DALLAS - James Dobson, the influential founder of the conservative, evangelical advocacy group Focus on the Family, has delivered a blow to John McCain — by saying he won’t vote for him if he’s the Republican presidential nominee.
“I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are … I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
“I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life,” he said.
Dobson said he was just expressing his views as a private citizen — but many of his millions of followers in the evangelical community, who listen to his radio show and read his books, will take it as a signal to do the same.
Dobson previously had said he would do the same if former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani became the Republican nominee. There was even talk among conservatives inside Dobson’s inner circle of supporting a third party candidate if Giuliani, who has since dropped out, carried the Republican crown.
Giuliani’s support for abortion and gay rights made him anathema in the eyes of conservative Christians, a key Republican base.
McCain has long opposed abortion rights. But Dobson said McCain’s failure to support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and his support for embryonic stem-cell research among other things were beyond the Christian conservative pale.
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- Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young
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Mr. Dobson, I’ve followed your ministry for years respect your work but now, I am sorely disappointed in you.
I endorsed and supported Bush twice. Now you claim that Hillary nor Obama, nor does any other Republican candidate truly support family values, so you may not vote at all this go around. Ron Paul is a more than qualified candidate who has articulated detailed sound solutions to challenges facing our nation. You claim to want real change in support of family values and want a strong economy, why do you then discount and ignore a Ron Paul who clearly has THE BEST SOLUTIONS??? Please clear up the confusion??
- Posted by KD JamesI consider myself a conservative but unlike Dr. Dobson I can compromise to accept a candidate who shares some of my views rather than allowing the election of someone who supports none.
Dr. Dobson is just one example of a “purist” who would rather see someone like Senator Obama elected than compromise.
He certainly has a right to his own opinion about a candidate’s qualifications but, in my opinion, his public announcement that he will not vote is clearly a call for his followers to do likewise.
Sorry, Dr. Dobson but to me that announcement is totally irresponsible and smacks of demagoguery.
- Posted by FrankOf course Dr. Dobson has as much right to speak his mind as the next person, and the rest of us have the right to pay attention or not. Generally speaking, when he (or anyone else) says so-and-so isn’t a “True Conservative”, it’s essentially meaningless without clearly defining “Conservatism”.
It seems that there are any number of definitions, but the “Religious Right” has a rather peculiar one: to be truly Conservative, one must be a “Social” (or “Values”) Conservative. In other words, one must believe that it is the proper duty of government to impose on its citizens “Christian Values”, most commonly “Sanctity of Life” (i.e. that of fetuses) and “Sanctity of Marriage” (i.e. no gays or lesbians need apply) and, in general, a prohibition of anything which is deemed to be in violation of “God’s Plan”, as they see it. For them, this is a sine qua non, and, indeed for some, the only mark of a Conservative.
In my opinion, the evangelical “Religious Right” is not Conservative at all, as their vision of America (And Tomorrow, the World!) is that of a Christian Theocracy, in fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy, which has nothing to do with the vision of the Founding Fathers, who, for the first time in history conceived a strictly Secular, Constitutional Republic, designed to protect the natural right of the individual to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and not to shackle them to the whim of tyrants, or the dictates of Bible zealots.
- Posted by CristiJeannette,
I am a Christian too and I am 100% with you. I have the same concerns about the way Christianity is preach from this so called “Christian leaders” of our great nation. I think it is time for people like us to stand in our churches and stop this hidden agendas. As Christians we are not only republicans, there are Christian people who are Democrats and also there are others that are simply “no party affiliate”. Our leaders need to stop doing campaign from the same pulpit the gospel is preach, if they want to do campaign then go behind the politics in the streets but church is mean for everyone as Jesus will say and as he did when he was between us.
- Posted by Miami VoterI just want to say that our nation is not only a nation of conservatives or liberals but a nation composed of people from different backgrounds, cultures, etc.
Personally I am a Christian who attend an evangelical church as a preference but it does not means we are to rule our nation because of this. The place we go to worship is just a human expression of our believes but it does not represent exactly the heart of God.
In my personal opinion I think politics and religion need to be separated because when religion is mixed up with politics bad things happens. Jesus always crash with the religious-political individuals of his times because this people did loose the real message of the biblical gospel and I think today in 2008 we are living under the same situation. It is very sad to hear from our “Christian leaders” such comments, even do they made them under their personal perspective it is almost impossible to separate the facts they represent an organization which supported from people with different opinions. I do not think this is the way Jesus would act under this circumstances.
- Posted by Miami VoterSo what makes Dr. Dobson’s right to an opinion and choice (or in this case, non-choice) of candidate any different than Oprah’s?
- Posted by eb knapp[...] heading off a Hillary Clinton dictatorship, we would probably be pulling out our remaining hair and making grandiose proclamations about how the Republican party has left behind its core group of voters and for that they must pay, [...]
