As Tony Perkins explained to James Dobson’s audience earlier this week, the Religious Right is thrilled with John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate not only because Palin is everything they have been praying for, but because it demonstrates, for once, that McCain “can listen.”
And not only will McCain “listen” to the Right, he will respond accordingly to their screams and threats – at least that is how Richard Viguerie sees it:
Conservatives who refused to fall in line behind the Republican Party--who maintained their independence, at the price of being ridiculed as "cranky" or "impossible to please"--are the ones responsible for John McCain's brilliant, game-changing selection of Sarah Palin, Richard A. Viguerie said.
"Those who backed John McCain as the 'lesser of two evils' did no favors to themselves, their movement, or to Senator McCain," said Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com. "He needed to know what conservatives really thought, and he needed to know what had to be done to get conservatives enthusiastically on board his campaign.
"As we know now, what he had to do was pick Sarah Palin," he said.
…
[Credit goes to] conservatives, especially religious conservatives, who "went nuclear" in their criticism in the past couple of weeks before the announcement upon hearing that the pick might be Joe Lieberman, Tom Ridge, or someone nearly as disastrous for the McCain campaign and the Republican Party. ("Those of us who spoke up strongly were roundly criticized by some conservatives," Viguerie noted.) It was our firestorm that stopped that catastrophe from coming to pass.
"Across this country, conservatives and Republicans at every level let John McCain know what he needed to do to get them fired up and excited and ready to go door-to-door and make phone calls and do all the things that have to be done. They told him, and he listened, and his selection of Sarah Palin has completely turned his campaign around … [T]hose conservatives who held to their principles are the men and women 'in the arena' who can claim their own share of John McCain and Sarah Palin's triumph last night."
So that is why Religious Right leaders - who, until last week, were nearly unanimously unenthusiastic about McCain - are now full-throated supporters: because they stared him down and won and now know that he can be bullied and intimidated into doing their bidding.
On Tuesday, Focus on the Family released audio of a special James Dobson radio program, recorded last Friday after John McCain's announcement that Sarah Palin would be his running mate. Containing analysis of the decision from Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer, Tom Minnery, and Kelly Shackelford, the group of right-wing heavyweights discussed everything from the elation at the announcement felt among those gathered for the Council for National Policy meeting to Gary Bauer’s role as the McCain campaign’s surrogate to the Republican Platform Committee in crafting the “the strongest pro-life platform in the history of the Republican Party.”
Among the most striking information was Gary Bauer’s revelation that, contrary to the McCain’s campaign’s claims that it was taking a hands-off approach to the platform, they were actively involved and supportive of the Right Wing’s efforts to craft the hardline document that emerged. In fact, Bauer reports that he was tapped by the McCain campaign to be their surrogate and that the campaign was "very open to the kind of changes" the Religious Right was pushing.
Among the other interesting facts contained in the program was Shackelford’s declaration that CNP members felt that God was answering their prayers with Palin and Tony Perkins' assessment that McCain has shifted dramatically in their direction from a year ago and that his decision to name Palin as his running mate shows that “he can listen.” But perhaps the most entertaining thing about the program was the shame in Dobson’s voice as he explained how he has gone from a vocal critic of McCain to someone who, “if I went into the polling booth today, I would pull the lever for John McCain.”
Dobson: Have you ever, in your life, seen as large a crowd of people give a standing ovation to [the Palin announcement on] CNN? Have you ever seen that happen?
Kelly Shackelford: I don’t think so and the other thing is, a number of people literally had tears in their eyes. I think that there was such pent-up worry, prayer that had been going on for so long and they really felt like the Lord was answering those prayers with somebody who is pro-life, somebody who is committed to the definition of marriage and the issues that we believe in so strongly.
Tony Perkins: This was a tremendous strategic decision by the McCain campaign. They have seen social conservatives drifting away from them over the last year and, in part in the last year there’s been some pushing and shoving going on as the social conservatives have not signed on to the McCain campaign. But he has shown …
Dobson: Tell me about it. I’ve been pretty explicit about it.
