Heather A. Wilson on Sen. Pete Domenici

About: U.S. Senator Pete Domenici
October 04, 2007

Letter from Heather Wilson on Senator Pete Domenici:

Dear Friends,

Pete Domenici has stood for New Mexico for nearly thirty-five years in the United States Senate. His retirement will be a tremendous loss to the state and the nation. His legacy is remarkable. Pete Domenici established the Wilderness Area on Sandia Mountain. He drove the Balanced Budget Act that led the country to balance the budget for the first time in thirty years in 1998, 1999, and 2000 – paying off $450 billion in publicly held debt. He was the engine behind the 2005 Energy Bill that is already helping America to be more energy independent and he has been honored internationally for his work preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. He has protected New Mexico’s contribution to national defense through our labs and military bases and led the nation and the Congress to believe that diseases of the brain should be covered by insurance. In big ways and small, he has always fought for New Mexico and given New Mexico his best effort through long years of public service. His abiding love for our state and desire to do what is best for New Mexicans is evident in everything he does, including his difficult decision to retire. More personally, Pete Domenici has been a mentor and an inspiration to me. I will treasure the last fifteen months of our service together in the Congress. I have been blessed to have had Pete Domenici – one of the great men of all time in the United States Senate -- as a guide in my own public service. I will be forever grateful for his support, his counsel, and his friendship.”

-- Heather A. Wilson

One of "Steve's Angels" -- Heather Wilson -- For U.S. Senate

"Steve's angels" include: Sarah Heath Palin (Gov. of Alaska), Melissa Hart (candidate for PA 4th Congressional District), Heather A. Wilson (candidate for U.S. Senate in New Mexico), and Diana Lynn Irey (Washington (PA) County Commissioner).

I'm also paying careful attention to the campaigns of Bobby Jindal (for Gov. of La.) and William Russell (candidate for 12th Congressional District in PA).

It's not really a big surprise, but Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., will run for the seat now occupied by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who is formally announcing today in Albuquerque that he will not seek re-election.

The Hill.com's Jackie Kucinich and Aaron Blake are reporting that "a source close to Wilson's decision" has confirmed that the five-term congresswoman from New Mexico's 1st Congressional District will run for the U.S. Senate in 2008.

Here's the whole article:
Leading The News

Wilson to seek Domenici's seat
By Jackie Kucinich and Aaron Blake
October 04, 2007

Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M) will run for the New Mexico Senate seat that is expected to open up officially later Thursday when Sen. Pete Domenici (R) declares that he will not seek reelection in 2008, according to a source familiar with Wilson’s decision.
Domenici has taken Wilson under his wing in recent years, and as he has gotten older, Wilson’s name has topped the list of potential heirs.

A strong campaigner, she has survived several multimillion-dollar challenges in a swing district that voted for Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004. She defeated former state Attorney General Patricia Madrid (D) by fewer than 1,000 votes in 2006.

But she also faces the same U.S. Attorney scandal baggage that would have affected Domenici’s reelection campaign. Fired U.S. attorney David Iglesias said both lawmakers pressured him to be more aggressive with his corruption cases during the 2006 campaign.

WILLIAM RUSSELL: NEW OPPONENT FOR JOHN MURTHA

Last night (October 3) at Diana Irey's fundraiser for her reelection campaign for Washington County (PA) Commissioner I met William. He's an Iraq War Vet from Johnstown, PA (also Murtha's homestown). I told William I'd offer him whatever support I can, although I will favor Diana if she runs against Murtha in 2008. The following is a long e-mail I sent to William about some other people at the event, including Diana, former Congresswoman Melissa Hart, and former Senator Rick Santorum. Melissa will run next year to regain her seat, now held by Jason Altmire.

E-Mail Follows:

William {Russell], you've met Melissa Hart, who was my congresswoman from the 4th CD, and of course you saw Rick Santorum.

It might be instructive to go to opensecrets.org on the Web and plug in the names of Diana Irey/John Murtha, Rick Santorum/Bob Casey, and Melissa Hart/Jason Altmire. It shows the funds the various candidates raised.

Murtha raised an obscene amount for one congressional district, $3.5 million, while Diana raised just another $900,000 -- an amazing amount for someone facing an entrenched candidate. Murtha won by 60-40, with Diana getting nearly 80,000 votes.

