Attacking McDonnell on religion – on Passover and Holy Thursday!
By JR Hoeft | Thursday, April 9th, 2009 | PoliticsForget the absolute irrelevance of attacking a public figure on religion – who’s the genius with the Democratic Party who decided to launch attacks on Bob McDonnell’s faith on a holy day?
Today, as most people know is the first day of Passover and, for Christians, Holy Thursday. But that didn’t stop the Democratically-funded (Democratic Governors’ Association) “Common Sense Virginia” from launching their web site “The Real Bob McDonnell” and attempting to make religious right out to be something to be ashamed of.
But there is more irony beyond picking a holy day to attack people of faith.
As you all know, Gov. Tim Kaine is a Democrat – and a member of the DGA. He is also chairman of the DNC. So, as this is an attack being launched in his state, one can rightfully presume he knew about this site and its line of attacks.
The irony is that this is a long way from where Kaine was in May of 2005. In an interview with “The American Prospect” magazine, Kaine had this to say:
“….it always strikes me as a little unusual when a candidate can talk easily about relatively peripheral or minor things but not talk with the same enthusiasm about what is the central belief system of their life.”
In addition to actively talking about their own faith, Kaine says, Democrats need to temper their comments about other peoples’ faith. The second thing that Democrats have to do better on is not attacking the ‘religious right,’” he said. “I think that has been a standard bogeyman that Democrats have often used in campaigns, including campaigns in Virginia. If somebody advances an idea or position that’s wrong, then attack them for having a bad idea. But they are not wrong because they are religious.
“When Democrats kind of cavalierly attack the religious right or go after Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell, our candidates have sent the signal to a lot of religious people, ‘Well, I guess they are not interested in me.’ And I think this includes a lot of people who would fit very naturally within the Democratic Party.”
It is apparent Kaine has changed his philosophy.
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Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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21 Responses to "Attacking McDonnell on religion – on Passover and Holy Thursday!"
It worked on Jeff Frederick. Even Republicans are intolerant and have little respect for religious beliefs of others. Frederick was lampooned by his own party for daring to state a belief in creationism. Where was McDonnell then? Could’ve said,”hey this guy needs to go but, what you are saying about this fellow Republican’s belief in God is beyond the pale.” I could have respected that.
Why shouldn’t they use that weapon against McDonnell?
Yes, ,,,,,,,,I’m still bitter. So, I point to Republicans calling the kettle “black”.
The Democrats have demonstrated their utter intolerance of religiously motivated people. I just finished watching this ad and the primary sources quoted were the VA Pilot, Washington Post, and the Roanoke Times, hardly the most trusted outlets.
The hyper-partisan Democrats have just layed down the gauntlet. If you are pro-life, pro-family, or pro-God in the Public Square, the Democrats consider you a threat to society.
I urge faith-based African-American and Hispanic voters that backed Obama to consider what is happening here, the Democratic Party is essentially rewarding your support in last years elections by slapping you in the face.
The liberal leadership of the Democratic Party of Virginia is comprised of intolerant bigots who have extremely liberal cultural positions that they intend to force down Virginian’s throats.
I agree with Britt. We know the Democrats hate traditional Christianity. But the RINOs running the party claim to support Christianity but are embarrassed by anyone who actually believes what the Bible says.
Religion (Christianity and Judaism) is ok in post modern America, as long as you don’t take it seriously, unless of course if you are a Moslem, Wiccan, Druid or such.
It is a poor tactic by the Democrats to attack Bob McDonnell’s religion. He is Catholic just like Kaine.Even moderates think that goes too far. They will try and made him a Pat Robertson robot, that will fail. When the debates start in September everyone will see that Bob McDonnell is a very calm and thoughtful man who has a mainstream agenda while in the HOD for 14 years. Welfare reform, criminal justice reform, tax relief are just of the few things he was chief patron of during the Allen administration. I predict there will be a “Democrats of McDonnell” coalition coming in about 3 months. The Dems are real scared and they should be. Obama’s numbers are dropping every month.