Perkins: And there’s a reason for that because he’s not where he is today a year ago. But he has shown that he listens and I though two weeks ago at the Saddleback Forum he did a tremendous job at being straight-forward and he got the attention of social conservatives that he can listen, he can respond. And then today, with this selection, I think the strongest among the names that have been out there, he has shown that he cares about these issues and has solidified a strong conservative, pro-life, pro-family ticket for the Republican Party.
Dobson: Gary, you have been advising the McCain campaign for some time and so you really signed on with him before any of the rest of us made up our minds …
Gary Bauer: I’ve been watching not only today, I’ve been watching the last couple of weeks and giving my advice to everybody I could within the McCain campaign. I would disagree with my good friend Tony, I think this is where John McCain’s been for a long time. He really does have a twenty-five year pro-life voting record, except for a couple of notable exceptions, but I thought this choice was just outstanding. I actually think over the last couple of weeks, from Saddleback where he was very clear on these issues to what he’s been emphasizing in his speeches and town meetings, the platform which was adopted this week – just an outstanding pro-life platform – and now this vice presidential selection, there’s just a real commitment that he’s showing here.
…
Dobson: I’ve been pretty vocal in my opposition to John McCain. I haven’t done it on Focus on the Family, but I’ve done it in the media and for some good reasons. I could right now tick off fifteen or twenty things that have concerned me. And, having made that statement, the assumption is that I must stay with it even if the circumstances change. And they have changed. Saddleback changed me. What I heard John McCain say at Saddleback didn’t eliminate all of the concerns but it did draw me in his direction. And then, of course, this selection and other things. Tony, you said McCain seems to be changing - Gary, you disagreed with that - but it sure looks that way to me. And so, I am not endorsing John McCain. I have only endorsed a presidential candidate once in my life and that was George Bush in the second term after I’d watched him for four years. I just don’t endorse presidential candidates and I don’t see myself doing that this time. But I am moving closer and closer to being able to say … well, I’ll say it now, if I went into the polling booth today, I would pull the lever for John McCain.
…
Bauer: I got appointed by the McCain campaign to be their advisor on the platform. It was an interesting assignment. I arrived there, usually I’m on the outside beating on whoever the nominee is to do better, but when I got there and met with the McCain staff people I was immediately amazed, surprised and happy to hear them say “look, we think it’s a great platform already, it’s pro-life but we know people might want to strengthen it and we’re open to that. We want to work with people, we don’t want to alienate anybody and we’d like you to go back and forth between the delegates and us and see if we can work these things out.” I think that Kelly will affirm that, other than a few places, there really weren’t many brutal fights. Most of it was done in a very collegial way with the McCain people being very open to the kind of changes that made the platform draft even better than it was when it started.
Dobson: Would you agree that this is the strongest pro-life platform in the history of the Republican Party?
Shackelford: There’s no doubt. I was on that sub-committee and every pro-life leader who was there watching from Phyllis Schlafly to you name the pro-life group, they were all watching and they all said this is the strongest pro-life platform ever in the history of the party. We not only kept the famous plank that was put in during the time of Ronald Reagan, but we added additional strong language that made it even stronger. It was really incredible to be a part of this and I will affirm what Gary said; this is my third platform committee in a row and it was different than the last ones. The McCain campaign not only did not fight us as severely as the last campaigns did but they actually were in favor of the platform becoming more conservative because they knew that’s where the people were.
When John McCain named Sarah Palin as his running mate, the Right could barely contain its glee and among those most ethused by the pick was Phyllis Schlafly who, even after Palin was a no-show at her convention reception, had nothing but praise for her and her priorities:
Schlafly told WND McCain's choice of Palin was the best he could possibly have made.
"Sarah Palin has reinvigorated the entire Republican Party," she said. "And it's across the board. It's not just pro-lifers. She's a breath of fresh air. She's right on every issue."
Schlafly addressed criticism that Palin is hypocritical, because her demanding job as a political leader, while mothering five children, conflicts with the traditional values she espouses.
