How close are his policies to that of the Religious Right?
John McCain wants to teach Intelligent Design in schools. Believes America is uniquely positioned as a Christian Nation founded upon the teachings of Jesus.
GOP Pastors Preach Politics in Violation of Federal Law CNN Sept. 28
Anyway here's funny bit from Jack Cafferty on Sarah Palin:
Jack Cafferty of CNN Tells How He Feels about Sarah Palin
tpmtv
Jack Cafferty on CNN, September 26, 2008
and here's an article of interest discussing how religious leaders in America endorse candidates but then deny that they do.
People For The American Way: The Religious Right's Odd Definition of "Endorsement"By Kyle | September 23, 2008
For some reason during this election cycle, we seem to be seeing at lot of Religious Right leaders taking clear stances in favor of Republican candiates yet insisting that they are not "endorsing" anyone.
It started back during the primary, when Richard Land could barely contain his excitement over Fred Thompson's campaign and was among his most vocal supporters but whenever the issue came up, Land insisted that he didn't endrose candidates.
James Dobson did the same thing when he announced that, with John McCain's decision to name Sarah Palin as his running mate, he would now "pull the lever for John McCain." Yet, simultaneously, Dobson was also insisting that he was "not endorsing John McCain ... I just don’t endorse presidential candidates and I don’t see myself doing that this time." Apparently announcing on a national radio program heard by millions of people that he will vote for McCain is somehow different than "endorsing" him.
And now we have Jerry Falwell Jr. pulling the same rhetorical trick. After refusing to allow those attending a Barack Obama rally in Lynchburg to use a parking lot owned by Liberty University citing tax restrictions, Falwell turned around a few weeks later and hosted an McCain campaing event on campus. On top of that, he recently unveiled a massive voter registration drive in an effort to help deliver the state of Virginia for McCain in November with hopes that Liberty will "go down in history as the college that elected a president."
And yet here he is pretending that he is not actively backing McCain:
The Rev. Jonathan Falwell said he will concentrate on preaching the Gospel at Thomas Road Baptist Church, where his father once left no doubt about his support for Republican candidates. Jerry Falwell gained national attention for backing politicians, starting with Ronald Reagan.
“I don’t intend to endorse anyone,” Jonathan Falwell said. “I don’t think it’s my role to be telling anyone who to vote for.”
It is even more unbelievable considering that, in the same article, The News & Advance reports this:
In a video posted in early August by France 24, an international news and current affairs television channel, Falwell indicated a preference for John McCain a month before the Republican National Convention.
“He is a person I can get behind and support and look at and see where he can really do some good things for our country,” Falwell said of McCain, “and so while he may not be the 100 percent perfect person, you know, none of us are and we just have to work with what God gave us,” Falwell said.
If there is a logical difference between right-wing leaders publicly declaring their support of McCain and "endorsing" them, we'd love to hear it.
DailySource.org has set up a special page to expose Palin's record & her church affiliatons at Special section: an in-depth look at the record and policies of McCain’s VP choice Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin's Pastor problems & questionable use of stste monies- For Instance : Palin Spoke at the church as the governor, not as a private citizen; charged the state for airfare and other expensies
and her pastor believes anyone who criticizes Bush will go to hell:
A review of recorded sermons of Ed Kalnins, the senior pastor of Wasilla Assembly of God since 1999, also offers an “eyebrow-raising sketch of Palin’s longtime spiritual home,’’ the Post reports.
Kalnins has preached that critics of Bush will be banished to Hell, questioned if people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to Heaven, charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Iraq were part of a war “contending for your faith,” and that Jesus “operated from that position of war mode.”
During the 2004 election, Kalnins praised Bush’s performance in debate with Sen. John Kerry, then offered a not-so-subtle message about his own preference: “I’m not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I’m sorry,” Kalnins said. “If every Christian will vote righteously, it would be a landslide every time.”
