Scott Helman, I’m sorry.
I take back a few of the bad things I’ve said about you…
(Photo from Dean Barnett)
Well, maybe not that sorry.
Gathering for their April meeting at the county courthouse, Republican activists from Warren County, Iowa, planned for this summer’s county fair and vented about illegal immigration.
And then the county chairman for Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign, Chad Workman, made an unexpected digression: He took direct aim at Mitt Romney’s religion, according to four people at the meeting…
One participant summed up Workman’s argument this way: “The fundamental flaw of Mitt Romney . . . was that he was Mormon, not because he thinks this way or that way on one issue.”
…
In a presidential race in which Romney’s candidacy is testing the country’s attitudes toward Mormonism, the comments by a McCain representative in Iowa are the latest of several instances of rival campaign operatives trying to bring Romney’s faith onto the campaign playing field. Over the past year, staff or volunteers from at least three opposing campaigns have, at times subtly and at times not, spread negative information about Mormons in an apparent effort to damage Romney’s bid for the presidency.
The most recent example came to light earlier this week when the Washington Post reported that Emma Nemecek, an Iowa field operative for Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, had recently forwarded an e-mail to Iowa Republicans containing a number of criticisms of Mormonism, including a charge that it is not a Christian faith. The e-mail closed with a quote from a Founding Father, John Jay: “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”
The campaign of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani was forced to make a similar apology…
Last year, when Romney and McCain were battling to sign up supporters in key states, Romney’s campaign got word that Chuck Larson, a former Iowa GOP chairman and now one of McCain’s top Iowa advisers, had been calling Mormonism a “cult” while trying to woo state legislators and their staff. One Republican Larson approached, who would talk only on condition of anonymity, said that Larson told him, “He’s a Mormon for crying out loud — that’s essentially a cult.”
…
There have been other scattered instances of McCain representatives raising Romney’s religion. Earlier this year, for example, The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., reported that McCain operatives had distributed to reporters comments by evangelical leader James Dobson questioning whether a Mormon could win the presidency.
Asked about such instances, Danny Diaz, a McCain spokesman, said in a statement: “On behalf of Senator McCain, we apologize for any comments made on the part of this campaign concerning Governor Romney’s religion.”
For the whole article go here.
~ Mike
June 21st, 2007 at 10:08 am
It seems to me that those folks DO NOT understand that there will be consequences. All mainstream media needs is for them (especially those conservatives!) to take the first step, and they will have the journey all over. We only need to look at the trail of Bill Clinton, and now, media is having a field day with all of the obscenities mentioned in this “public” trail. The can of worms have been opened from those days. Now, they (Republicans, the party of faith) is doing the same with the religions!!!
June 21st, 2007 at 4:14 pm
This is funny,
Just a couple of weeks ago, I sent Scott an apology letter for some hate-mail I sent him when he did the article of how Mitt was tapping into Mormon leadership……..lol, I’m not alone.
June 21st, 2007 at 5:16 pm
The problem of James Dobson and other evangelicals playing the ‘cult’ card is they have a narrow view of what the Bible teaches. While I am not an LDS nor do agree with a lot of their teachings (such as Jesus being the brother of Satan), I find persons such as James Dobson who may a very good (and admittedly more Orthodox) interpretation of the Bible severely lacking in one major biblical principle; that is the “love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself”.
I used to attend a Baptist church and after illnesses, my son’s autism diagnosis, my wife’s nervous breakdown, our Baptist ‘friends’ were none too happy to throw us to the wolves. Needless to say, I have found much more support and less hypocritical judgments from Mormons to this very day (as many false rumors are STILL perpetuated among evangelicals in my community.