"We do stand up for the role of the full-time homemaker," Schlafly replied. "On the other hand, a lot of women work hard. I think people who don't have any children, or have one or two, don't understand what life is like with more children."
This reminded me of a post entitled "Don't Marry Phyllis Schlafly" that I wrote a few years back after Schlafly blasted Steve Forbes for apologizing for publishing a widely criticized piece by Michael Noer in his magazine entitled "Don't Marry Career Women."
In the original piece, Noer listed several reasons why "whatever you do, [no men should] marry a woman with a career." When Forbes, the publisher, was forced to apologize for running the piece, Schlafly came to Noer's defense:
Eagle Forum's Phyllis Schlafly feels Forbes has no reason to apologize since the facts and statistics Noer cited were sound. In fact, she suggests, an article like this should have been written 20 years ago, and this one still hits the right note today because, contrary to the feminist myth, a woman really cannot "have it all" -- at least, not all at the same time.
To Schlafly, this is a simple question of practicality. "You can't have it all at the same time. There are not that many hours in the day," she asserts. "Now, with our lengthened lifespan, a woman can have it all; I think I've had it all," she says, "but you don't have it at the same time. A baby is extremely demanding -- even more demanding than a husband."
But the issue Noer's article raises is not really about women who have careers, the pro-family spokeswoman points out. What the author is really highlighting in the Forbes article, she contends, is the problem of wives who set the wrong priorities.
"A lot of the newspapers ... have published articles about how some of the most highly educated women -- women who graduated from the elite colleges and then got graduate degrees like MBAs or JDs -- have put their career ahead of husband and family," Schlafly notes. "In many of these cases, in the woman's scale of values, the husband is ranking third," she says.
The real issue is not women having careers, Schlafly says, but women making their careers their highest priority, above family. When that type of situation takes place, she observes, it is not likely that a husband will stick around.
Presumably, Schlfaly's enthusiastic support of Palin stems from the fact that Palin has her priorities straight and won't be putting her "career ahead of husband and family" because, after all, a "baby is extremely demanding -- even more demanding than a husband."
Back in June, when the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission issued a demand that John McCain pick a "True Christian" to serve as his running mate, they had two simple criteria for determining just what consistuted a "true Christian"- they had to be anti-gay and anti-choice:
Quite simply, the candidate will demonstrate actions and hold the beliefs personified by all of us who proclaim the name of Jesus Christ as Savior: the need to be re-born in Christ and the affirmation of historic Christianity, having a demonstrable and proven record of support for traditional Christian morality.
A life of dedicated Christian service to the public is demonstrated by the following:
Support for traditional marriage.
As a Christian, the candidate for Vice President must affirm that marriage is an institution created by God and defined as a union between one man and one woman. Americans have ALWAYS demonstrated a compelling interest to ensure children are afforded the best possible environment in which to grow and thrive. Any candidate must do no less and must be opposed to any policies or legislation that seeks to confuse or dilute the traditional institution of marriage.
Support for the Right to Life, proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, without exception.
As a Christian, the candidate for Vice President must echo the founding fathers' proclamation of the "inalienable right to.life." Any acceptable candidate will have a history of promoting policies acknowledging that God provides "all" people are created in the image of God and therefore possess inherent dignity and worth. This individual must be opposed to the killing of all innocent persons at every stage of life, especially the most vulnerable; unborn children, the sick, the disabled and the elderly.
And so it comes as no suprise that the CADC is now hailing John McCain for meeting their conditions with his decision to name Sarah Palin as his running mate:
Today John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his Vice Presidential running mate. Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, is a Christian and is well known for her pro-life stand and her fiscal conservatism.
"John McCain is to be commended on his choice of Sarah Palin, a true Christian for Vice President," said Dr. Gary Cass, Chairman and CEO of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission. "Palin, an evangelical who is pro-life and pro-marriage, meets all the criterion that CADC set forth for a VP pick.
It will surprise no one that Charisma is endorsing John McCain for president of the United States. The actual endorsement will appear in our October issue, in the mail on Sept. 15. You are getting an advance copy here.
