Black Box Report

"Romney/McCain/Thompson/Giuliani campaign headquarters, how can I help you? Yes? Oh, hello. The value what now? Values Voters debate? No, can't say we've....Farah? WorldNetDaily? Oh, yes,of course...Uh-huh. And who'll be there? No, not the candidates...Yes, I know that's why you're calling. Who will...Uh-huh....Schlafly, you say?...Heritage Foundation, AFA, mmm-hmmmm....Roy Moore? Wasn't he the one in Alabama...Yes, with the 10...Ha-ha, yes, they did. Ruined it for all of us...Yes. Marriage, too....Darn ruiners.......Yes, what? I'm sorry. When did you say this was again? The 17th...Florida? Hmmmm [rustles some papers in background] Let me check..........Oooh, this is gonna be tough. Straight fundraising events ALL DAY...These have been planned since...Yes, of course we consider your event important. Mr. Romney/McCain/Thompson/Giuliani completely shares your concerns. If you just look on our website, you'll see his position on....Yes, I know support from your group is important to...yes, OK, crucial...But I'm afraid...Look, let me speak to him, and when I tell him about your Values Voters debate, I'm sure Mr. Romney/McCain/Thompson/Giuliani will do whatever he can to clear his schedule for it. Yes. Yes, he knows. Yes...Thanks for calling."

"Book me something for Sept. 17, stat!"

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Self-described "values voters" gathered here Monday to grill Republican presidential candidates, but the forum was most notable for its empty lecterns and its unanswered questions.

The biggest GOP names — Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain and Fred Thompson — sat out the Values Voter Presidential Debate, citing scheduling conflicts. That didn't stop questioners from addressing the front-runners who didn't attend.

Giuliani, Romney and McCain were all asked questions about abortion and gay rights. All, of course, went unanswered.

"They will regret the decision," said Jan Folger, president of Faith2Action and a member of the debate host committee. "Because they snubbed us, they will not win, because we will not follow their lead."

They can run, but can they hide? Talking about Republican candidates and the religious right, but also about Mitt Romney and his own history.

Ooops...

Kind heart that he is, Aravosis says we shouldn't be too hard on Mitt:

In all fairness to Mitt Romney, he was only 55 years old in 2002 when he was a flaming pro-gay politician hell-bent on sucking up to gay activists on pretty much every issue, and thus was distributing these fliers all over Boston. But hey, that was five years ago and Mitt was a younger man. We really shouldn't hold people's youthful indiscretions against them.

In addition, Mitt probably doesn't want to be the only Mormon in a room full of people who think he's going to hell, because he picked the wrong religion.

Case in point:

Pluralism? F#@k that:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday that questions over whether he identifies himself as a Baptist or an Episcopalian are not as important as his overarching faith. "The most important thing is that I am a Christian," the Arizona senator told reporters following two campaign stops in [South Carolina]. ...

McCain grew up Episcopalian and attended an Episcopal high school in Alexandria, Va. On Monday, he spoke briefly about that history and about the Baptist church he now attends. Then, after saying his overall faith is what's important, he concluded: "I don't have anything else to say about that issue."

"You see, Abdul, Yitzak and Mitt, this is a Christian nation. And I shall be its king. Booyah!" McCain continued.

So McCain shouldn't have had any trouble appearing at the debate, right? Except for that one technicality thing he probably doesn't want to talk about:

McCain and his family attend the North Phoenix Baptist Church, but he’s the only member of the family who hasn’t been baptized in the church. McCain said he hasn’t because, “I didn’t find it necessary to do so for my spiritual needs.”

Not to get too theologically picky about it, but I’m fairly certain that in order to be a Baptist in a Baptist church you have to be baptized.

It seems fairly ridiculous to think a presidential candidate would claim to be a member of a faith tradition simply to curry favor with Baptists in South Carolina, but McCain’s campaign is struggling. As a candidate, he may be kind of desperate. But this desperate?

Now Thompson, Romney and McCain all claimed scheduling conflicts prevented them from attending the Values Voters debate, but Rudy? Nothing quite so coy. He was actually in Ft. Lauderdale, 4 miles away, doing a press availability session. Apparently that all-important photo op at Advanced Roofing ("Florida's Premier Commercial Roofing Specialist!") was higher on his priorities list:

This is a rather staggering slap-in-the-face to the debate organizers, because rather than schedule Giuliani to be somewhere that would at least provide a plausible excuse for not attending tonight’s debate, his campaign’s decision to drop him less than 4 miles away from the debate venue on the very day it is being held can only be seen as attempt to send an unmistakable signal to these leaders that he does not want or need their support.

So which is it? Is Giuliani in Florida today to secretly pander to the very right-wing leaders he has publicly blown off or is he there taunting them and sending them a very clear message that he plans to run without seeking their support?