We must have watched two different videos. I watched this and did not see this as an attack on Roman Catholicism, Bob McDonnell’s faith. To me, it is just orienting people with who Bob McDonnell is. He is certainly going to try to convince urban and suburban voters that he is a moderate. And we are going to, of course, dispel that silly notion.
I would think all of the things stated in this video you would be proud of. He is firmly against abortion and wants to use the state’s power to stop it (great, right?). He is for competition in education (aka vouchers, and again great, right?). Further on the competition aspect, he doesn’t have a problem with state money being used to fund parochial schools (I assume Wahhabist Madrassas would be out though). And he comes out of Pat Robertson’s political machine. These are all fact, correct?
If these are all things you embrace as a party, why are you pissed that this came out on Maundy Thursday? Because the word dogmatic was used? Because the association was made to Pat Robertson? Or it had the same sinister theme music as all opposition ads? Seems like much a do about nothing.
And to Dry Viking, Democrats don’t hate traditional Christianity. It certainly depends on what you mean by that though. The church has changed so much in its 2000+ years. And there are now so many different denominations and ways in which Christianity is practiced, what constitutes traditional?
Tex they forgot that McDonnell wants oral sex to be a felony. Even for married couples. When asked if he ever committed a “felony”, he couldn’t recall. Also in the Pilot.
Why did they leave out the newspaper articles I care about?
“Virginia is for Lovers.”
Well, that’s what the government tells me from one of their two faces.
You make good points though, Tex. A lot in there is positive. It could be spun into a Pro-McDonnell commercial. Especially, if he had a primary opponent. In fact ,this little attack will probably cause infighting Republicans to circle the wagons and give up more money for his campaign. I think they could have done a better job going negative than that.
Ok, when do we get to see TherealTerryMcAuliffe? If only people saw therealobama before the election was over. Somebody please show congress therealeconomy, because they’re really screwing things up.
TherealBrianMoran
Who is the real Brian Moran?
*starts the scary music*
He wants to put a windmill in your back yard.
He is against drilling for energy independence.
He is against coal, a plentiful vital Virginian resource.
He wants to raise your taxes and make cars unaffordable.
He wants to force you to ride light rail and have a seat next to Henry Ryto on HRT.
He will save the economy by spending your tax dollars on creating green jobs for doing something “green”. Probably in a “green” industry which does something “green”.
Remember your car is destroying the planet. Mass transit will save us from global warming.
“He wants to force you to ride light rail and have a seat next to Henry Ryto on HRT.”
Sad to see that you’ve bought into Reid Greenmun’s paranoid TOD Conspiracy theory. Let me point out that none of the transit systems in the U.S. have produced anything like the nightmare Reid tries to paint.
Most of all, no one can “force you to ride light rail.” Even NYC has a slew of commuters by auto.
Finally, HRT is much more comfortable when you have the seat to yourself, so stay out of mine.
Not knowing of the subject website had it not been for this article in “Bearing Drift”, I decided to check it out. Granted, it is obviously in favor of the decided McDonnell challenger, but I fail to see where it is in fact an attack piece. It correctly states Bob’s past associations and stances on issues. Nothing in it was a personal attack on his religion nor his character. Conversely, the website content supports those who believe McDonnell’s past ideals and attributes are nothing to be ashamed of. I would think that if one feels, at this juncture, it is an attack piece, then they are little uncomfortable with McDonnell’s conservative past performance. McDonnell has been successful in his political career just the way he was. Unfortunately, there are those who appear to be pressuring him to move left and become a centrist.. It would be a terrible mistake if McAuliffe prevails in the Democratic primary and presents himself as to the right of McDonnell.
Britt,
That would be: “Virginia is for Lovers – some exception may apply, and void where prohibited.”
You don’t need TheRealTerryMcAuliffe. Is there someone who doesn’t know who he is? I mean we just got out of that year long Democratic Primary last year. Plus, if you read the Democratic blogs, it is pretty much TheRealTerryMcAuliffe all the time.
