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One of the most powerful leaders in conservative evangelical Christianity has discouraged his colleagues from supporting Fred Thompson as a presidential candidate. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, sent a private e-mail to many of his fellow religious right leaders criticizing some of the Republican contender's stances and statements, according to the Associated Press. "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 [the] McCain-Feingold [campaign-finance reform law], won't talk at all about what he believes, and can't speak his...

Hannity & Colmes

The National Public Radio (NPR) website today (10/2/07) reports a discussion on their daily radio show, “All Things Considered”, about the religious right’s new stand on the possibility of Rudy Giuliani winning the Republican presidential nomination: “This weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah, a group of leading social conservatives — all members of an organization called the Council for National Policy, agreed on a resolution: If the Republican Party nominates a “pro-abortion” candidate, the group will consider running a third-party candidate.” From the context of the NPR article, and because of the quotation marks around it, it is difficult to...

I tend to agree with one of our local talk show hosts who recently stated that while Rudy might be able to fool enough people during the primaries that he isn't all that liberal, you can bet when he goes up against Hillary she is going to make sure everybody knows his dirty little secret that most of the media including Fox News is trying to white-wash. I am what is known as a Social Conservative. I voted for President George W. Bush twice and do not regret either vote even though he has disappointed me and even though I...

Kathleen Parker, Washington Post Writers Group Friday, October 5, 2007 Evangelical Christians never had it so good, but they seem not to know it. Instead of supporting the candidate who most shares their values - Mitt Romney - they seem hell-bent for the proverbial cliff. Meeting recently in Salt Lake City, conservative Christian leaders almost unanimously approved a resolution to support a third-party candidate if neither major party nominates someone who is anti-abortion. --snip-- James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, explained in a New York Times op-ed Thursday that Christian leaders believe any presidential candidate has...

Conservative evangelical leaders have long openly expressed dismay over the prospect of being forced to choose between two pro-choice presidential candidates. But now, a coalition of evangelicals has gone as far as to threaten to pull their support for the Republican Party if such a candidate is selected for the last stretch of the White House race. Dr. James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family – who recently emerged from a controversy over a private email he sent criticizing Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson – says he and others in the social conservative coalition will not support Rudy Giuliani...

Dr. James Dobson is scheduled to discuss his recent controversies on but two media outlets: Sean Hannity's radio program and Hannity & Colmes TV show. Sean announced that Dobson would be on the radio show some time *next hour* (3-4 p.m. Mountain Time, 5-6 p.m. EST, 2-3 p.m. Pacific.

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...