Focus on the Election

In an email to subscribers yesterday Focus on the Family founder James Dobson said:

"Should Senator McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for President in my lifetime."

"I certainly can't vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for President for the first time in my life."

I found this to be an interesting sentiment from a conservative Christian leader. It seems to be one that is somewhat echoed by the conservative radio and TV talking heads. I guess it is hard to see all of that political power that you once seemed to have slip away. What do you think of all of this.. is it just sour grapes?

17 comments:

  1. My personal opinion....whether or not it IS sour grapes, it comes across that way and makes him look immature.

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  2. I'm with Barbara... seems immature to me.

    DO you know who is he endorsing at this point?

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  3. Stephanie.. Here is what I got from Dobson's website:

    "Around noon today, Dr. Dobson talked to national talk-show host Dennis Prager. While he made it clear he was not endorsing anyone, he did say he would vote for former Gov. Mitt Romney — a Mormon — if he wins the Republican nomination:

    "My theology is very, very different, obviously, and I would not find myself in agreement with the ways he sees Scripture, and, of course, their own interpretation and extension of Scripture. I'm not in any way minimizing that; it's a very important issue.

    "I think we're facing such a point of crisis in our country, that we're going to have to have the strongest leadership we can. And I think I could deal with that in the polling booth."

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  4. LOL - here is a note at the bottom of the article that I quoted from:

    "NOTE: Dr. Dobson made these statements as a private citizen. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a reflection of the opinions of Focus on the Family or Focus on the Family Action."

    Anybody believe that Dobson doesn't speak for Focus on the Famly?

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  5. Thanks for the info - I kinda figured that would be the case. I wonder how he feels about Huckabee?

    All in all, I think that we're going to get a democratic president next year. It seems like it always flip flops: Dem in, Republican out. I guess that's why I'm paying more attention to the Dems this time around.

    And no, I don't believe that anyone thinks Dobson doesn't speak for FOTF. Disclaimer or not. :)

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  6. What Dobson says means nothing to me, I don't care for the man.

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  7. "I guess it is hard to see all of that political power that you once seemed to have slip away."

    Are you saying that Christendom has gotten greasy handed!?!

    By the way milly, what a beautiful hair-do. Do you have it professionally colored?

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  8. I think that it has to be hard for celebrities like Robertson, Dobson, Limbaugh, Hannity, Ingrahm and Coulter (among others) who openly criticized McCain to wake up and realize that people have stopped listening to them.

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  9. After reading his comments here is what I said elsewhere on my blog...

    The important national matters in your political worldview are:
    - Not cursing
    - Eliminating powers of the Senate that our Founders gave them
    - Amendment to “protect” marriage
    - Cutting taxes
    - Embryonic stem cell research

    Some of these may be important...but some on.

    Cheers.

    PS Rock Chalk Jawhawk
    What part of Kansas you in?

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  10. Ken,
    After coloring my hair myself a few years ago my hair artist made me stop. She is the only one who can color it. When I did it myself my friend said “Really you want it to look like that?”

    So it's a pro job.

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  11. Gosh, I'm sorry, but I dismissed Dobson's opinions many years ago.

    I simply did not have time to call my congressman every single day of my life to tell him what Dobson needed him to do next.

    It may seem strange, but I've had a lot more time to live my life now that I ignore both Washington and Dobson.

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  12. back in 2000 i voted for nader, which was purely a "none of the above" vote. in 2004 i felt my choices were even worse, but realized that my 2000 vote was a cop out -- that i needed to take a stand.

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  13. Don't put it past Dobson and the other right-wing purists (Limbaugh, Coulter, etc.) to go ahead and sit this election out as a way of punishing the Republican Party and proving how necessary the religious right is to their future success. I think they would rather see McCain lose than to grant legitimacy to someone outside of their range of acceptability.

    Anyway, with all the retiring Republicans and the expected outcome of congressional races across the country, I think a lot of the conservative activists realize that this is just not going to be a good year for them, period. They will put up a brave face and hope for the best, but I think they are prepared to absorb a whoopin' come November.

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  14. Hi Nathan - I am a KU fan and live in Leawood. Thanks for stopping by!!

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  15. Here is another bit from Dbson's website:

    "Dr. Dobson again made clear he has not endorsed anyone. On the Dennis Prager Show on Tuesday, he said he would support former Govs. Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee, if either one receives the GOP nomination."

    In the words of John Lennon:

    All I am saying is Give Huck a Chance!!

    I guess Huck is the only (sort of)peaceful Republican alternate to WarHawk McCain :)

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  16. That's quite a paraphrase of Lennon, Bob!

    I read that Dobson has officially come out with an endorsement of Huckabee. Unless McCain makes Huck his VP, or chooses some other avowed Christian conservative, this seems to me like "irreconcilable differences" between McCain and conservative Christian activists. Maybe it's a way of pressing McCain to go Huck's way, setting up Huck as a successor after one-term of McCain. That might be enough of a bargain to get FoF and others on board. But it will be very half-hearted compared to what we saw happen in 2004.

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  17. Here is Huckabee's take on this:

    Asked in general about those like Dobson or Rush Limbaugh who say they would not vote or pick someone else before they would support McCain, Huckabee said he disagreed.

    "Well, you know what? They're not a conservative," the pro-life former Arkansas governor told CNN.

    "If they say that, then that just proves something: They're more about themselves than they are the cause. Because there's no way that a true conservative would vote for Hillary Clinton," he added.

    He told CNN he respects McCain and "would certainly vote for him before I would vote for Hillary or Obama."

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