
“...nor shall any peron...be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law...”(Amendment V of the US Constitution)
This was binding on the federal government, so no federal government representative had the power to promote or authorize abortion. The unborn are undeniably human beings who are denied their due process and their right to life.
The fourteenth Amendment,ratified in 1868, incorporated due process and the right to life so that now no state representative could lawfully deny the right to life or due process rights to any innocent human being.
Justice Blackmun’s opinion, in Roe v. Wade was a direct violation of both God’s laws and US law.
The right to life of innocent human beings is not a states’ rights issue.
Defending human life is not a federalist issue. It is the business of all of humanity.
Isn’t worth much to me... in fact, I view this as a bit of an endorsement...
Obviously? Where is it so obvious? To whom?
Then Thompson is right. The US has existed for over two centuries without federalizing marriage law, and there is no need for such an amendment.
“Most ignorant statement ever” award.
Was Obama a Watergate counsel?
Did Obama take down a sitting governor in a corruption probe?
Did Obama spend his last days in the Senate fighting tooth and nail to keep unions from “protecting” the employees of the new formed Homeland Security Department?
Has Obama ever been asked to serve on quasi-governmental boards discussing the national security threats to the United States?
Did Obama ever write a treatise on government waste and how to curb government spending?
Hmm?
http://www.fred08.com/About.aspx#
http://www.fred08.com/About.aspx#
Read, please.
I don’t sense any condemnation or hypocricy in Dr. Dobson’s evaluation of Thompson in this private e-mail he sent to some friends. Do you?
Since you are a "Monthly Partner" just keep sending those checks.
In your homeschooling days did you ever hear the name Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff and the magazine Gentle Spirit? I know she used to be associated with Dr. Dobson and was involved in homeschooling.
Dobson just jumped the shark.
I think the writing is on the wall, he's going to support the Huck.
The Union Leader can cut him off at the knees with five or six well written January editorials. Mitt is no conservative and never has been. It is not in the background and he was not raised that way. Take a look at the interaction between Governor Romney and Governor Reagan during the sixties.
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