- Posted by Let’s Explain Something, Mr. Dobson | American PrincessWhy is okay for Oprah, the Kennedy’s and all these other well-known figures voice their choice and why, but it’s not okay for James Dobson? He is a man of God and someone that I trust. I may not always agree with every opinion, but that’s okay. God gave me my own mind and my own ability to decide what choice I need to make. Don’t be so quick to tell James Dobson to keep his opinion to himself - if you do that, then all of these other out-spoken supports should do the same.
- Posted by KimberlyHow very sad and telling that Dobson and others like him would forgo their civil responsibility to vote rather than see themselves vote for a woman or Black candidate. Regardless of what it is shrouded or cloaked in, the sentiments of the these extremist cannot be overlooked for what they are. As a committed Christian who cares about our country and the many different kinds of people that make us who we are,I find it impossible to identify with the mean spirited agenda of these individuals. Is it at all possible that the same energy could have been directed to eradicate racism, bigotry, poverty, homelessness,and violence in our nation?
- Posted by JeannetteAre the right wing evangelicals reading of the same Jesus of the Gospels as I do? Where is the concern for the less fortunate and the love that Jesus said would distinguish Christians from everyone else? I am so disheartened that Dobson’s political agenda is clearly more important to him than concern and compassion for people. And no, I am not a bleeding heart liberal, or any of the other labels that these extremists tack onto to anyone who dares to love his neighbor, or envision the possibilities of change. I am, however a person who is intelligent enough to recognize that something about this particular brand of Christianity is not in keeping with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.It is no wonder that we are so ineffective in our witness to the larger world. why would any thinking person wish to be identified with this brand of faith?
This is all funny to me, to see how far away politicians and the media are from the majority of the country. When I saw Joe Liberman get passed on by his on party because he was out of touch with it proves what am about to say. Most people in this country are moderate conservatives, independents. The left booted Liberman the media left him for dead, and he ran and won easily, why? the same reason Mccain has a good chance of winning the general election. Because finally us, the majority in the middle have a candidate.
- Posted by edGOD BLESS JAMES DOBSON! Although I can’t go so far as to say I will not cast a vote, I am in complete agreement.
- Posted by AmberWe don’t want you religious nutcases to vote anyways
- Posted by Bob's your uncleWhy is Dr. Dobson so ready to turn the White House over to those who will nominate more “Ginsberg” types to the Supreme Court?
- Posted by Roy HoffmanHis Pro-Life stand should be the BEST, if not the ONLY reason for supporting Senator McCain. I find it incredible that not only himself, but other prominent conservatives are abandoning the pro-life above all else stand because of a few bones to pick with McCain’s voting record.
[...] show Focus on the Family, criticized Sen. McCain, and even admitted on his talk show that he would not vote for a president if his choices were between Sen. McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack [...]
- Posted by The Conservative Republican’s Candidate. Or Is He? « Phil Torgersen’s WeblogSomeone is going to lead this country. Might as well be someone who has, for years, thwarted the votes for campaign support bribery that is rampant with our politicians. Nobody has been more outspoken that McCain.
- Posted by KevinSounds as though there are many left wing fanatics here. Dr. Dobson holds a great deal of clout and is speaking for a large population. Yes, those “religious bigots” you speak of who no doubt will have a major impact on the electoral college. Also, no doubt you visit the daily cos and media matters web sites. Both bastions of left wing spin and lies. If I’m wrong I appologize!
- Posted by James“I agree with Dr. Dobson’s response to the possible McCain nomination and it certainly reflects the feelings of many conservative Republicans. If McCain does win the Republican nomination it will signal the death of the Republican Party as we know it. A McCain nomination will guarantee the election of a democrat president in November as many Republican conservatives will choose to sit this election cycle out. Some Republicans may also choose to vote for a true liberal other than the cloaked liberal that McCain has become. There is no way that John McCain will be able to convince the true Republican conservatives that he will be the new standard bearer for the Republican Party.”
This is so foolish to say this. Nominating Mitt Romney would guarantee a Democratic victory in November because many evangelicals regard him as a heathen. When are these ‘conservative Republicans’ who by no means represent all strong conservatives going to figure out that a flip-flopper like Mitt Romney can’t win??
- Posted by SteveI am a conservative and will support John McCain. I think most conservatives will, too, and I expect Senator McCain to choose a strongly conservative running mate to prove his credentials. Maybe then Dobson will back down. I think Dr. Dobson is just not seeing things properly as is all too common with these big-time, self-aggrandizing religious leaders. I believe most will support him in the end.
- Posted by SteveJust because Dobson, Limbaugh, Hannity and others are conservative and don’t want to support the Republican nominee, that doesn’t mean other conservatives won’t support McCain. I am a conservative and I will support McCain as many of my conservative friends will. I admire Dobson but I will still vote for McCain
- Posted by J TaylorPlease Mr Dobson…just go away and “focus on your family”. The evangelicals have become power hungry…please just go focus on the family.
- Posted by Maggie Jones