As unbelievable as it seems, despite all his asocial and illegal activity, the Christian Coalition's founding demon has an even shot at Georgia lieutenant governor. The current issue of The Nation has all the scary details.
Anyone with the slightest contact with reality could have assumed that Reed's disgraces would ensure that he would only get the handful of extreme outliers voting for him. At the basest level, it should be enough that he used his own and other self-identified Christian political organizations in the guise of halting new casinos. Actually, he was very knowingly working with sleazy lobbyist Jack Abramoff. They took Native American casino millions to stymie the efforts of others to compete. In fact, they were bolstering the health of casinos and furthering gambling. All the while, Reed lied to his fellow nominal Christians for years, using their money and manipulating their supporters for time and cash.
Former buddies, like Pat Robertson has distanced themselves. Also, the vast majority of Georgia Republican legislators have demanded that Reed withdraw from the campaign. Not this guy.
Astonishingly, he may slime his way into office. As the article puts it:
Delay delayed his demise, but eventually backed down. We sincerely doubt that he will ever accept responsibility for his dirty dealings. Likewise, win or lose this fall, Reed may not utter and may never have uttered the phrases, "I'm sorry," "I was wrong," or "I lied." If The Nation is right about his core voters, he may never have to do so.The miraculous news from Georgia is that Ralph Reed still has a decent shot at getting himself elected lieutenant governor. His Republican primary opponent, State Senator Casey Cagle, continues to trail in the polls--though just barely--after a full year of sensational revelations that would have long since demolished most politicians' chances. "Reed has to figure, if he's still competitive in the race, after all that's already come out, he's got a good chance to win," says Wilcox.
If he does pull it off, it will mostly be a tribute to the persistence of evangelicals' "see no evil" attitude toward their political leaders.
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This is a gem from Agape Press...
...Pro-family and religious leaders in Washington, DC, are lamenting the news that former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is leaving the House of Representatives. Delay has been indicted for illegal use of campaign funds but has maintained his innocence. Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute believes the lawmaker's resignation from Congress will be a huge blow to pro-family advocates. "Tom DeLay's departure will be a tremendous loss to conservatives," Knight says, "because he did pursue a conservative agenda, especially on the moral issues." Faith and Action director Rob Schenck, a key religious leader on Capitol Hill, has also been one of Congressman Tom DeLay's strongest advocates. The ministry spokesman says he is going to miss DeLay sorely in Washington, DC, because he is "at his core a very good man" and "a very fine Christian" who has provided exemplary service. "I wrote him a letter today," Schenck notes, "and I told him how much he will be missed, that we thank God for his years of leadership. He did an excellent job, and the country will be at a loss for his absence." According to Schenck, DeLay's decision to resign is the noble way of handling the fallout from his indictment by putting his party above his own political career. [Bill Fancher]
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