from Tales from the Trail:
Washington Extra: Sayonara Santorum
Former presidential candidate and Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum is featured on a button by a supporter who also wore the politician's trademark vest in this January 14, 2012 file photo. REUTERS/Jason Reed
It began and ended at a kitchen table in Pennsylvania. Rick Santorum's improbable and surprisingly long run for the White House is over. But the Republican Party will feel the effects of this game-changing gambit cooked up in a kitchen for some time to come.
Santorum offered disgruntled voters true conservative credentials. He brought social issues and religious freedom to the forefront of the national debate. He made Mitt Romney work much harder for the nomination than expected, and lurch to the right in the process. His supporters may not go away quietly or fall behind Romney in lockstep.
Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, already put his demands out there: "If the Republican establishment hopes to generate this same voter intensity in the fall elections, Santorum voters must see it demonstrate a genuine and solid commitment to the core values issues."
Santo said he was suspending his campaign - which could be interpreted as suspending it until 2015. Surely, he'll be back. And meanwhile, he needs help covering his campaign debt. He asked today for "one more contribution of $25, $50, or $73.10."
from Bernd Debusmann:
Obama and the American fringe
The prospect of President Barack Obama winning another four-year term in November is swelling the ranks of anti-Muslim activists and groups on the extremist fringe of American society. Their growth has accelerated every year since Obama took office in 2009.
So says a new report by a civil rights organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center, that has tracked extremist groups for the past three decades and found that last year alone, the number of anti-Muslim groups tripled, from 10 to 30.
Between 2008 and the end of 2011, according to the center, there was an eight-fold increase in the number of militias and "patriot" groups whose members inhabit a parallel universe where the federal government wants to rob them of their guns and their freedom.
"What groups on the radical right have in common is the belief that Obama wants to destroy America," Mark Potok, author of the report, said in an interview. "Fears that he will win again are now driving the expansion."
How many Americans are on the right-wing fringe is not known. The Southern Poverty Law Center gives no estimate and neither does the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which also monitors such groups. But it issued a report last September on a sub-set of the far-right scene, "sovereign citizens" who believe that federal, state and local governments operate illegally and therefore have no right to collect taxes. The FBI called them domestic terrorists and "a growing threat."
Some of the beliefs held by those on the fringe are too outlandish to influence the political discourse - the government is running secret concentration camps, Mexico plans to recapture the American southwest, there are plans for the United Nations to take over America - but others are not.
The notion that Obama is intent on turning the United States into a socialist country is regularly echoed in speeches by Republican presidential hopefuls.
from Tales from the Trail:
Romney’s religion still an issue for many Republicans
Mitt Romney might be looking to open up an unassailable lead over rival Rick Santorum in the 10 "Super Tuesday" nominating contests, but he still faces questions among many of his fellow Republicans about his Mormon religion, according to recent NBC/Marist poll results.
NBC/Marist found that large numbers of Republicans voters -- a range of 37 to 44 percent -- in two of the states holding primaries on March 6 - Ohio and Virginia - and others that voted last week - Michigan and Arizona - do not believe that Mormons are Christians, or are unsure whether they are.
The percentages were the same in Virginia, Ohio and Michigan, where 44 percent of likely Republican primary voters said they did not believe that Mormons are Christians or were not sure, and 56 percent said they do believe a Mormon is a Christian, according to the polls. Polling was done in all of the states before they held their primaries.
In Arizona, 63 percent of likely Republican voters polled before the primary believed Mormons were Christians, while 37 percent did not or weren't sure. In Florida, 60 percent of likely Republican primary voters said Mormons were Christians, and 40 percent did not or were not sure.
The polls found some correlations between those views and support for Mitt Romney, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the formal name for Mormonism, compared with his main rival, Rick Santorum, a former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania best known for his unflinchingly religious conservative views on issues such as opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage.
In Ohio, the biggest prize among the 10 Super Tuesday states, NBC/Marist found that Romney led Santorum by 38 percent to 28 percent among likely Republican voters who believe Mormons are Christians. But among those who don't or who are unsure, Santorum led Romney by 41 percent to 24 percent. Santorum is not on Virginia's primary ballot.
it is not a religion it is a anomaly… ungodly and wrong… voting for obama is better than this christian raider…
from Tales from the Trail:
Contraception question booed at Republican debate
A question about contraception caused a flareup in the culture wars during the last Republican presidential debate before next week's Arizona and Michigan primaries and "Super Tuesday."