In your RealBrianMoran parody, I feel compelled to address the energy independence through drilling item. We consume 19.1 million barrels a day down from our height of 20.6 when the economy was roaring. Even if we mined all of the tar sands in Utah, we wouldn’t produced enough to fill that demand. I wrote a much longer response to one of JR’s posts about offshore drilling a week ago I think.
So, I have an idea on how to spin the McDonnell ad as a positive:
Bob McDonnell believes in limited government, except for some cases.
Bob McDonnell just wants to dictate your intimate personal choices.
And that’s not so bad, you know when it comes to personal relationships you are a basketcase. And that is where Bob can help you.
Through friendly state intrusion into your personal affairs, we can help ensure that you live a truly righteous existence. You want to avoid eternal damnation, don’t you? And that is what the state is there for, we care.
Bob McDonnell knows how to live your life better than you do. Bob McDonnell – the father you never had. (OR Bob McDonnell, paving the way for the coming of our Lord)
paid for by…
=) What do you think?
I was amused by your Brian Moran one, but it should have been more over the top. For example: “He wants to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. Can you afford NOT to breathe?” And Henry Ryto is too regional a reference for a statewide ad. I’m in NoVA and have no idea who he is.
History is on Bob McDonnell’s side when it comes to the values debate. No, Bob McDonnell has nothing to be ashamed of; he has a strong conservative record that most Virginians resonate with.
The larger question here is what the liberal Democratic candidates for governor think. They are trying to paint McDonnell’s positions as extreme in order to make their own slimy positions more palitable.
The message from the liberal leadership of the Democratic Party of Virginia is simple. They contend that if you believe that constitutional rights should be given to ALL people including the unborn baby, if you believe that the government should only recognize traditional marriage, if you believe that God has a place in public life, then you are some kind of dangerous extremist.
The Democratic Party of Mark Warner is no more, the New VA Democratic Party is going for the big time and they will smear anybody to get there.
Tex, yep, it should have been more over the top and I can understand the regional thing not playing outside our area. I was just “cutting up” and having fun anyway.
The carbon dioxide thing might be a good idea. Trees breathe in carbon dioxide and exchange oxygen. Clearly if that is the case, Brian Moran wants to kill trees after he prevents us from breathing out carbon dioxide.
Brian Moran – Waiting to Exhale
*shows pictures of homeless squirrels and racoons looking sad*
The far left might be ok with killing people but, if we paint him as a tree killer then we’ll erode his base.
Steven,
I don’t know that history is on your side in the values debate. It, of course, depends on what values you are talking about.
You also help demonstrate why I cannot vote for a Republican (hopefully time will change that). This entire anti-gay theme repackaged in “traditional” marriage. I did not ask for the government to get involved in licensing pair bonds, but it has. So, since the government has stuck its nose in here, I only ask that the government not discriminate. We could solve this entire problem by getting government out of the marriage business. And even in the case where the government does license gay couples, I am certainly not asking that be forced down the throat of any religious institution. You still have the right to free exercise and no one intends on taking that from you.
To your point about God in public life, the liberal Democrats you claim to have a problem with that, do not. The only problem arises when it violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. So, in government institutions, the government cannot promote a religion. I mean for goodness sake even among Christians not everyone recites the Nicene Creed, not everyone is a Trinitarian (at all or in the same sense as say Roman Catholics). If you are a Baptist, do you want the Nicene Creed recited at schools or posted in government buildings? The denominations are different for a reason. So, which tradition do you want on display at school, the courthouse, or the DMV? And then what about the folks who aren’t Christian: Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists? Do you want exerts from the Mahayana Sutras posted at the courthouse?
If you mean public life like you want to pray in a park or at a sporting event or you want to display ashes on your forehead for Ash Wednesday, have at it! No Democrat even the liberal ones want to prevent you from doing that. Or maybe you are talking about how certain institutions are cracking down on Muslim women wearing a hijab. And I agree that is over the line. In the sense that the hijab is an expression of Islamic devotion, we should not encroach on people’s right to free exercise of religion.
And the Democratic Party of Mark Warner is still alive and well. We nominated and elected him Senator. We are in a primary now. What do you expect? It’d be the same if you guys were having a contested primary.
