Karl Rove: Stayaway Christians Almost Cost Bush Election

Charisma News ^ | 12/13/01

[marajade]

I also think he was instrumental in GW's in less than wonderful ESCR decision.

Wrong. Bush made the decision on his own after input from nearly everyone. No one assisted him in his decision.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Those of us who abstained (from voting for Bush) have nothing to be ashamed of. We stuck with out principles, and we'll continue to do so.

Non voters, those who refuse to do their moral and civic duty by participating in the political process, have been known to people since the dawn of democratic government. Naturally the Greeks had a word for it. That word was 'idiot'. The other connotations of that word have been added over the years, because of their obvious association with non-voters.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Anyone who bases his political strategy on the loyalty and good sense of Looney Tunes loses.

Thank you, Osama, I guess you have a good wireless internet connection in your cave.

[marajade]

I mean what do they expect Bush to do for them is they didn't bother to vote for him to represent them?

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

GOP is shown that your vote is not a "given", then (and only then) can you exert the type of influence you seek.

If you really think that the volunteer citizens who run politics in this country at a level lower than the presidential concern themselves with winning the votes of people who are clearly looking for a reason not to vote for your candidates, I am sure that you have not been a member of too many party organizations.

[JMJ333]

The Republican Party has two main constituencies: the rich, and ordinary old-fashioned Americans (almost all of them Christians).

The first constituency it takes very seriously.

The second constituency is little more than a necessary inconvenience. Without it, of course, Republicans couldn't get elected; so they have to PRETEND to take these people [us] seriously.

But they do little more than throw crumbs from the table to Prolifers-- for instance, We are appeased by symbolic actions and by a minor victory here and there. But even though they control the House and the White House and nearly control the Senate, they can't make any headway on defunding Planned Parenthood. That really ticks me off.

Unless the war keeps going until November 2002 when patriotic fervor cools down, voters will notice that the GOP has spent the last two years doing little domestically, And then, with the liberals and Dems in control of Congress, the diet of crumbs that the prolife people have been subsisting on will be transformed into a diet of absolute starvation.

I am tired of inaction on pro-life issues and I'm tired of ceding ground.

The Republicans, despite all their prolife talk, are, playing prolifers for suckers.

[marajade]

And is bombing a soverign nation into stoneage, without supplying any proof of terroristic acts by said country.

Did you miss the tape today?

[apackof2]

Nothing short of sudden death or alien abduction would have kept me from voting for George Bush
and AGAINST Al Gore last year--NOTHING!!!
Any Christian staying home on any election day "in protest"
in effect helps put more amoral-abortion-loving-leftist-socialists
Godless Democrats in office.

Took the words right out of my mouth!

[billreillyiii]

You have to put it in the context of the discussion. There are those who oppose abortion at ANY level - the 17%. And you're right, about 70% or so don't want unrestricted abortion. That is where most of the country is. The point I was making was two-fold: First, that those who don't vote for politicians who don't represent their 17% viewpoint are being counter productive because they defacto elect those who support unlimited abortion.

Second, the comment he was making was that there had been an erosion in the Republican party that has increased the support for abortion. But this poll shows that for the last 26 years, the numbers have remained essentially steady - no big worrisome increase.

[antidisestablishment]

"Rove said that if the "process of withdrawal" went on it would be bad for the country as well as conservatives and Republicans. "It's something we have to spend a lot of time and energy on." "

Interesting distinction. Might have something to do with the issue.

[billreillyiii]

I am tired of inaction on pro-life issues and I'm tired of ceding ground.

Just curious - where are you losing ground?

Actual number of abortions peaked in 1990 and have dropped steadily since.

Legally, Roe v. Wade has been cut back significantly (in 1993 I beleive). The number of anti-abortion - pro abortion judges have remained fairly constant on the appellate courts.

Assuming that abortion is never going to be made illegal in our lifetime, where is ground being ceded?

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

If I voted for someone other than Bush or Gore, then neither of their vote totals was affected in any way.

If you were an opponent of Gore, and would have voted for Bush if you were going to vote for anyone then that is 1 less vote for Bush. I am not speaking of you necessarily, but the polling shows that most of the stay at homes were in this category.

[Republic of Texas]

" Guess you would have been more happier with Gore in the White House, eh dumbass? "

EXACTAMUNDO! Bush was the ONLY choice for Christians.

[LS]

Oh yeah, Keyes would have been perfect (sarcasm) in this terror situation. Does he even KNOW ten people to appoint, much less people who would have done the job Rumsfeld and Ashcroft have done? Of course not. No, Keyes would be so busy battling abortion that he would have put the war on terror on hold.

Alan Keyes is a good man who got so full of himself that he forgot that ALL (repeat after me, all) politics is compromise and the art of the possible.

Of course, you do have a couple of people who think that there is no compromise in politics. One of them is in the cave right now in Tora Bora.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

His administration is, from a Christian perspective, scarcely an improvement over the last several administrations.

I am afraid that a statement that this administration is not an improvement over that of X-42, makes your opinions not worth considering. And since you don't vote, you don't count.

[LS]

You make a good point and the Bible backs you up. Paul specifically instructed Christians to support those in authority over them. Rome was a dictatorship, so you did your civic duty as Rome demanded it. We are a democratic republic, and that means that any Christian who wants the name should be voting in EVERY election, because God will ALWAYS guide you to the "right" man, even one who isn't a believer. God used all sorts of heathens to bless, or protect, the Children of Israel and I suspect people who think they can't vote for a politican due ONLY to an abortion position really don't have much faith.

God will tell you whom to vote for, and no matter what tha person's "stated" position is, God will use people to accomplish his ends. Heck, how do you know the person won't have a religious conversion the minute he gets into office? God knows that, though.

[Poohbah]

Republicans held a majority in the Senate, and all committees....FACT! Why? Because Dick Cheney was President of the Senate during the 50-50 split giving the party of the Senate President (Cheney) control over the Senate.

Do you understand the concepts of "filibuster" and "cloture?"

[JMJ333]

This thread answers your question better than I can. It's an excellent read. Regards.