But what may surprise you is why we chose him over the other candidate.
Strang proceeds to then not surprise anyone at all by criticizing Barack Obama's views on abortion and his "sympathy toward those who are attempting to legitimize homosexuality," declaring it absolutely vital that America does not "not elect a leader who will support ... or aid the homosexual agenda in any way-because if same-sex marriage is ever legalized or protected on a national level, there will be no turning back."
Actually, amid Strang's littany of standard right-wing reasons for supporting McCain over Obama, he did actually manage to surprise us with this statement:
In an interview with Rick Warren at Saddleback Church in August, McCain and Obama gave answers that were polar opposites. When asked about evil, Obama mentioned Darfur and child abuse-both standard liberal answers.
So stopping the genocide in Darfur and child abuse are purely liberal concerns?
Strang goes on to say that he'll write about Sarah Palin later, once he gets a chance to actually figure out who she is, but for now, he's pretty happy:
Interestingly for a magazine that has served the Pentecostal/charismatic community for more than three decades, Sarah Palin has an Assemblies of God background. That's not reason alone to vote for her-just as John McCain's record as a war hero alone doesn't make him qualified to be president. But it does tell me something about her values and belief system.
The views of Pentacostals and Charismatics might be familiar to Strang and his readers, but for the rest of us, the AP has provided a helpful primer:
Sarah Palin often identifies herself simply as Christian.
Yet John McCain's running mate has deep roots in Pentecostalism, a spirit-filled Christian tradition that is one of the fastest growing in the world. It's often derided by outsiders and Bible-believers alike.
...
Palin identifies herself only as Christian in her biography on the National Governors' Association Web site. In an Aug. 14 interview with Time magazine, she once again described herself as Christian. When pressed, she said she attended a ''nondenominational Bible church.''
...
Grant Wacker, an expert in Pentecostalism at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C., said he can understand why. He said the McCain campaign likely doesn't want Palin associated with the best-known Pentecostal to ever hold public office, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, an active member of the Assemblies of God.
''Though Pentecostals are diverse and rapidly mainstreaming themselves, the public still perceives them as sectarian and uncompromising, and those traits will not help Palin's image,'' Wacker said.
...
Pentecostals are conservative in their reading of the Bible and, often, culture.
...
Unlike most other Christians -- including most evangelicals -- Pentecostals believe in ''baptism in the Holy Spirit.'' That can manifest itself through speaking in tongues, modern-day prophesy and faith healing.
The Assemblies of God teaches that spirit baptism must be accompanied by speaking in tongues.
...
Her current church, Wasilla Bible Church, stresses the inerrancy of Scripture.
Now that they are through targeting Mitt Romney, it looks as if the folks behind American Right to Life Action have turned their attention to James Dobson, accusing him of "breaking his pledge before God":
On April 28, 1990 at the Washington D.C. Rally for Life Dr. Dobson stated, "I want to give a pledge to you on a political level... I have determined that for the rest of my life, however long God lets me live on this earth, I will never cast one vote for any man or woman who would kill one innocent baby." James Dobson is violating this pledge by voting for John McCain for president, a Republican who has recently voted to authorize funding to kill some children by surgical abortion.
...
"Dr. Dobson is openly violating the pledge he took before God," said Birkey, "by voting for John McCain. Both the Sarah Palin distraction, and the candidate's rhetoric to Rick Warren claiming he believes that human rights begin at conception, are belied by McCain's long tolerance of chemical abortifacients and funding the dissection of the tiniest embryonic boys and girls."
"In violating his pledge before God, Dr. Dobson has lost the moral authority to speak for Christians," said Curtis. "He can speak for Republicans who do not fear God, but he cannot speak for the Body of Christ."
Police are on the scene at Focus on the Family after reports that protesters from an anti-abortion group are refusing to leave.
"Apparently they weren't causing a disruption or anything. They were just saying they weren't going to leave," said Colorado Springs police spokesman Lt. David Whitlock. Early reports said the protesters were in the lobby, he said.
