Posted on 03/27/2006 12:42:59 PM PST by sionnsar
What a wonderful weekend. Despite the vain and desperate attempts of Albany Via Media and the Albany Times Union, the diocese of Albany elected the solidly orthodox Father William Love to the office of bishop. This is not only a great victory for Anglicanism in the northeast, it is a solid and enthusiastic reaffirmation of bishop Herzog’s leadership and integrity. The scurrilously suggestive articles in the Times Union falsely associating the bishop with financial “irregularities” and “mismanagement” were soundly and utterly rejected. The clergy and people of Albany were not fooled.
There had been some worry. The diocese is nothing if not solid, but the orthodox put up such a large number nominees that some feared the vote would split and the lone Via Media candidate might garner a slim majority by picking off the moderates. Thankfully that did not happen.
Nonetheless there is a political lesson here for the orthodox in every diocese. Don’t split your vote. Organize before the election. Decide on a candidate. Vote en masse. Even if you’re in the minority, voting as a block for one candidate without compromise or erosion over a succession of ballots gives you a chance to pull in the moderates and less radical revisionists who after a long day may just look to go home.
The revisionist swing tactic in Tennessee was a good one in theory but has actually backfired. They took a gamble. First they threw all of their weight behind the most revisionist nominee, the Rev. Charles. After a succession of ballots, it became apparent that Charles+ would not gather the necessary electoral steam. So the entire block in an apparently preplanned maneuver swung their votes to Magness+, the centrist/institutionalist nominee. Many have suggested that Magness+ was the true revisionist choice all along and that the original move toward Charles+ was a feint. Be that as it may, the swing was definitely preplanned in hopes of drawing moderate votes from Michell+ and Cox+. I suppose the hope was to make this swing look like a groundswell of popular support, a sudden “move of the Holy Spirit.”
It was a huge gamble and it backfired. When the laity stood firm behind Michell+ (as they had throughout the balloting), the hoped for image of a popular groundswell for Magness+ failed to materialize and the political motivations behind the swing were laid bare. This harms both Magness+ and the revisionist block politically because it communicates a negative message. Rather than proclaiming the various and sundry glories of Magness+, the swing makes both Charles+ and Magness+ look like living means to the negative revisionist end of pushing the Network out of Tennessee. The revisionist block is not, in other words, “for” any candidate. They’d happily stick a miter on a brick so long as it isn’t a Network brick.
What does this say about Magness+ and Charles+? Good nominees or not, the revisionist tactical maneuvering paints them as political puppets of the left.
Now, going into the May 6th round of voting, the revisionists are in a much more difficult position politically speaking than the orthodox laity. The orthodox who wisely picked one orthodox candidate (they could have split their vote between Michell+ and Cox+) and held the line without compromise or erosion have presented a positive, coherent, and effective living argument not for the Network but for an extremely gifted and well qualified candidate in Michell+. The pressure to compromise now weighs heavily to the revisionist clergy who seem to stand not for any candidate but against the clearly expressed will of the people.
The revisionist gamble failed. And I predict it will cost them the election. Either Michell+ will be elected or the orthodox standing committee will run the diocese for the next couple of years.
The lesson? Pick one candidate in advance. Vote en masse. Don’t compromise.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.
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.