Okay, Santorum raised an amazing $27 million, and Casey raised about 40% less (still a huge amount). I believe Rick "misspent" about every dollar -- on high-priced campaign people and on TV advertising that didn't work. Casey beat him 59-41, really a terrible showing for Rick. I'm not an egomaniac, but I believe if I'd been Rick's campaign manager I could have gotten him 44-45% of the vote by spending half the money. (Basically, I would have spent several million having people go door-to-door.)

Rich has a "hot" personality, a slightly abrasive style that doesn't come across well on TV. He probably spent $10 million on TV, and it seemingly didn't gain him a single percentage point.

Melissa Hart spent a million dollars more than Altmire -- who had significant TV support from outside groups, the "527s" that poured in "hate" ads against her, including one featuring a (partially?) disabled serviceman. Melissa didn't stress her independence enough, and the opposition beat her over the head with the unpopular Bush-Santorum tandem.

Melissa is a "turn the other cheek" Christian, and thus she had a hard time responding to what she described (correctly) as a "pack of lies." As a soldier, you know that when you're facing someone who fights dirty, you have to do what is necessary to protect yourself.

I don't believe Melissa will have to outspend Altmire to win, and I do believe she will win. She needs about 50-75 (hopefully the 75) staffers and volunteers who are totally dedicated to her winnng. Those people can knock on 50,000 doors and/or make 50,000 phone calls.

On portraying yourself as an independent, a good thing to do in a state with a big Democratic edge: check out the wikipedia.org story on Heather Wilson, a congresswoman from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is a veteran (Air Force), and she is not any more of a "maverick" than Melissa.

However, her district is 45% Hispanic, and she absolutely MUST get the Independent vote, just as Melissa must because of our district's Democratic registration edge. As the Wikipedia story points out, Heather got a lot of ouside help from "mavericks," especially John McCain, who saluted Heather for her independence. Heather's opponent is ALWAYS a Hispanic, once a man (Richard Romero), once a woman (Patricia Madrid).

The Dems pour money into the district to defeat her, but she wins by a "nose."

Diana's campaign was largely Internet-based, with several web sites supporting her, including my relatively tiny one. She had strong support, including Web sites, from veterans groups (Vets4Irey) and, especially, Free Republic. She raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the Internet, and she had more individual contributors (7,000) than Murtha (6500). Melissa will need to make more use of the Net this time, because she won't be a sitting congresswoman with all sorts of access to nice PAC money.

Murtha got most of his money from DC, VA, and MD, which means he got it from lobbyists. He got $140,000 from UPMC, which was basically paying him back for establishing the Windbar facility, which enabled many $200,000 a year doctors to become $300,000 a year doctors. It created lots of "jobs" for floor moppers and bedpan disposers.

You live in a "bring home the bacon" district, as Melissa also does to a degree. Those districts believe that you really can get something for nothing. John Murtha has been there for 33 years (in Congress), and I don't notice that he's turned Johnstown or Washington or Monongahela into Beverly HIlls.

I don't think Diana's TV advertising -- you can probably find some of it -- was very effective. A lot it featured Murtha, not a good idea, apparently involved in some dirty dealings, but it was hard to hear and didn't make good use of text crawling across the bottom of the screen.

No one in unbeatable. But it does take money to run. I'm a great believer in two things: (1) door to door campaigning; (2) defining the "enemy" in very few devastating words. Read the Wison Wikipedia article to see how she demolished her 2004 opponent (Romero) in about 15 words. It had to do with his opposition to capital punishment. I may send this to Melissa at some point. There's nothing here I wouldn't say face-to-face.

If you get a chance, read the Fred Barnes article on Gov. Sarah Palin (one of my favorites) of Alaska. I believe Diana and Melissa would be the only people in politics who would merit a similar piece. http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/851orcjq.asp?pg=2 - 30k -


Sarah Palin's 18-year-old son, Track, enlisted in the Army on 9/11/07 and is now at Ft. Benning. She is the real deal.

William Russell's web site: http://WilliamRussellforCongress.com/
William Russell's e-mail: williamrussellforcongress@williamsrussellforcongress.com

Please check out his site. He would really appreciate it if you sent him a small contribution. Thanks.

If you'd like to contribute to Melissa Hart's campaign, please contact me and I'll tell you how to get it to her. She'll have a web site up soon.

MIKE HUCKABEE DROPS THE BALL ON GAY MARRIAGE

Tonight, former Congresswoman (and candidate to take back her seat) Melissa Hart of the 4th congressional district* (western PA) said of Mike Huckabee: “He’s a very fine man.” I told her I agreed.