The question drew boos from the audience and impassioned statements from the four candidates on the stage in Mesa, Arizona, last night.
"Since birth control is the latest hot topic, which candidate believes in birth control, and if not, why?" was the question posed via cnnpolitics.com.
It sparked a lengthy discourse by the candidates on religious freedom, contraception, and family structure. None of the White House hopefuls directly responded to the question.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has taken on the media in previous debates, said it was legitimate to question "the power of the government to impose on religion activities which any religion opposes," before questioning CNN moderator John King and zeroing in on Democrat Barack Obama.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney provided backup, saying Obama had launched "the worst attack on religious conscience in the history of the United States."
“Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has taken on the media in previous debates, said it was legitimate to question “the power of the government to impose on religion activities which any religion opposes,””
So then I guess Gingrich shouldn’t have any problems granting Muslims an exemption from the personal mandate section of PPACA, right?
from Tales from the Trail:
Santorum explains “phony theology” comment
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum says he wasn't questioning Barack Obama's faith on Saturday when he said the Democratic president's agenda was based on "some phony theology."
Santorum explained his comments during an appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday, saying he was questioning the president's world view -- not his faith.
"I accept the fact that the president's Christian," Santorum said. "I just said that when you have a world view that elevates the earth above man says that, you know, we can't take those resources because we're going to harm the earth by things that are frankly just not scientifically proven."
A devout Roman Catholic and social conservative, Santorum brought up the theology issue a day earlier in Columbus, Ohio, as he addressed supporters of the conservative Tea Party movement. (Here's the story from Reuters' Sam Jacobs)
On ABC's "This Week," Robert Gibbs, a senior advisor to Obama's re-election campaign said Santorum's "phony theology" comment crosses a line and was dragging the presidential campaign down.
“I can't help but think that those remarks are well over the line," Gibbs said. "It's wrong. It's destructive. It makes it virtually impossible to solve the problems that we all face together as Americans.”
Here's Santorum on "Face the Nation"
All these so-called “social conservatives” screamed bloody murder when it was rumored that Muslims were being granted a religious exemption to the individual mandate on PPACA. (Even though that was nothing more than a chain-email rumor.) Now these same wingnuts insist that if Obama doesn’t grant Catholics a religious exemption that he’s somehow violating the constitution. Which is it Republicons? Do your religious beliefs exempt you from following the law or don’t they? Or is it just YOUR religious beliefs that garner special privilege?
from Tales from the Trail:
Rick Santorum: birth control ruling has nothing to do with women’s rights
Forcing religious organizations to provide contraceptives has nothing to do with women's rights, Republican presidential contender and vocal Catholic Rick Santorum said on Thursday.
The comment aligned Santorum with a lineup of conservative critics bashing Democratic President Barack Obama's rule requiring religious institutions -- but not churches -- to provide health insurance plans that cover birth control.
The rule, announced in January, covers religious-affiliated groups like charities, hospitals and universities. The Catholic Church opposes most methods of birth control and conservatives have painted the rule as an attack on religious freedom from a secular president.
Speaking to CNN's John King, the former Pennsylvania senator said: "That's the Church's money, and forcing them to do something that they think is a grievous moral wrong. How can that be a right of a woman? That has nothing to do with the right of a woman."
Santorum bills himself as the only true conservative in the field of Republicans vying to win their party's nomination to challenge Obama in November. He's backed by evangelical leaders and social conservatives who admire his consistent and at times polemical stances on abortion and gay marriage. He swept nominating contests Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado on Tuesday buoyed by votes from social conservatives.
Better than expected economic news and the administration's move, which was initially viewed as a score for women's health advocates, have shifted the conversation of an election that most believed would be centered on the economy.
Conservative heavyweights including House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Texas Governor Rick Perry and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich have all warned of an attack on religious freedom coming from the White House. Obama also risks losing the votes of Catholics of whom he won 54 percent in 2008. On Thursday, the administration back-pedalled from its position, promising room for compromise but the groundwork for the attacks seems to have been laid.