Tex,
I never said that our nation was founded on any one denomination. I know that we are founded upon the Laws of God found in the Word of God. That is why George Washington said that it is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. That is also why James Madison said that the success of our nation would depend upon our peoples ability to govern themselves according to the Ten Commandments of God. Our nation is based upon Judeo-Christian beliefs. We would not have a Bill of Rights if it were not for those Judeo-Christian principles.
As far as marriage is concerned. There have always been laws against polygamy in this country. Should that be allowed as well? The Constitution requires that all state constitutions line up with the U.S. Constitution, and the state of Deseret was rejected from joining the Union on the basis that their state constitution allowed for polygamy. Marriage is fundamentally a union that is sanctioned by God and witnessed by man. Man’s recognition has ALWAYS been a factor in marriage. That is what a marriage license is all about.
The bottom line is that Bob McDonnell has the same view on preserving values that our founders had. The Democratic leadership, apparently, has a problem with that.
Interesting Tx. Now do you favor women being allowed to wear a hijab in public that covers the face?
Personally, I could care less what they wear so long as it doesn’t cover their face. Not much of a difference between a hijab and how women used to wrap scarves around their head. Some hijabs cover the face though.
If you approve of public hijabs that cover the face, then I would strongly object. It may even constitute establishing a government favored status for Islam. It isn’t legal for me to wear something covering my face out in public. It can’t be a public saftey issue for me and religious expression for muslim women.
Tex, I also wanted to comment on you not voting for Republicans. You respect individual beliefs, therefore you should be open to voting GOP now and then. Rhetoric is just wording.
Judge their performance based on performance. Some Republicans that may find certain lifestyles to be sinful, find that they have too many other things to worry about than micromanaging twisted lifestyles of millions of people. Gay or straight. You should be open to voting for people even if you suspect they might find your choices or religion to be offensive or sinful.
Steven,
You are making an argument entirely different from what I stated. I never claimed that you said our nation was founded on one denomination. What you originally said is that liberal Democrats think: “if you believe that God has a place in public life, then you are some kind of dangerous extremist.” My response is that they don’t have a problem with free exercise of religion. The question I had of your original statement is what exactly do you mean by God in public life. There are many varieties of the main monotheistic religions. So, if we are talking about religion in government and driving the law, which one and which tradition?
And on marriage, polygamy is again not relevant to the points I was making. I specifically stated pair bonds. A pair is two not three or more. As an aside since you brought it up, where in the US Constitution does it ban polygamy? And I was under the impression that polygamy wasn’t the only issue with either admitting Utah or the Mormon’s idea of Deseret into the Union. Some of that was just plain anti-Mormon bigotry, which lingers today.
“Marriage is fundamentally a union that is sanctioned by God and witnessed by man.” – This is your belief. And your belief does not necessitate that religiously recognized marriage equal legally recognized marriage, because we are not a theocracy. And the witness by man component can be executed by any religious establishment. The state need not be involved at all. The state is involved to collect a fee and execute a contract. There is no spiritual aspect to what the state does here. There is no reason the state has to call it marriage either; government just appropriated that name. We can confer a set of rights to couples who wish to bond and call that civil unions for everybody.
If I am not mistaken, I thought the founders prized equality. And here I am barred from entering into any arrangement that approximates marriage simply because I am gay. What place may I ask do I have in the world you and Bob McDonneell envision?
I still am interested in what specific values you are talking about. You haven’t really elaborated on any specific ones.
Britt,
On the hijab, of course, there is balance (limitations) in free exercise. So, no, I do not support ones that cover the face.
As to an open mind on Republicans, I do have an open mind (obviously, I am happy to appropriate good ideas from the Republican Party). The position of the party though on equal rights for gay people is a barrier for me. To the extent that there are Republicans who want to end employment discrimination and allow gay couples to enter into legal unions, that barrier does not exist.