Kalnins later bristled at the criticism Bush was facing for the government’s handling of Hurricane Katrina: “I hate criticisms towards the president, because it’s like criticisms towards the pastor — it’s almost like, it’s not going to get you anywhere, you know, except for hell. That’s what it’ll get you.”
and : Speaking at Palin's church, founder of Jews for Jesus says Jews are being punished by terrorists
In a story titled “Nation examines Palin’s beliefs,” The Anchorage Daily News reported:
The Wasilla Bible Church has made waves as well. Two weeks ago, a guest speaker, David Brickner — a conservative Christian who condemns Jews who fail to accept Christ as the Messiah and tries to convert them through his Jews for Jesus ministry — suggested that terrorism in Israel is God’s judgement against Jews.
The McCain campaign has acknowledged that Palin was in the audience. But in a press statement, campaign spokesman Michael Goldfarb said the governor did not know Brickner would be speaking, and Palin does not share the views he expressed.
“She and her family would not have been sitting in the pews of the church if those remarks were remotely typical,” Goldfarb said.
Although her spokesman notes that those remarks aren’t typical of the church, Palin and her family did not choose to leave while Brickner was speaking.
ABC News quotes Brickner as saying:
“When Jesus was standing in that temple, He spoke that that judgment was coming, that there’s a reality to the judgment of unbelief. ... Judgment is very real and we see it played out on the pages of the newspapers and on the television. It’s very real.”
Brickner described when his son Isaac recently “was in Jerusalem, he was there to witness some of that judgment, some of that conflict, when a Palestinian from East Jerusalem took a bulldozer and went plowing through a score of cars, killing numbers of people. Judgment—you can’t miss it. “
In a CNN interview, reporter Randy Kaye spoke to Wasilla Bible Church pastor Larry Kroon and asked him about Brickner:
Kaye: Would David Brickner be invited to speak here again, after making those comments?
Kroon: Yes, yes he would be.
In his introduction of Brickner before the sermon, Kroon said an encounter with Jews For Jesus in the 1970’s first drew him to Christianity.
Jews for Jesus reported in a newsletter that Kroon, while at Wasilla Bible Church said “If it were not for Jews for Jesus, I would not be standing here.”
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and a vote for Sarah Palin is a vote for a continuation of Bush policies and governing style:
Bush campaign veterans brought in to help Palin
Several Bush veterans have been hired as campaign aides and advisors for Palin. On September 11, The Politico reported:
(A) new team of aides and advisers brings years of experience in Republican politics, and includes many who worked for President Bush in the White House and on his two campaigns … They’ll move to get off defense, a position Palin has been in since her unexpected announcement, and try to keep her on the offensive, using her to launch ever-more sharp attacks against Barack Obama and Biden—attacks that will present the challenge of responding without being labeled sexist.
Traveling with her and working with the press are Tracey Schmitt and Tucker Eskew. Each is taking a leave from private sector public relations-related jobs to work the final stretch.
Schmitt worked on both Bush campaigns and ran the Republican National Committee communications shop before leaving a year ago to work for a biopharma company. Eskew is a longtime GOP strategist who was a top aide in the first Bush campaign and later worked in the White House before co-founding his own public affairs firm.
They’ll be joined at times by Nicolle Wallace, the former White House communications director who has served as a senior adviser to the McCain campaign since spring.
Offering policy counsel will be Steve Biegun, a seasoned foreign policy specialist who did stints as a senior member of Bush’s National Security Council.
Back at the campaign’s Arlington, Va., headquarters, Maria Comella will work with reporters. She worked for Bush’s reelection campaign in 2004 and was a top spokeswoman in Rudy Giuliani’s primary effort. Another Bush veteran and press aide, Ben Porritt, is largely focused on going after Biden, but will also assist the Palin effort.
Then there is the campaign’s Last Frontier satellite: Taylor Griffin, another Bush administration veteran who had been focusing on doing press on economic issues, has been detailed to Alaska to oversee the campaign’s operation there.
and:
Palin increased spending by 63% as mayor of Wasilla
Left Wasilla with $20m in debt at end of term as mayor
Increased spending by 30% as governor
and so it goes,
GORD.
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