# Bush/Cheney '04 attempts to use Church's for partisan purposes. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 3, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-cheney-04-attempts-to-use-churchs-for-partisan-purposes/248529 "2004-06-03T23:01:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-cheney-04-attempts-to-use-churchs-for-partisan-purposes/248529/21 "2004-06-04T11:37:01Z")
Look, you two. I’ll pay for the room if you can just keep your hands off each other for the next ten minutes! ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-cheney-04-attempts-to-use-churchs-for-partisan-purposes/248529/22 "2004-06-04T11:38:10Z")
Hey, if this is the reason for the faith based intiatives then that’s some serious thinking ahead. If only he’d put this much thought into Iraq 😛 This doesn’t strike me as tremendously offensive or even all that surprising. It’s just a clumsy attempt at getting his name out and encouraging his supporters to vote. I’d be more worried if the churches were advocating this instead of speaking out against it. It’s this sort of heavy handed behavior that makes me miss “Slick” Willie Clinton. At least when he pulled this sort of crap it didn’t seem as obvious. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LivingInThePast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19b73/32.png) [@LivingInThePast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LivingInThePast)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-cheney-04-attempts-to-use-churchs-for-partisan-purposes/248529/23 "2004-06-05T14:26:41Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > **Reeder** saw that Bush was doing something and assumed it was evil/illegal/uniquely partisan/you-name-it… I can cut him a little slack because the Yahoo article focused on some pretty rabid reactions to the Bush campaign’s move. You had to really read the whole thing carefully to get down to the actual quote from the campaign’s e-mail. What I want to know is why the Interfaith Alliance is so threatened by this. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-cheney-04-attempts-to-use-churchs-for-partisan-purposes/248529/24 "2004-06-05T14:34:11Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > **Reeder** saw that Bush was doing something and assumed it was evil/illegal/uniquely partisan/you-name-it… Did you read the title of the OP? I never said Bush did anything. I never even said he was aware of it. You really should work on your reading comprehension. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-cheney-04-attempts-to-use-churchs-for-partisan-purposes/248529/25 "2004-06-05T16:14:52Z")
More to the point, perhaps, is that the fight isn’t worth it. BushCo has an alliance with a segment of the religous public. No doubt his following amongst the Baptists quite exceeds his following amongst Unitarians. No doubt as well that vote getting appeals to those congregations sympathetic to his cause will fall on willing ears, for the most part. Most pastors, priest, rabbis, ministers, the whole ecumenical gaggle of geese…are loathe to bring political controversy into thier midst. Hence, when Clinton appears before a largely colored Baptist congregation, he has a sympathetic audience. As well, when The Shining One appears at Bob Jones University. A slam dunk, as it were. So what? Like minded people congregate, but its because they are like-minded. If the Republicans want to try to appeal to the churches that, for the most part, already agree with them, so what? Preaching to the choir, and all that. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-cheney-04-attempts-to-use-churchs-for-partisan-purposes/248529/26 "2004-06-05T17:56:53Z")
> [@LivingInThePast](#): > > I can cut him a little slack because the Yahoo article focused … **GQ Aside** : Whilst the article appeared on Yahoo News, it was not a “Yahoo article,” but rather a press release. Yahoo does that – perhaps someone might recommend that they do a better job of distinguishing between reprinted news articles and reprinted press releases (heh. To the extent there’s a difference in some cases), since people similarly thought that [Andy Kaufman is alive](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040519/234/726q1.html) was also a “Yahoo News” article. [/GQ aside] > [@](#): > > What I want to know is why the Interfaith Alliance is so threatened by this. A brief review of their [issues page](http://www.interfaithalliance.org/Issues/Issues.cfm?ID=5259&c=28) reveals that they oppose the President’s position on, well, pretty much everything. But on the other hand, they believe that "[(i)n order to affect the social policies in the United States, people of faith have an obligation to participate in the electoral process through voting and in some cases running for office.](http://www.interfaithalliance.org/Issues/IssuesList.cfm?c=57) " Color me wholly unsurprised that they chose to see this particular attempt to involve people of faith in the electoral process as objectionable. ---
**Author:** ![iamme99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@iamme99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamme99)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-cheney-04-attempts-to-use-churchs-for-partisan-purposes/248529/27 "2004-06-07T04:29:33Z")
There is ample evidence that BushCo realizes his re-election is in trouble and that he is working hard to lock in the votes of his religious base by affirming and pandering to their pet concerns. This is just another step in BushCo’s campaign to divide and polarize the electorate around pet issues, since anyone looking at Bush’s overall record with a jaundiced eye knows that he is one of the worst president’s the USA has seen in a long time. While focusing on the pet issues of the religious right will work for some percentage of the population, I think Bush is going to be very surprised when post-polling shows that he didn’t get the amount of the religious right vote he needed to win. Not every religious person is a Bush sheepie… Here’s an excerpt from an article that discusses BushCo’s latest attempt to mobilize his religious base - [Link.](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/04/opinion/main621181.shtml) > [@](#): > > **Team Bush Is On A Crusade** > June 4, 2004 > > ## This column from The New Republic was written by Michelle Cottle. > > . > . > . > . > > But this brings us back to my original reality check: Karl Rove is no idiot. The dark wizard is well aware of his president’s troubles, and – even as the Beltway boys and girls obsess over Iraq – Team Bush is furiously sucking up to the base on domestic issues. Just this week, W. delivered a keep-the-faith barn-burner to nearly 2,000 religious leaders and social service workers assembled in Washington for the White House Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. In his best preacher’s voice, Bush spoke of souls lost and found, the power