Thursday, November 17, 2005

Christian Right Plots Anti-Gay Strategy for 2006

The Christian Right met in Colorado Springs, Colorado this week to plot its election year strategy for 2006. Hosted by Dr. James Dobson’s Focus on The Family, the attendees agreed that a winning strategy would be to once again deploy anti-gay wedge issues to galvanize its base and boost voter turnout.

Greg DiNapoli of the Family Research Council told the Denver Post that “participants agreed that state gay marriage amendments were a ‘big draw’ in boosting turnout last year and a federal gay marriage amendment is still needed." Several states, including Colorado, are girding for gay marriage fights in 2006, the Denver Post reported. The group also discussed outreach to African-American voters and maintaining GOP control of the Senate. The attendees are particularly concerned about embattled Republican Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), who is losing badly in polls to his expected Democratic opponent next year.

But these are church groups and there are those pesky IRS rules to worry about as well. But the Denver Post assures us there is a way around those rules: Under IRS rules, most tax-exempt, religious nonprofit groups cannot get involved in partisan politics. But organizations can stage nonpartisan voter registration and get-out-the- vote rallies, as a Focus on the Family affiliate did in battleground states last year.” Okay, that’s what this was. Oh, and Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society and advisor to the Bush White House on picking judges acceptable to the Christian right, was also there to sing praises for Samuel Alito.

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