Free Republic

After two hours of deliberation, we voted on a resolution that can be summarized as follows: If neither of the two major political parties nominates an individual who pledges himself or herself to the sanctity of human life, we will join others in voting for a minor-party candidate. Those agreeing with the proposition were invited to stand. The result was almost unanimous. The other issue discussed at length concerned the advisability of creating a third party if Democrats and Republicans do indeed abandon the sanctity of human life and other traditional family values. Though there was some support for the...

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It hasn't gotten much comment yet, but in his interview on Fox last night, Fred Thompson rather emphatically told Focus on the Family chief James Dobson to take a hike. Host Sean Hannity asked Thompson about Dobson, who has attacked Thompson and made it clear he would not support a Thompson candidacy. "Don't read too much into the Dobson thing," Thompson told Hannity, continuing: A gentleman who has never met me, who has never talked to me, I've never talked to him on the phone. I did have one of his aides call me up and kind of apologize, the...

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the Republican frontrunner in national polls, has avoided meeting with the nation’s most powerful socially conservative leaders, and instead is taking his appeal directly to conservative activists at the local level. Giuliani has not met with the leaders who make up the Arlington Group, a coalition of influential conservatives who have met as a group with Giuliani’s chief rivals, former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Giuliani is also the only major Republican candidate who has not responded to an invitation to attend a briefing later this month sponsored...

Back in May 2000, I learned firsthand that James Dobson is a tough man to please. Dobson, the prominent Christian conservative who believes that his religious brethren have the God-given right to vet Republican presidential candidates, invited some political journalists to dine with him at his headquarters in Colorado Springs. As we silently forked our pasta salads, Dobson explained why he was so disappointed in frontrunner George W. Bush. Bush, apparently, was not sufficiently conservative, because he had not yet categorically renounced the idea of choosing Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge as his running mate. Ridge was a defender of abortion...

Like a cranky older child demanding the attention of his parents doting over their newer infant, the threat of some conservative leaders to seceed from the Republican Party is, at this point, more bombast than susbtance. Sources close to the evangelical leaders on the call are plain: the talk "was an attempt to signal that Giuliani is unacceptable," one of them says. The thinking inside social conservative circles this morning is that their leaders' desire to defer to James Dobson -- still the movement's cappo di tutti cappi -- led them to make a tactical blunder. Threatening Giuliani is not...

Religious conservatives are at odds over which of the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination should get their backing. Many of the top leaders on the religious right privately say it's impossible to name a top-tier, declared Republican hopeful who can pass the "straight face" test as someone social conservatives can honestly say they would trust if elected. Catholics and Protestant evangelicals on the right account for about a third of the Republican Party's electoral coalition, and it's difficult for a Republican to win without them. "The problem is that there isn't someone seen as a titular head of the...

Dear Friends, You have probably heard at least a little bit in the past several days about Dr. James Dobson’s comments regarding presidential candidate Fred Thompson. It is true that Dr. Dobson, as a private citizen in an e-mail to friends, raised questions about former Sen. Thompson’s suitability to be president. What has not been true, in the days that have followed, is the media’s attempt to paint the incident as World War III among socially conservative Christians. Do some other evangelical leaders disagree with Dr. Dobson’s opinion about Sen. Thompson? Yes. But that is hardly uncommon in the realm...

I like Arthur Branch, the tough-minded district attorney I used to see on NBC's "Law & Order." I like his deep voice and his comforting Southern charm. I like his steadfast determination to seek justice and his clear sense of right and wrong. I've been less certain about Fred Thompson, the actor who played him. He mismanaged his campaign and lost a wave of momentum by delaying the announcement of his presidential bid. He traded Republican debates for late-night talk shows. He's been unspectacular on the campaign trail. But this week, something happened that's making me reconsider my assessment of...

Fred Thompson commented further, today, on the attack made against him by Dr. James Dobson over a week ago. Fred has said very little, despite the hateful and inaccurate attack made by Dobson in a "private" email, just privately calculated enough for all the world to see. Since the attack, clearly designed to keep Evangelical Voters from siding with Fred, Fred has been defended by other Conservative Values Leaders like Gary Bauer and Southern Baptist Richard Land. But when asked about it again today, Fred had a little more to say, and he said it very well: "Thompson again dismissed...