Once the belles of the ball, now no one will return their calls or sit with them in the cafeteria:

Joseph Farah, publisher and editor of WorldNetDaily...states that apparently Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and John McCain do not really care about value voters because they are declining to participate.

"There seems to be a concerted effort to dodge the agenda of the pro-family movement," he says. "Some of the front-running candidates have less than a stellar record of voting and governing on those issues."

Farah admits he is disappointed that Fred Thompson has also declined to take part in the debate. "That is a real shame," he says, "because I know many people are hoping that he might be that alternative candidate [for] people who are dissatisfied with the choices of Romney and Giuliani and McCain."

While some ascribe their absences to the waning influence of the religious right, James Joyner thinks it may be more than just that:

This comes right on the heels of the same candidates blowing off Tavis Smiley's PBS forum directed at black voters.

Maybe the real lesson is that the top tier Republicans are incredibly risk averse? They may well have calculated that going to any debate that’s hosted by or aimed at a particular niche demographic is dangerous. Or, perhaps they’ve just decided that debating, period, is a poor use of their time at this stage of the campaign.

Could be, could be...Those are all good possibilities.

Or, perhaps, it's that the four GOP frontrunners recognized that it would only hurt them to be be seen at a forum with people who are a little bit...how shall I put this....

But don't just take my word for it.

[youtube]X77R_prkCkg[/youtube]

"Why Should God Bless America," as sung by the Church of God Choir.

I’m trying to imagine the response if a number of progressive activists groups got together to host a presidential candidate forum, and to kick things off, they sang a rewritten version of “God Bless America” that disparaged the United States and reprimanded the American people.

Do you suppose this would be the kind of thing that might be on Fox News? Maybe the presidential candidates on hand for the event would be asked whether they agreed with the song’s lyrical condemnation of the country? Perhaps the far-right would be apoplectic about the “blame America first” crowd? Maybe we’d hear a few words about how “God Bless America” is fine the way it is, and doesn’t need to be rewritten to serve a radical political agenda?

Just asking.

Rove would come out of retirement to spin that sucker...He'd even work pro bono.

So what's an evangelical activist have to do to get some props around here? Who shall champion their causes? What rising GOP star can they hitch their wagon to?

Well, never fear, Alan Keyes is here! The Lyndon LaRouche of the Republican party has officially thrown his tin foil hat into the ring and showed up at the debate. And for this group, Keyes has impeccable credentials:

August 2004: Alan accuses Hillary Clinton of carpetbagging and then moves from Maryland to Illinois so he can run for Senate against Barack Obama.

August 2004: Alan compares women who have had abortions to Islamic fundamentalist terrorists.

August 2004: Alan suggests that Americans should be able to openly carry machine guns on the street.

September 2004: Alan calls Dick Cheney's daughter a "selfish hedonist."

October 2004: Alan tells supporters at a campaign rally that incest is "inevitable" for children raised by gay couples.

February 2005: Three months after a crushing defeat at the polls, Alan throws his daughter out of the house for being "a liberal queer."

You know, I'm starting to think that Alan has got everything the other Republican candidates have - and so much more. Why eat hamburger when you can have steak? Given the sorry state of their other candidates, I reckon he could be the GOP frontrunner in a matter of weeks. Go Alan!

Now that's a Values Voter kind of guy.

Last night I was cleaning up some papers from the past week and it struck me how many big issues, day after day, are hanging out there both unaddressed and enormously critical not only for my generation but my kids. I don't care if you're Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative - if you're not concerned about the following list, you're either not paying attention, or just don't get it.

Let's start of course in Iraq. Obviously we’re a nation at war, and even more importantly is the tempest we may have unleashed in the Middle East, and our indefinite commitment there. A bad situation has been made worse, and has the potential to become an outright nightmare if we don't get an administration with a clue. Loose nukes, terror networks combined with rogue leaders are an unhealthy cocktail - and a policy of not recognizing arms agreements or talking to your enemies is no policy at all. Throw in genocide and an AIDS crisis in developing nations - and you get the idea, the world is becoming a scarier place by the day.

If that wasn't enough, almost every remaining Neanderthal has finally come to the realization that our planet is getting warmer and the consequences are already being felt. Other than our president, I hope no one else really believes we can wait another decade before taking dramatic action.

Back home the squeeze on the middle class is tightening. Between outsourcing jobs and the rolls of the uninsured approaching 50 million, the gap between haves and have-nots is wider than ever. Now we have a mortgage meltdown to contend with and a credit crisis that finds so many in so much debt. Alarmingly, our personal finances may be better than our governments. Unprecedented debt and stunning deficits both promise painful cuts and limited options for the next commander in chief.

And that brings me full circle. With the litany of challenges if not crises facing our next president, I can understand why a recent poll showed for the first time parents are less optimistic for their children’s generation than their own. The next chapter in our nation’s history demands vision, competency and courage. This president sure didn't show the way.