Posted on 12/13/2001 7:50:35 AM PST by 11th Earl of Mar
STAYAWAY CHRISTIANS ALMOST COST ELECTION
Many Christians believe that prayer played a major role in sending George W. Bush to the White House, but stayaway believers came close to losing him the election, according to his chief political adviser, Karl Rove.
Rove said that one reason the 2000 election was so tight was that as many as 4 million Christian conservatives did not go to the polls, reported "The Chicago Tribune." Although the Bush campaign had expected 19 million evangelical voters to vote for their man, election returns revealed only 15 million turned out to cast ballots.
Speaking yesterday at an American Enterprise Institute seminar, Rove said the Bush campaign "probably failed to marshal support of the base as well as we should have," said the "Tribune." Rove added: "But we may also be returning to the point in America where fundamentalists and evangelicals remain true to their beliefs and think politics is corrupt and, therefore, they shouldn't participate."
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."
I'm not advocating the election of Democrats. That may well be your interpretation of what I stated, but it is not.
If the political will is there to NOT vote for squishy, liberal Republicans, and the GOP is shown that your vote is not a "given", then (and only then) can you exert the type of influence you seek.
Electing liberal Republicans is no better than electing liberal Democrats. If you think differently, then you're part of the problem and not the solution.
If the mushy middle Bush stands to gain outnumbers the fundamentalist right Bush stands to lose, it's simple mathematics. I think that's the case right now. Instead of gaining influence, you may be marginalizing your voice.
This is straight from the James Carville Campaign Manual.
If I voted for someone other than Bush or Gore, then neither of their vote totals was affected in any way. Your logic is completely flawed (though I don't expect you to be able to grasp the difference).
Why keep us guessing? Which "heathen" holidays are you referring to?
There are lots of them about this site continually confusing the issues like the newbie, theoldright.
I'm about as fundamentalist Christian as they come and that's simply not true. Christians believe in redemption and do not hold a person accountable for a traffic ticket written twenty-five years before.
What concerns us about Bush is what another poster here said, that we get the symbols and the other side gets the actions.
Consider RU-486, the abortion pill which Clinton legalized. If someone handed Bill Clinton a billion dollars under the table and asked that the pill be taken off the market, Clinton would have found some technicality the next day. Bush, however, can't do that. It would be 'honorable.' So he lets babies die instead.
Then there's the flip side. Spending federal money on public schools is clearly unconstitutional. The Bush spin, however, is that we must live with current circumstances as a matter of compromise.
So, do you get it? We can't compromise to stop abortion because that wouldn't be honorable, but we can compromise over federal spending in public schools because to stop wouldn't be practical. So one day they're 'honorable,' the next day they're 'practical' -- and the only consistent part of the formula is that conservative Christian beliefs get smashed down each time.
Funny, but the only non-Christian holiday I recall him actively celebrating in the White House was Hanukkah.
You don't like them Joo's much, do ya boy?
I would submit that being willing to support someone simply because of an "R" behind their name marginalizes people far more than a demonstrated willingness to not vote for unacceptable candidates.
If you're in their pocket, what control can you really exert? They know they have you, and take you for granted.
You know how many conservatives get disgusted with the fact that 90% of the black population votes Democrat election after election, and how so many on the right are quick to point out that the Democrats "take them for granted"? Do you think the same can be said for many conservatives with respect to the Republican Party? I certainly do.
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