Yesterday, David Barton wisely suggested that people ignore John McCain's reputation as a "maverick" and ignore whatever it is he says in favor of judging him based on his actual record. With that view we couldn't agree more, but now it looks like Barton is so giddy by McCain's decision to name Sarah Palin as his running mate that he's gone into full-on Kool-Aid-drinking mode:
Delegates including David Barton of Aledo, a former vice chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, said McCain's choice of Palin had cemented support for the GOP ticket among faith voters who had some distrust of him.
"It was an affirmation to conservatives and faith voters that McCain really is a good guy. He's not just pandering," Barton said.
Although McCain had met with faith groups before announcing his choice of Palin, Barton said, "Everybody was at arm's length and said, ‘We'll see.' Now it's a full embrace."
Barton is right about one thing: McCain's not "just pandering" to the Right with the Palin pick, he's flagrantly and unabashedly pandering to them.
In our quest to chronicle the increasingly over-the-top response that Sarah Palin is generating in the Religious Right, we'd be remiss if we didn't highlight this quote from notorious right-wing curmudgeon Lou Sheldon:
While Palin's pick is designed in part to woo disaffected Clinton voters, Palin overnight has become the darling of conservatives. Before her speech, "I thought I died and went to heaven,'' said the Rev. Lou Sheldon, founder of the California-based Traditional Values Coalition. The coalition is planning a nationwide get-out-the-vote effort.
Sheldon is the right-wing version of "Mikey" from the old Life Cereal commercials, in that he hates everything ... but he loves Sarah Palin. That ought to tell you something.
In less than a week, one-term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has gone from a complete unknown to savior of the Republican Party. From the moment she was announced as John McCain's vice presidential pick, the Right has been gushing nonstop, heaping praise upon her, and proclaiming her the answer to all of their prayers.
And so it doesn't really come as much of a surprise that, after days of non-stop Palin hagiography, the Right is starting to run out of ways to express its adulation and that all that was left was to pay her the greatest compliment they know by christening her "the next Ronald Reagan":
"A week ago, conservatives and most Republicans were down-in-the-dumps, listless, unengaged. That lack of enthusiasm is a thing of the past. Tonight, thanks to Senator McCain and Governor Palin, conservatives and Republicans are fired up as they have not been since Ronald Reagan was president," he said.
"Sarah Palin is the next Ronald Reagan," Viguerie, the Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, said.
"In less than a week, Governor Sarah has captured the heart and soul of this convention, the Republican Party, and the conservative movement. She brings together social conservatives, and economic conservatives and libertarians, and people who are fed up with the Culture of Corruption that infests our nation's politics," he said.
"From this moment forward, there's no limit on where Sarah Palin might go," Viguerie concluded.
This is especially remarkable considering that Viguerie has, in recent years, been not only a militant critic of John McCain but the GOP in general - just a few months ago he was demanding the wholesale resignation of the Republican Party's leadership for destroying the GOP's reputation and having "failed - or outright betrayed - the conservative voters who put them in their positions."
I've been trying to convince my fellow conservatives that they have been wasting their time in a fruitless quest for a new Ronald Reagan to emerge and lead our party and our nation. I insisted that we'd never see his like again because he was one of a kind.
I was wrong!
Wednesday night I watched the Republican National Convention on television and there, before my very eyes, I saw my Dad reborn; only this time he's a she.
Don Swarthout, founder of Christians Reviving America's ValuEs [C.R.A.V.E.]- a low-level right-wing group that occasionally pops up on the radar by announcing things like its bold plans to launch a brigade of “Patriotic Pastors to come together and fight today's cultural wars in America” – is announcing the formation of a new PAC which he claims will expose Barack Obama and his ties to “Black Liberation Theology”:
Swarthout said that Honor America PAC is currently purchasing radio ads in Colorado and Pennsylvania to encourage voters to learn more about Obama's ties to Black Liberation Theology by going to www.ObamaReligion.net.
Swarthout said, "We are in the process of raising funds to put more radio ads on the air in key swing states. If you want to help, please go to the web site and contribute to Honor America PAC so we can continue to inform the American public about "Barack Obama and Black Liberation Theology."