of the Good Book, and the need to surrender one’s life to “a higher being.” But his larger goal: Reminding the audience of what a key friend he has been. Stressing his commitment to government funding of religious groups, Bush noted that, when an obstinate Congress tried to block his plans, he outsmarted them by signing an executive order. (Take that, you godless legislators!) > > The more illuminating speech, however, came from Jim Towey, Bush’s faith-based czar, who helpfully focused the crowd on the fierce “culture war” still raging in this country. Iraq may be getting all the press these days, he allowed, “but there’s also another war that’s going on … that really gets to the heart of the questions about what is the role of faith in the public square.” If the anti-Bush forces wind up carrying the day, Towey reportedly warned, “you could almost wind up creating a godless orthodoxy.” For peddling such divisive, partisan rhetoric at an official White House event, Towey most likely earned a cookie and a pat on the back from the dark wizard. > > But the faith-based conference/revival was just one stop on Team Bush’s crusade. Last week, the president met with several members of the religious media. This week, during a trip West, he was scheduled to swing by Colorado Springs to kiss the ring of evangelical powerbroker James Dobson. Finally – and perhaps most impressively – on Thursday The New York Times broke the news that the Bush campaign is working to recruit literally thousands of “Friendly Congregations” to aid its reelection efforts by identifying volunteers willing to distribute campaign materials, facilitate voter registration, and pray for a plague of frogs to paralyze blue-state voting on election day. (Just kidding about that last part.) In Pennsylvania alone, 1,600 churches have been contacted. > > This move, at least, captured the attention of Democrats, who promptly fired off outraged emails accusing the Bushies of mixing church and state. The Dems are right to be furious – and terrified. Rove has long vowed to make sure evangelical voters turn out this year in far greater numbers than in 2000. And every new Iraq failure makes it that much more important for Team Bush to remind social conservatives who is with them on hot-button issues like gay marriage and partial-birth abortion – home-grown moral atrocities that inflame the right far more than anything that went down at Abu Ghraib. > > The Bush campaign is unlikely to spread this particular message via a nationwide TV ad blitz, since such aggressive moralizing might give swing voters the willies. But they will spread it through every conservative broadcaster, religious publisher, and “friendly congregation” they can find. A mighty army of religious warriors is being assembled on the president’s behalf. With this in mind, the Kerry camp had better not get too wrapped up in Iraq (or Vietnam). This is a two-front war. And Team Bush is working hard to convince Americans that – as in all battles – God is on its side. **(color is my emphasis)** ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-cheney-04-attempts-to-use-churchs-for-partisan-purposes/248529/28 "2004-06-07T05:37:22Z")
From the _Austin American-Statesman_ (gathered by way of _Eschaton_) regarding a GOP convention in Texas. "…For many delegates at the three-day convention, religion and politics commingle with comfort, purpose and zeal. Delegates on Friday approved a platform that refers to “the myth of the separation of church and state.” “Faith is important to the vast majority of Texans,” said Tina Benkiser, a Houston lawyer re-elected Friday as state GOP chairwoman. "And when you have real faith, that is who you are, and obviously what you want is your principles and your ideals to be put in public policy. “And I think Texans clearly agree because they have put us in stewardship of statewide government at every branch of government,” she said. … …A plank in a section titled “Promoting Individual Freedom and Personal Safety” proclaims the United States a “Christian nation.” “The party affirms freedom of religion and rejects efforts of courts and secular activists who seek to remove and deny such a rich heritage from our public lives,” says a passage added this year…" It goes on: "…Also new this year is a section declaring that the Ten Commandments “are the basis of our basic freedoms and the cornerstone of our Western legal tradition.” “We therefore oppose any governmental action to restrict, prohibit or remove public display of the Decalogue or other religious symbols…” Don’t the Moonies have some kind of religious text, similar to the Big Ten? Howzabout the Scientologists? They must have something to offer for such a wildly ecumenical bunch as these Texas Christians, who are so thoughtful as to include the legitimacy of “_other_ religious symbols”. ---
**Author:** ![iamme99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@iamme99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamme99)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-cheney-04-attempts-to-use-churchs-for-partisan-purposes/248529/29 "2004-06-07T06:52:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > From the _Austin American-Statesman_ (gathered by way of _Eschaton_) regarding a GOP convention in Texas. > > "…For many delegates at the three-day convention, religion and politics commingle with comfort, purpose and zeal. Delegates on Friday approved a platform that refers to “the myth of the separation of church and state.” > > “Faith is important to the vast majority of Texans,” said Tina Benkiser, a Houston lawyer re-elected Friday as state GOP chairwoman. "And when you have real faith, that is who you are, and obviously what you want is your principles and your ideals to be put in public policy. > > “And I think Texans clearly agree because they have put us in stewardship of statewide government at every branch of government,” she said. … Can’t argue with Texas reality! Are there non-Christens in Texas? Do they vote? Can we trade Texas back to Mexico for anything of value? A pile of beads maybe? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-cheney-04-attempts-to-use-churchs-for-partisan-purposes/248529/30 "2004-06-07T19:31:04Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > I’ll pay for the room if you can just keep your hands off each other for the next ten minutes! And I’ll provide the movie camera, if only so I can guarantee that the film will be burned afterward. In other news, can we _please_ retire “BushCo”? I’m as motivated as anyone to see that the Smirker in Chief is told to pack his bags in November, but “BushCo” is brainless partisanspeak matching retarded crap like “Algore” produced by the other side. I get what it’s supposed to convey, but it doesn’t work. Please, give it a rest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-cheney-04-attempts-to-use-churchs-for-partisan-purposes/248529.md?page=1)