I’ve pointed out Mike has deviated from extremist evangelicals on many issues, including the full meaning of “pro-life,” immigration, and taxation without representation in D.C. He’s challenged conservatives generally with his great comment that he’s a “conservative, but [he’s] not mad at everybody.

It may surprise some of my fellow Christians, but we’re not the people with all the answers. Consider one of my favorite passages, the one about the woman “taken in adultery.” Jesus refuses to “condemn” her. He doesn’t authorize the Pharisees who brought her to Him to stone her to death – the punishment under Mosaic Law. He doesn’t berate her for her sin – if in fact she committed one. He writes something in the sand, which may (or may not) be the sins of the Pharisees. He tells her, “Go, and sin no more,” even though he recognizes that sin is the nature of human beings. (As Paul says, “For all have sinned, all haven fallen short of the glory of God.”)

The tale of the “adulterous woman” is used to make all sorts of points. However, the story remains – 2,000-plus years later – cloaked in mystery.

Which apostle did Jesus ask to reveal His resurrection? Trick question. He asked Mary Magdalene, a woman, in an era when rabbis refrained from even looking at a woman not their wife. And when she told the apostles, who occasionally seemed clueless, they didn’t believe her! Seeming, in their attention to Jesus’ teachings, they’d missed the part about his resurrection.

I’ve been critical of Mike Huckabee on his response to a story about his stand on gay marriage (and, apparently, civil unions).

Little Rock, AR -- Former AR Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee today issued the following statement in response to a news story stating that he is "open to state-sponsored civil unions that would bestow the legal rights of marriage on gay and lesbian couples": "He said, This report is simply inaccurate. I do not support legal recognition of alternative unions. I strongly, firmly and unequivocally believe that the traditional definition of marriage is for 'one man, one woman, for life.' That is why I worked hard in Arkansas to enact legislation at the state level to protect traditional marriage, and why I have vowed to work hard for federal language as President. "While I believe that people have a right to decide how they live their personal lives, they have to respect not changing the definition of marriage."

I think Getrude Stein, poet and friend of Hemingway, would say, "A marriage is a marriage . . . is a marriage." Not great poetry, but very good sense.

Mike’s response didn’t strike me as especially Christian. Jesus didn't say, "Love they fellow evangelicals." Instead he told us to love our "neighbors," of whom there are six billion and counting.

A key element in loving our neighbors is respecting their differences – and acknowledging that they should have the same rights as everyone else. If people decide to “live their personal lives,” to use Mike’s words, as a married couple, then he – and we – should let them. After all, they’re not asking to get “hitched’ in our church.

Thus, I think Mike dropped the ball on this one. He’s coming out against gay marriage apparently because his base insists he do so. But at the same time he seems to be coming out divorce (“one man, one woman, for life”), which is certainly justified in some cases. His comment suggests he doesn’t understand that simple fact of life.

Does he mean to suggest that s sham marriage, like the one involved Hillary and Bill Clinton, is preferable to a divorce, amicable if possible, un-amicable if necessary..

Is he aware that only a minority of families in the U.S. are involved in "traditional marriages?" What does he propose to do with majority who are not? Tell them they've failed? On his responses to such issues Mike reminds us why he's still a minor candidate.

Certainly, no church should be forced to marry a gay or lesbian couple. But at the same time, churches should not band together to prevent a state – check out the 10th amendment – from marrying a couple of any gender.

Conservatives should not be fair-weather federalists. If gay or lesbian couples want to get married – or united – we should throw rice, not brickbats.

Mike needs to rethink his position on this issue. He's a very good man who on rare occasions says very bad things.

Stephen R. Maloney

BULLETIN: SARAH CAMPAIGN -- PETITION DRIVE, Guiliani Leads Everywhere

I received the following e-mail (below this paragraph) today from Adam Brickley, who started the Draft Sarah Palin Movement on his blog: http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/ To the amazement of some, Gov. Palin is a serious candidate for the vice-presidential nod. Increasingly, important Republican and conservative figures (such as Fred Barnes's "The Most Popular Governor" and Patrick Ruffini's "The GOP's North Star") are looking at Sarah as a future President of the United States. I urge all of Sarah's supporters to contact friends and associates on their e-mail lists to get them to sign the petition. They can do so anonymously if they wish. If people who back Sarah will devote a little time to this effort, it could be a classic case of viral marketing -- with Sarah's candidacy taking off like a rocket. More about it later. This petition drive will give everyone involved a real chance to have a major say in America's future. The drive will go on throughout the month of October. Please support this important grass-roots effort.