How’s this for an attack on the church? I want to remove their tax-exempt status. If they want to involve themselves in politics rather than focusing on their stated mission to save souls, thar’s just fine with me. Let’s tax them. On any given Sunday, and this holds true for the mega-fundamentalist churches more than any, most of the “sermon” is instruction on the joys of the Republican Party and the tragedy of allowing the Democrates to grant more freedoms to more people who don’t happen to hold with the Conservative Rights oppressive social agenda. Fine but that’s not the reasons given to justify tax-exemption. I am so sick of the churches duplicity and wonder what Christ thinks about their message of exclusion and ill-disguised Hate.
from Tales from the Trail:
Santorum courts Texas conservatives
By Judy Wiley
Roughly 1,000 supporters filled the Fairview Farms Corral Barn in Plano, Texas and spilled out the door of the party hall where they'd come to see the man in the day's political spotlight -- Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum.
Those who stood outside in the cold could only hear bits and pieces of Santorum's talk, but that didn't stop them from cheering after he raised his voice to declare, "Now is the time for America to rise up and say, "Enough!"
They took up a chant of "We pick Rick," after he asked, "Are you going to give me the opportunity?"
Santorum's visit to The Lone Star State opened 14 miles away in McKinney at a forum with local pastors. Between the Bella Donna Chapel and the barn at Fairview Farms, there was a stop at a Plano hotel ballroom where some 300 supporters turned out to "meet-and-greet" Santorum.
The Wednesday night rally at the Corral Barn capped a Texas campaign swing, with an exuberant Santorum buoyed by his three-state sweep in Tuesday's GOP nominating contests.
Joseph Cabrera and his sister Esperanza Cabrera of Dallas were in Plano with her two daughters -- at their first political rally -- but never got inside the 8,200 square foot barn behind Mario's Chiquita Restaurant.
He should do well in texas, after all they elected bush and perry.
from Tales from the Trail:
Santorum staffer questions whether God wants women presidents
A staffer in Rick Santorum's presidential campaign is under fire for an email suggesting a female commander-in-chief could be at odds with the Bible's teachings.
The Des Moines Register last week reported that Santorum's Iowa coalitions director, Jamie Johnson, sent an email over the summer asking, ‘Is it God’s highest desire, that is, his biblically expressed will … to have a woman rule the institutions of the family, the church, and the state?"
Michele Bachmann, a social conservative who campaigned heavily in Iowa, competed with Santorum over the conservative evangelical vote in the Iowa caucuses. She dropped out of the race after a dismal finish in the Iowa race.
This weekend Peter Waldron, Bachmann's faith outreach coordinator, said the email was proof that Santorum had engaged in a "sexist strategy" to sabotage Bachmann. He demanded an apology from Santorum and called for Johnson's firing.
The recent spat brings the issue of sexism in conservative politics to the fore again. When Bachmann ended her campaign, political observers wondered whether conservative perceptions of women and Bachmann's own alignment with the Christian right and disavowal of feminism had been her undoing.
The Des Moines Register said that in the final weeks of her campaign Bachmann's aides began to complain that sexism was a problem in Iowa’s religious conservative community, even as her aides deflected questions from reporters on the topic.
from Tales from the Trail:
Perry stands ground on Turkey
Given an opportunity to revise (back down or retract) his comments he made in Monday's Republican debate linking Turkey to "Islamic terrorists," Texas Governor Rick Perry stood his ground on Tuesday.
The Republican presidential candidate made no apology for nearly touching off an international incident with his take on the long-time U.S. ally. Perry defended his view in a CNN interview, hours after Turkey's response.
Here's the video:
from Tales from the Trail:
Door-knocking Romney reprises missionary days
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney could be excused for having flashbacks to the 1960s when he went door to door in Berlin, New Hampshire, on Thursday.
The former Massachusetts governor worked in France as a Mormon missionary from 1966 to 1968, one of the church's thousands of earnest young men (mostly) who knock on doors and proselytize. At that point Romney had plenty of doors slammed in his face, but on Thursday, not so much.
"This is a lot easier," Romney quipped to Reuters. "People speak English. They wish you Merry Christmas. They don't think you're a salesman. People used to come to the door [in France] and wag their fingers: 'No, I don't want anything.'"
Many French people at the time were "not happy to see Americans, because we were in Vietnam at the time. That was tough," he added.
Romney strode around the depressed paper milling town in northern New Hampshire, talking to residents in their front doorways, to dog-walkers, and to people in passing cars who slowed down at the curious sight of Romney, handlers and trailing horde of media. At one point he broke into a run, leaving even his bodyguards behind.
Most residents seemed pleased, if sometimes startled, to see Romney appear at their front doors. "What on earth is he doing up here," exclaimed Doris Dube, 82.
Going on a mission to France gave him draft deferment and was much safer than being drafted for Vietnam.
-
Resident FaithWorld Expert
-