"This 'theology' alone is reason enough for people NOT to vote for Barack Obama," Swarthout concluded.
And once this effort fails to make any impact whatsoever, Swarthout will presumably go back to his day job begging for invitations to speak at your church:
I have grown in my ministry to the point where I believe that religion is the only true answer we have with which to answer the problems America is facing today.
During the past few years I have come to the conclusion that the answer for all of our national problems lies in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That awakening has led to a tremendous growth in my life. I would love to share what I have learned with your Congregation.
One of the secrets is that as Christians we have a right to expect a government based upon the principles of Christianity instead of a government based upon the lies of the devil.
Yet another secret is the principles of good government are exactly the same principles as the principles of Christianity.
If you would like to invite me to speak to your Church Congregation or to your organization you may contact me at 859/219-1222 to verify a potential date to have me speak in your facility.
GOD CALLED ME TO BE A WATCHMAN, AN EVANGELIST AND AN ADVOCATE FOR THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA AND FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD.
There is something fundamentally weird about this current presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain, in that we have the Democratic candidate being very open about his religious faith while the Republican is supposedly reticent to discuss it, which in turn leads to bizarre statements from Right Wing leaders who don’t quite know how to deal with this new dynamic.
And as such, we end up with mind-bending quotes like this from Gary Bauer, attempting to downplay Obama’s openness about his faith and outreach to evangelical voters:
Christian voters are not hiring a pastor; they’re picking a president … I think we need to be careful not to expect from our candidates what we would expect to hear in church
Remember back when the Religious Right went absolutely nuts because Barack Obama said he didn’t want to see his daughters “punished with a baby” before they were ready?
The Christian Defense Coalition responded incredulously, calling his remarks a “not only a slap in the face to every child born to a young mother, but it diminishes the great joy that children bring to their families regardless of the circumstances in which they were born.”
Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America likewise blasted Obama for his use of the word “punish,” saying that babies born to teenagers “should not be treated as if they are a curse or a punishment.”
One wonders what they’ll have to say about this press release from Vision America on the news that Sarah Palin’s teenage year old daughter is pregnant – it reads more like a letter of condolence than a statement of support:
Dr. Rick Scarborough and the entire staff of Vision America, on behalf of thousands of Patriot Partners nationwide, express their sympathies to the family of Governor Palin and especially their daughter. We are thankful for their godly response to this tragic circumstance.
Dr. Scarborough issued the following statement: The Palin family's misfortune in no way diminishes the profound respect that I hold for their strong and intact commitment to life and traditional family values. The reason we know that this young lady is pregnant, is because they did not opt for the easy remedy...killing the unborn child. Like her mother before her, Bristol has chosen life for her child. It was not the traditional values and pro-family views which Sarah Palin holds and espouses which created the culture of sex we now find ourselves immersed in but it will be her championing of traditional values and biblical solutions that will give us the best chance to see our nation return to moral civility.
It’s easy to get confused about John McCain – is he the “straight-talkin’ maverick” his supporters and the media love or is he the candidate who votes 90% of the time with George W. Bush, has a long record of anti-abortion zealotry, and caves to this party’s right-wing base?
Well, right-wing pseudo-historian, former Mike Huckabee supporter, and current McCain cheerleader David Barton has some pretty solid advice: ignore what McCain says and just look at his record:
“There was some talk about Christians staying home, but that’s over,” said David Barton, an evangelical Christian from near Fort Worth, Texas “And I’ve been telling my friends not to listen to Obama or McCain. Just see how they voted. McCain is right on judges, he’s right on life issues, he’s right on the marriage issue. We can talk about some things I didn’t like, but when it comes to Biblical teaching he’s the obvious candidate.”
The Rocky Mountain News reports that John McCain and Sarah Palin are heading to Colorado Springs, home of James Dobson and Focus on the Family, for a rally on Saturday and that a long-sought-after meeting between the two just might be a possibility now that McCain has sublimated himself to the Right’s demands:
[Tom Minnery, senior vice president of Focus Action] said Dobson's evolution from being anti-McCain to adamantly supportive of the Republican ticket can be attributed to three things — McCain's "strong responses" at Pastor Rick Warren's summit in Orange County, "the pro-life, pro-family platform adopted by the party," and the selection of Palin.