For friends and associates who are not very familiar with Sarah's character and record, please include links to Fred Barnes's Weekly Standard piece and Patrick Ruffini's Townhall essay.

Barnes Link: http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/851orcjq.asp

Ruffini Link:: http://townhall.com/columnists/Column.aspx?UrlTitle=the_gops_north_star&ns=PatrickRuffini&dt=09/29/2007&page=full&comments=true&submitted=true0188d8c6-5b38-4a6c-a329-b3e76c3cfbcb

Dear Palin supporters,

As the first of several new campaigns that I will be introducing in coming weeks, a "Draft Palin for VP" petion has been started online at ipetitions.com.

In the coming days, I will be sending a chain letter out in order to generate signatures. However, I wanted to offer the mailing list the chance to place the very first signatures. iPetitions does offer you the option of signing anonymously (though anonymous signers still need to provide a nma and email), and it has been used by large draft movements in the past, most notably the Democratic campaign to draft Mark Warner for President last year. You can read their privacy policy here.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN!

Adam Brickley
Founder, palinforvp.blgospot.com



GALLUP SHOWS GUILIANI LEAD EVERYWHERE


The most recent Gallup poll confirms Rudy’s grassroot appeal across all regions of the country, among all types of voters, and across all segments of the population. Rudy leads nationally with 30 percent of the vote, followed by Fred Thompson at 22 percent. Giuliani leads the field among both moderate Republicans and conservative Republicans and leads in almost every geographic region of the country (West, Midwest, Northeast) and ties Fred Thompson in the South. Rudy also leads among both Protestants and Catholics and among every church-going group: from those who attend church on a regular basis all the way to those who do not attend church at all.
Check out the poll results for more detail: http://www.galluppoll.com/content/Default.aspx?ci=28828&VERSION=p

NATIONAL MIND YOUR OWN BUSINES DAY? TONY PERKINS LIVES? PRO-LIFE INC.?

Communications to Steve From Gay and Lesbian People: In response to an e-mail from "averagegayjoe" ("John") who thanked me for writing on the issue of evangelicals and gay-lesbian people, I wrote the following:

John, thanks for your comments. I have a column today called "National Mind Your Own Business Day" that deals with a similar subject.

There's a battle going on in the "evangelical community" about what constitutes a decent (i.e., Christian) response to alternative ways of life. I regard myself as a (relatively) mild-mannered evangelical -- Roman Catholic -- who has known many GL people and regard them as a lot like everyone else. The have the same virtues and vices as people generally.

Some gays and some straights engage in very risky sexual behavior, but it's very hard to generalize about either group.

The evangelicals who get quoted most (people like Dr. Dobson, Tony Perkins, and the now-disgraced Ted Haggard of Colorado and Jimmy Swaggart) are of course the extremists. There's poll data that more evangelicals favor Giuliani, relatively liberal on GL issues, than they do the candidates inclined (key word) toward homophobic statements.

I believe Mike Huckabee, who is a decent man, would like to make more moderate statements, but he fears losing his political base. Every time he has challenged evangelicals (on abortion, on amnesty, on the rights of Black Americans) many of them have responded negatively. .

The "bad" evangelicals -- the extremists -- are about 10-15% of the category. They are very loud but not extremely numerous.

Some politicians believe the gay-lesbian vote is not important. It's true that CNN exit polls showed the GL vote in the last presidential election was under 5% (roughly 7 million votes). However, these people all have parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters, friends and co-workers who also vote. It's conceivable that anti-gay politicians could be writing off 10% or more of the voting public.

Again, John, thanks for commenting.

Steve Maloney

1 John 16-20: "God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. . . . Those who say "I love God,' and hate their brothers and sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen."

Two decades ago, Tom Hritz wrote a sometimes acerbic and often humorous column for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Tom was a staunch critic of Democrats in general and of Democratic Gov. Bob Casey, Sr. (father of the current Senator). Near the end of Casey's second term someone asked Hritz how he would evaluate the Governor's administration.

The columnist replied, "Look, after two terms of Bob Casey, Pennsylvania is lucky that it's still a . . . state."

Tom and his (equally acerbic) wife loved to smoke cigarettes.