And rhetoric is not just rhetoric. Words have meaning and power. To the extent that folks want to demonize a part of who I am, that’s disturbing to me at the minimum. In addition, fomenting these ideas can incite others to commit violent acts. Because if you really thought my existence caused the deaths of hundreds of people via the floods of the Mississippi or Katrina or Rita or even at a minimum was an abomination unto God, then you’d want to stop me, right? So, it is super hard to overcome the Pat Robertson – Bob McDonnell connection for me. And I’m sure you would feel exactly the same way if it was directed at you.
I recognize that this is not the totality of the Republican Party. But it is the face of the Republican Party of Virginia currently.
Polygamy was rejected for the same reason that gay marriage should be rejected, because the Constitution does not give government the right to redefine an institution that predates the United States. The founding fathers were against polygamy on the basis that it defies the most basic laws that promote our general welfare.
The Constitution is in place to protect our rights endowed us by our Creator, not to provide so-called rights that man decides to invent.
I understand what you mean by rhetoric holding power. I would also understand how you would find that rhetoric offensive. There is law against violence, though.
Do you think being gay is the only way to be demonized? You merely have to be of a different religious denomination. You could be another race. In the wrong political party. Still, there are different religious groups that are in the GOP. Different races. There are even gay Republicans. Surely, these gay Republicans understand what you say. Ask yourself why they still might be in the party given that. Besides, I was suggesting that you vote for Republicans now and then, not necessarily join the party.
Also, there is a difference between the Republican that finds your choices to be unappealing, even sinful and a Republican that is actively trying to outlaw you. Differing religions are convinced that vast populations will “burn eternally” after death but, yet still manage to have friendships and respectful working relationships with them.
If there were any significant number that truly believed your being gay caused the deaths of thousands, don’t you think they would have killed more gay people? Wouldn’t there be organized hunting? Obviously, most at least have their doubts. Sometimes a hurricane is just a hurricane.
To be perfectly clear: The politically correct “Far Left” in the Democrat party is equally capable of demonizing. That doesn’t apply to all Democrats, just as your observations don’t apply to all Republicans. Indoctrinated secularism in schools goes beyond seperation of church and state. It establishes a godless religion. That is equally unconstitutional. Some public schools are worse than others but, it does exist. There are Democrats that demonize people of faith on a wholesale level and deride them as ignorant people posing a threat. If you thought supernatural belief was in itself irrational, would you wonder if the religious should be locked up and treated for their mental disease? Some Democrats think that forcing “acceptance” of homosexuality is ok. The state does not have the right to enforce thought control. The Democrat party is home to Gaia movements/enviornmental based religions. In the name of their belief they vandalize SUVs. Animal rights activists throw blood and sever refrigeration lines at meat packing plants. I’m sure some PETA person finds my love of steak to be offensive and sinful.
Every party has their ugly skeletons. I merely suggest finding and supporting the “good guys” in parties that focus on some issues that you DO agree on.
Britt,
To your first point, the state does not always do a good job in protecting certain classes of its citizens. The state from where I herald, Texas, has a particularly nasty history of this. And to be absolutely fair, that was both Democrats and Republicans. But still when you hear certain rhetoric, you are bound to associate certain things with that.
Of course, I realize that other people besides gay people can be demonized. I included that as a point in my response to Steven above (regarding the LDS Church). And I think it would be barrier for any group that was demonized to associate themselves with a political party that adopts that rhetoric.
On your points about Democrats, I really see those views at the absolute fringe of the party (and some of those folks vote for the Green Party). In my experience, they do not constitute the main stream of the DPV. Whereas, religious conservatives who wish to enact the components of their faith into the law appear to me to constitute a large segment of the RPV. Social conservatism is a part of the bread and butter of the RPV.
And since you bring it up, when I see over-the-top environmentalism in the party, I speak up. I will be sure that if I see demonizing of religion I will speak up against that as well.
That said, I reiterate what I ended with before, I recognize this is not the totality of the Republican Party. And I am open to fiscal conservatives who have no interest social conservatism (generally the kind who run here in NoVA). But with the caveat, that you gotta dance with thems that brung ya. So, I seek additional clarity from these candidates on what they would do if the matters come before them (as undoubtedly they will).
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