Religious Right 'Caught Off Guard' By Obama's Evangelical Outreach

[cui bono]

Obama Making Christian Push

By Daniel Burke
Religion News Service
Saturday, June 21, 2008; Page B09

WASHINGTON -- With the Democratic presidential nomination in his grasp, Sen. Barack Obama is making a full-throttle push for centrist evangelicals and Catholics.

It's a move that's caught some conservative evangelicals off guard. They say they are surprised and dismayed to see a liberal-minded politician attempting to conscript their troops. At the same time, they say that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has done little to court their affections.

"I've never seen anything quite like it before," said evangelical author Stephen Mansfield, who wrote "The Faith of George W. Bush" and has a forthcoming book about Obama.

"To be running against a dyed-in-the-wool Republican, and to be reaching into the Christian community as wisely and knowledgeably as (Obama) is -- understanding their terms and their values -- is just remarkable."

more...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/20/AR2008062002477.html

[TheDonkey]

1. very interesting.

[cui bono]

2. Yes, and hopefully it does a lot to combat those rumors. n/t

[1Hippiechick]

3. "To be running against a dyed-in-the-wool Republican, and to be reaching into the Christian "

community as wisely and knowledgeably as (Obama) is -- understanding their terms and their values -- is just remarkable."

Because Obama is remarkable!

:kick:

[n2doc]

4. I iz in ur churchs stealin ur votes

hee hee hee

[anonymous171]

6. lol

[JimGinPA]

12. Almost DUzy-worthy...

Needs a cat I think.


:rofl:

[loyalsister]

5. "Nixon goes to China"

Abortion and gay marriage -- issues on which he openly disagreed with many of the evangelical leaders in the room -- dominated the discussion, according to participants.

Still, Strang wrote in a blog, Obama "won over the loyalties of many."

[ieoeja]

13. This is one of my favorite things about Obama.

He takes these fights right into the lion's den. It doesn't take much guts to tell a Gay group that you are in favor of human rights for Gays.

Nor does that really accomplish anything except to make everyone feel good. A lot of people opposed to human rights for Gays have never really given it any thought. They are anti- by default. So make them think. Argue the point and force them to make a decision instead of just being comfortably anti- without ever questioning why.

[Leopolds Ghost]

7. What this shit? Obama trying to prove he is "centrist" enough? Since when was Jesus a "centrist"??

I had high hopes until I read the conventional ("centrist" aka right wing)
interpretation of Christianity (and American "mainstream" culture)

that both Obama, the crabbed religious elites, and the Washington Post writer
apparently all share.

"He came across as thoughtful and much more of a 'centrist' than I would have expected," Strang wrote, adding that he hopes McCain will host a similar gathering.

This is Overton Windowe applied to religion, brought to you courtesy
of the limp-wristedness of the religious left and the abandonment of
the field by progressives.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

8. Focus on the Anus head Dobson is pissed about it.

Good. :evilgrin:

[uponit7771]

9. "Thier troops" shows the attitude of many on the right towards Christianity

[AspenRose]

10. And this is why we now see Dobson going on the offensive.

.

[Barack_America]

11. Yep. It's really quite easy to figure out if you think about it...

Problem is, the MSM no longer thinks about anything.

[Bluerthanblue]

14. um.. was the Rev. MLKjr, a republican?- he sure as hell

was a christian.

The "christian" community this article refrences is the fanatical side- the side that came into itself in the Reagan years.

:shrug:

Obama isn't pandering- he's telling it like he knows it.

peace~