On one occasion, a colleague at the P-G asked Tom if he was going to participate in The Great American Smokeout.
Hritz harumphed and said, "I'm going to spend the day lobbying for a new national holiday called "Mind Your Own Business Day."

Shortly before Tom made that comment, I had discovered the great value of minding my own business -- especially when it came to issues like gay marriage. What consenting do is their own business. And they have a right, as Senator McCain reminded us recently, to be free from discrimination. If gay and lesbian couple want to engage in civil unions or marriages, I invite them to "be my guest." Actually, it's none of my business. However, making sure that people get equal treatment under the law is very much my business -- and yours.

Is Mike Huckabee Really a Christian? One Wonders

In Galatians 5:13, the Apostle Paul said the following: "For you were called to freedom brothers and sisters [in Christ]. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence [which Mike Huckabee is doing in his statement below on marriage]. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment. 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another." (Revised Standard Version) Earlier, in Galatians 4 through 5.1, Paul says: "So then, friends, we are children not of the slave but of the free woman. For freedome Christ has set us free." (RSV) These statement are Paul at his very best. When he says the WHOLE LAW is summed up in the word "love your neighbor as yourself," he says a mouthful.

Here's what Mike recently said in reaction to a (false) report that he believed in letting states set their own standards for what constitutes marriage:

September 27, 2007 Little Rock, AR -- Former AR Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee today issued the following statement in response to a news story stating that he is "open to state-sponsored civil unions that would bestow the legal rights of marriage on gay and lesbian couples": He said, "This report is simply inaccurate. I do not support legal recognition of alternative unions. I strongly, firmly and unequivocally believe that the traditional definition of marriage is for 'one man, one woman, for life.' That is why I worked hard in Arkansas to enact legislation at the state level to protect traditional marriage, and why I have vowed to work hard for federal language as President.

He added, "While I believe that people have a right to decide how they live their personal lives, they have to respect not changing the definition of marriage." (The pomposity of this patronizing statement is overwhelming, because he implies that people have to right to live as they wish requires some sort of "belief" on his part. It doesn't.)

I find this statement to be absolutely remarkable. It demonstrates a major misunderstanding about what America is.

Mike's statement on marriage is little more than to his (tiny) evangelical base -- and perhaps to homophobes like Dr. Laurence White, Rev. James Dobson and other know-nothings. Why on earth would any sane person become agitated by the thoughts of gays and lesbians marry? How on earth would that diminish anyone's marriage? The Mike Huckabees of a generation ago used to condemn gays for practicing fornication because they could not get married. Now, the argument seems to have gone in reverse.

I'll also be talking this week about Ciel and Han. They're a lesbian couple living in Austin, not all that far from Homophobia Central in Houston (where Laurence White and Larry Perrault reside with their dog-eared copies of the Book of Leviticus, the Mosaic Law that St. Paul said in Galatians is null and void for Christians.)

Oh, I forgot to mention: Ciel and Han also are evangelical Christians -- much better ones than the two guys in Houston. They have a web site you can link to at: http://fearoftheabomination.blogspot.com/

Here's what the heading on their blog says about the documentary they created. "A provocative, independent documentary film created in Austin, TX, about the experiences of a lesbian couple who went undercover as a heterosexual couple inside an Evangelical Organization. The film is currently in post production."

(More Later Today . . .)

Sarah Palin and Mark Warner and A NEW NATIONAL HOLIDAY

NATIONAL MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS DAY?


Many years ago, Tom Hritz wrote a sometimes acerbic and often humorous column for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Mr. Hritz and his (equally acerbic) wife loved to smoke cigarettes.

One year, a colleague at the P-G asked Tom if he was going to participate in The Great American Smokeout.

Hritz harumphed and said, "I'm going to spend the day lobbying for a new holiday called "National Mind Your Own Business Day."

Shortly before Tom made that comment, I discovered the value of minding my own business -- especially when it came to issues like gay marriage. What consenting do is their own business. And they have a right, as Senator McCain reminded us recently, to be free from discrimination. If gay and lesbian couple want to engage in civil unions or marriages, I invite them to "be my guest." Actually, it's none of my business. However, making sure that people get equal treatment under the law is very much my business -- and yours.


This week I'm doing one of my "business book summaries" for an Illinois-based company that I've worked for on-and-off (mostly on) since 1991. The book is David Meerman Scott's The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing & Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly. The book is outstanding, and it should be of value to anyone interested in selling anything from ideas and political causes to products and services. Over the next seven days or so, I mention points that Scott makes about creating grass-roots marketing.

