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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Finding His Religion (and Using it for Votes)

If you were Barack Obama, and you had close, long-time and (to put it kindly) problematic associations with fringe religious figures like Wright, Meeks and Pfleger, wouldn't you kinda sorta downplay your religiosity?

Apparently not.

A spokesperson said the meeting of some 30 people will include leaders from several denominations including Evangelical, Catholic and Protestant members of the faith community. Among those taking part are Bishop Phillip Cousin, the Rev. Stephen Thurston and Dr. T. Dewitt Smith.

"Reaching out to the faith community is a priority for Barack Obama and will be a priority under an Obama Administration. This is one of several meetings he will have over the coming months with religious leaders," Jen Psaki told reporters on the campaign plane.

"He's done it before. He'll do it again. Some of those in attendance are supporters," Psaki said. "It's a combination of people who are from Chicago and from outside Chicago."


Heh heh. I love the myopic view of the United States from Psaki. "From Chicago and from outside Chicago." (Reminds me of those jokes about how New Yorkers see America.) And notice how there are no Jewish or Muslim leaders included? Yeah, me too.

It appears that Obama's General Election strategy is to try to peel off some of the evangelical and Christian Conservative votes from McCain. Senator McCain will have trouble with them, since he is not a born-again Christian like George Bush, and I believe at one point in his life he actually believed women should be able to control their own bodies. (GASP!) The Christian Broadcast Network's David Brody is so excited about this, he gushes like a tween meeting Hannah Montana:

As we first reported on The Brody File, Obama is meeting with influential mega-pastor TD Jakes and pro-life Catholic constitutional law professor Doug Kmiec... That's a big deal. A really big deal. The fact that these two conservative men are meeting with Obama may be a signal that Obama's campaign is ready to break down the traditional wall of separation between conservatives and liberals when it comes to religious talk.

[snip]

Folks, this is an important development. It shows that the game has changed. Old rules don't apply. We're in uncharted territory. John McCain's religious outreach team has to now step to the plate and work hard for faith voters. It's not automatic.


Oh, whatever. So Senator Obama is pandering to the evangelicals a little. The wall between church and state will be built back up under Obama. Nothing to worry about. Right?

The Brody File has learned that in the next two weeks Barack Obama's campaign will unveil a major new program to attract younger Evangelicals and Catholics to their campaign.

It's called the "Joshua Generation Project." The name is based on the biblical story of how Joshua's generation led the Israelites into the Promised Land.

A source close to the Obama campaign tells The Brody File the following:

"The Joshua Generation project will be the Obama campaign's outreach to young people of faith. There's unprecedented energy and excitement for Obama among young evangelicals and Catholics. The Joshua Generation project will tap into that excitement and provide young people of faith opportunities to stand up for their values and move the campaign forward."


I am getting very, very worried. Every single thing about Obama's campaign is a parallel of George W. Bush's campaign! Obama has cheated and used sexism and race-baiting in order to become the presumptive nominee. (In 2000, Bush's campaign used a push poll in South Carolina to knock out McCain by asking the voters if they "knew" McCain had a black baby out of wedlock.) He uses religion as a recruiting tool. He speaks in slogans and code and has a cult-like following. He campaigns as a "compassionate conservative," throwing away millions of core Democratic voters with both hands, while fervently reaching out to core Republican voters like evangelical conservative Christians.

I would like for someone, anyone, to explain to me what Democratic value Barack Obama actually stands for. And "just words" won't do. I'm talking about something on which he has actually taken a stand and affirmed with his vote.

[cricket cricket cricket]

So, as it stands right now, I've got a choice between two conservative wannabes in November. McCain is trying to convince evangelicals that he's a real right-winger...and so is Obama.

France is looking better and better all the time.

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