But despite the change of heart, Minnery said Dobson has not had a meeting with McCain since he became a presidential candidate last year and that he hasn't met personally with Palin .
That could change Saturday when McCain and Palin arrive in Colorado Springs for a rally.
While the McCain campaign and Minnery said no meeting is scheduled, neither left the option off the table.
"Who knows what may happen?" Minnery said. "So far nothing has been planned. But we're happy to see political leaders of any and all stripes."
[UPDATE: Dan Gilgoff reports that there's no meeting planned and Dobson will be out of town.]
The article also relates a rather odd anecdote from Alliance Defense Fund attorney Kevin Clarkson explaining how he got a call from Focus on the Family back in 2006 about concerns that Palin may not have been anti-gay enough and how he assured that that indeed she was:
It was when [Palin] beat Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski in the 2006 primary that Clarkson got a call from Focus on the Family asking him questions about the strength of her social conservative credentials.
"There had been some entries made under her name in Wikipedia that were of concern to them (Focus on the Family)," Clarkson said. "The main one cited in Wikipedia was her veto of a bill that would've limited marriage benefits to married couples."
Clarkson explained that it was a convoluted process that led to the veto. Acting as legal counsel, Clarkson advised Palin to veto the bill that he said, because of confusing legislative machinations and existing court challenges, would've had the opposite effect and locked in benefits for all couples.
Clarkson said he had to explain the whole decision to Focus on the Family to put minds at ease.
Presumably, the veto in question was of HB4001, a bill designed to block a state Supreme Court ruling “giving public employee benefits such as health insurance to same-sex couples.” In her veto statement, Palin said that the bill was “unconstitutional given the recent Court order … mandating same-sex benefits” and that “signing this bill would be in direct violation of my oath of office.”
How exactly would a bill “prohibiting the commissioner of administration from adopting, allowing to become law, or implementing regulations that grant or extend employment-related benefits to same-sex partners of state employees” really end up locking in “benefits for all couples”?
The only thing “convoluted” about this is Clarkson’s explanation.
Supporters of Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin are desperately trying to come up with anything they can think of to rebut concerns about her lack of qualifications and experience, from claiming that she has foreign policy experience because Alaska is near Russia to claims that she has national security credentials because she is "commander in chief" of the Alaska National Guard.
As ridiculous as those arguments might be, at least they don’t undermine John McCain’s claims to be qualified and experienced enough to run the country, which is what Mike Huckabee seems to be inadvertently doing:
"Over the past few days, we’ve been hearing all this stuff about how Gov. Palin doesn’t have experience. Let me tell you something, I can assure, having been a governor, myself, for 10 and a half years, she’s had more executive experience in two years than her counterpart Joe Biden has had in all the years that he’s been making speeches, because she’s been making decisions -- he’s been making just simple speeches."
Apparently, less than two years as Governor of one of the nation’s least populous states counts for more in terms of experience than Joe Biden’s 35 years in the US Senate. If that is indeed the case, then Palin’s 18 months in office must likewise count for more than John McCain’s own 22 years in the Senate.
Considering that “she’s been making decisions” while McCain’ has “been making just simple speeches,” maybe the two ought to switch positions on the ticket so that McCain can get some “executive experience” under his belt before seeking the presidency.
You’d think that the McCain campaign would realize the lunacy of this line of argument, but you’d be wrong:
The McCain campaign will launch a television ad directly comparing Gov. Palin’s executive experience as a governor who oversees 24,000 state employees, 14 statewide cabinet agencies and a $ 10 billion budget to Barack Obama’s experience as a one-term junior senator from Illinois.
So Obama has no “executive experience” because he’s only served in the Senate? Kind of like John McCain? Why is the McCain campaign running ads that undermine their own candidate’s qualifications?