I'll be combining information from the books and my own experience to talk about political coalition-building. Prior to Adam Brickley's Draft Sarah Palin effort -- one that shows signs of being fabulously successful -- the most important online "draft" effort was one focusing on former Virginia Govenor Mark Warner, who apparently is going to run for John Warner's (no relationship) Senate seat and is currently a heavy favorite to win.

The individual who ran the Warner effort was someone you've never heard of: Eddie Ratliff. In several years of blogging and building support for Warner, Ratliff met the Governor only briefly on a few occasions. As is true with the Palin effort, the Governor had no direct influence on the blog effort to get him drafted as the Democratic nominee for President. (Late in 2006, Warner announced he would not be running for President -- an announcement he never would never have had to make if it hadn't been for the efforts of Eddie Ratliff and a few friends)

The Draft Warner movement came to an end on October 12, 2006, and the main web site has been silent since then. However, anyone who wants to learn about how to leverage his or her political clout should go to that blog. If you look to the left on the site, you'll notice the various elements of the campaign as it unfolded, including the use of Yahoo! groups and Meetups. The link is at: http://draftmarkwarner.com/

Fom 2004 until 2006, as Ratliff conducted his effort, mentions of Warner occurred in 10,000 blogs. As has happened with Sarah Palin, support for Warner emerged in several nationally prominent media outlets.

Adam Brickley, the founder of the Draft Palin effort, is an extremely savvy Internet coalition-builder. Through his effort -- and the efforts of many people reading this post -- Gov. Palin has become a figure with a committed national following. Significant bloggers who support her come from AK, CA, CO, DE, FL, HI, PA, , MI, MN, MA, NM, HI, WA, TX, NY, WI, and many other states. The backers include liberals (and at least one Democrat), moderates, and conservatives.

Significant pro-Palin pieces have appeared in The Weekly Standard (Fred Barnes), Townhall (Patrick Ruffini), WorldNetDaily (Pulitzer Prize nominee Les Kinsolving), The Columbian (Tom Koenigger), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Dimitri Vassilaros), Blog Critics (S. J. Reidhead of The Pink Flamingo), as well as several other places. The number of Google mentions of Sarah Palin and higher offices (V-P and President) now exceeds 100,000.

There is a chance Sarah Palin will get the V-P nod in 2008. There's a very good chance she will be a viable candidate for the presidency in either 2012 or 2016. These scenarios would not exist without the initial effort of Adam Brickley, whose blog is accessible at: http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/


Is Mike Huckabee Really a Christian? One Wonders

Here's what Mike recently said in reaction to a (false) report that he believed in letting states set their own standards for what constitutes marriage: September 27, 2007 Little Rock, AR -- Former AR Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee today issued the following statement in response to a news story stating that he is "open to state-sponsored civil unions that would bestow the legal rights of marriage on gay and lesbian couples": "He said, This report is simply inaccurate. I do not support legal recognition of alternative unions. I strongly, firmly and unequivocally believe that the traditional definition of marriage is for 'one man, one woman, for life.' That is why I worked hard in Arkansas to enact legislation at the state level to protect traditional marriage, and why I have vowed to work hard for federal language as President. "While I believe that people have a right to decide how they live their personal lives, they have to respect not changing the definition of marriage."

This is little more than Mike pandering to his evangelical base -- and perhaps to homophobes like Dr. Laurence White, Rev. James Dobson and other know-nothings. Why on earth would any sane person become agitated by the thoughts of gays and lesbians marry? How on earth would that diminish anyone's marriage? The Mike Huckabees of a generation ago used to condemn gays for practicing fornication because they could not get married. Now, the argument seems to have gone in reverse. (More tomorrow)

I'll also be talking about Ciel and Han. They're a lesbian couple living in Austin, not all that far from Homophobe Central in Houston (where Laurence White and Larry Perrault reside with their dog-eared copies of the Book of Leviticus, the Mosaic Law that St. Paul said in Galatians is null and void for Christians.) Oh, I forgot to mention: Ciel and Han also are evangelical Christians -- much better ones than the two guys in Houston.

Ciel and Han have a web site you can link to at: http://fearoftheabomination.blogspot.com/ Here's what the heading on their blog says about the documentary they created. A provocative, independent documentary film created in Austin, TX about the experiences of a lesbian couple who went undercover as a heterosexual couple inside an Evangelical Organization. The film is currently in post production.