A well-known evangelical leader is encouraging conservative Christians to give presidential hopeful Fred Thompson and all other candidates a fair chance not long after another prominent conservative leader criticized the former senator for being too weak on key issues. Although he doesn’t endorse Thompson, former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer contends that conservative Christians should seriously consider him if they want to avoid a “nightmare scenario” where they are forced to choose between two pro-abortion, pro-gay rights candidates – Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. “He (Thompson)’s obviously against same-sex marriage. He doesn’t support quite the same constitutional amendment that some...

The dueling perceptions of Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson are vividly displayed on a political website. "Thompson Is Clearly In Over His Head," an opinion column headline says - right next to national polls that suggest he is near the top of the GOP field. Two weeks after he entered the race, Thompson's candidacy is as much of an enigma as it was during his summerlong "testing the waters" phase. He has not fizzled or run away with the lead, yet there is evidence that either possibility could happen. Some of the initial reviews of Thompson's entry have been harsh....

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...

After an extensive audit, the Internal Revenue Service has exonerated Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson of accusations from liberal watchdog groups that he violated his organization's non-profit status by endorsing GOP candidates -- including President Bush -- during the 2004 election. "No dings. No criticisms. Not a single allegation was found to have substance," Dobson said regarding charges made against him in 2005 by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and Citizens Project, a Colorado group that states its purpose is "creating a community valuing diversity, equality and religious freedom." [ snip ] CREW's original complaint,...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Religious conservative leader James Dobson will sit out the 2008 presidential election if former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is the Republican presidential nominee, he wrote Thursday in an online column. In a piece published on the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily, Dobson wrote that Giuliani's support for abortion rights and civil unions for homosexuals, as well as the former mayor's two divorces, were a deal-breaker for him. "I cannot, and will not, vote for Rudy Giuliani in 2008. It is an irrevocable decision," he wrote. "If given a Hobson's -- Dobson's? -- choice between him and Senators...

Former Sen. Fred Thompson is considering running for president; he has the strong conservative credentials the major Republican candidates are lacking. Many conservatives are urging Sen.Thompson to enter the fray, but James Dobson is not a supporter. From USNews.Com: "Focus on the Family founder James Dobson appeared to throw cold water on a possible presidential bid by former Sen. Fred Thompson while praising former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is also weighing a presidential run, in a phone interview Tuesday. 'Everyone knows he's conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for,' Dobson said...

"Everyone knows he’s conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for,” Dobson – considered the most politically powerful evangelical figure in the U.S. – said in a phone call to Dan Gilgoff, senior editor at U.S. News & World Report. "[But] I don’t think he’s a Christian. At least that’s my impression.” Thompson’s spokesman Mark Corallo took issue with the statement. "Thompson is indeed a Christian,” he said. "He was baptized into the Church of Christ.”

James Dobson is the Godzilla of the religious right. Other leaders have blazed for a while and then guttered out—Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson because they were incapable of buttoning their lips, Ralph Reed and Bill Bennett because, in different ways, they fell prey to the temptations of casinos. But until now Mr Dobson has gone from strength to strength. Mr Dobson has long enjoyed unrivalled clout with Christian conservatives. Who else could have derailed a bankruptcy bill that was beloved by business (in 2002) or ejected Tom Daschle from his South Dakota Senate seat (in 2004)? The Dobson-inspired House...

Christian Right Labors to Find ’08 Candidate WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 — A group of influential Christian conservatives and their allies emerged from a private meeting at a Florida resort this month dissatisfied with the Republican presidential field and uncertain where to turn. The event was a meeting of the Council for National Policy, a secretive club whose few hundred members include Dr. James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family, the Rev. Jerry Falwell of Liberty University and Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform. Although little known outside the conservative movement, the council has become a pivotal stop for...

Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy will be the guest of honor next month at a major fundraiser for one of the lead homophobic organizations in Indiana, the Indiana Family Institute. The IFI is affiliated with super homophobe James Dobson and his extreme right, anti-gay Focus on the Family. But what's even worse, the Colts appear to have endorsed the fundraiser, apparently permitting their logo to appear on the event's official flyer, and permitting the coach to appear in the flyer in uniform and on the job. Yes, in America you have the right to be a homophobic bigot and lend...