Stand For The Family Events Bomb
Focus on the Family has cancelled two of their “Stand for the Family Events” scheduled to be held in giant auditoriums in cities across the country — moving them instead to much smaller venues and in one case to a local church where the admission will be free of charge! Talk about desperate.
Unless Focus announces otherwise, there is no doubt that these are a result of a general disinterest in the Godfather of the religious right i.e. low ticket sales. This is not turning out to be the October they hoped for. Get all the details after the jump.
You’ll remember that in August, Focus on the Family announced a massive campaign to influence the elections in eight targeted states. The campaign was touted as the largest political effort by the religious right since the heyday of the Christian Coalition and reportedly combines a massive voter registration effort, the distribution of voter guides, and a series of high profile “Stand for the Family” events across the country featuring both Dobson, Family Research Council head Tony Perkins, and Gary Bauer.
We’ve heard through the grapevine that the voter registration efforts are struggling, but now here’s some hard proof that these groups are not being met with the fanfare they had hoped or planned for.
Two of the three Stand For the Family events with Dobson and Perkins were cancelled and moved to much smaller venues. The first, on October 3rd in St Paul was initially to be held at the Xcel Energy Center, capable of holding 18,000 depending on the configuration, however at the last minute it was moved to the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, with a capacity of a little under 6,000 — there were less than half that many there.
You’d think that the upcoming event in the bible belt city of Nashville might prove more successful. Wrong. The October 16th event was to be held at the Nashville Auditorium, whose arena holds nearly 10,000. This event was just cancelled and moved to a local church where admission will be FREE OF CHARGE!
Talk about desperate. This only plays into the notion that it isn’t just the social conservative political leadership that is “losing its grip” over evangelicals; it’s the religious right leadership itself.
What will it take for our leadership to stop paying lip service to these extremists. When real issues are on the table — such as Iraq and the economy — the religious right just can’t compete. We already know that leadership has contempt for them. Now that there is evidence that they can’t even deliver their constituency its time to push them out of Washington’s inner circles.
Anyone in Nashville want to head to a free event with Dobson and Perkins?
(Hat tip to Sarah for the info!)
The reason the right wing politicians have contempt for the reigious right is because they are tired of being pushed around by them; and, they are becoming increasingly embarassed by them.
The religious right wants to call the shots and relegate the reps and senators to mere sychophants.
[…] It seems the evangelicals are not turning out as expected for political rallies this October. A sign of things to come in Nov? […]
I’m not too surprised by this, as I am beginning to see evidence of this general decline in my home (red) state, particularly through editorials, letters, and the on-line comments that are posted in response to the top stories and daily editorials written about in our state’s major newspapers. It appears to me that more and more voters are much more concerned about the more substantial issues that they face, which (from what I’ve read here locally) fears about medical insurance, minimum wage, the declining manufacturing base and loss of manufacturing jobs, education and school performance, and the seemingly never-ending war in Iraq. If anything, the war in Iraq appears to remain the most divisive issue, as many people posting are beginning to express “buyer’s remorse” from the 2004 election.
Intelligent design? Over the last couple years, most of the posted comments in favor of it simply rehash the same old creationist arguments or use bible passages. And the spelling and grammar of these creationists is absolutely abysmal; perhaps they should focus on their own educational abilities before lecturing to scientists. Fortunately, a significant majority of the posted comments to these stories are very much supportive of sound science education.
Sectarian legislative prayer? I was pleasantly surprised to read the large number of editorials, letters, and posted comments from writers who saw through this issue as nothing more than a shallow ploy by the Republican Party to shore up its evangelical voters.
Adoptions by gay couples? Coming from a red state, positions on this issue were not nearly as lop-sided as I would have initially suspected.
I also agree with Dale’s point. I would further hypothesize that some of the Republican leadership is worried about potentially losing the support of its more moderate-minded membership. I found it personally insulting that so many of the Republican far-right talking heads were so blindly supporting the rants of Ann Coulter when she labeled so many of us moderates “godless” simply because we don’t view the world’s social issues through her venomous and narrow minds-eye. In the final analysis, I’m willing to speculate that it was her empty-minded and hateful rhetoric that probably did more to alienate and drive out moderate republican voters than that from any other conservative pundit.
Dobson can do all the “events” he wants but it will not change my view.
The President and the Republican Party, who I have voted for consistently for 25 years, may not get my vote this November or during the next Presidential election.
Bush has betrayed those who voted for him. His speech about the illegal alien issue this week made me sick. We have a President in the White House who has promised two foreign leaders (President of Mexico and Prime Minister of Canada) that by 2010 that the US Constitution will no longer be the law of the land and we will become part of a traitorous North American Alliance.
Thank God for the 2nd Amendment.
Best news I’ve heard in days!
Now, if somebody would just dump a house or at least some water on these people, maybe they’d all go away.
Maybe families have more important things to do rather bashing everyone who’s different in anyway from themselves. Good to see this development.
Mark,
I think you mean, “thank the founding fathers for the 2nd ammendment,” I hope.
Where did you come up with the 2010 stuff?
Dale,
Exactly right - thanks the founding fathers for the 2nd Amendment.
I’ll get you some links on the 2010 stuff.
Its interesting how the religious right continues to support politicians who are clearly just using them for political gain.
Pathetic.
Dale,
There are some very powerful people behind the push for a North American super-state. These guys make the RR look like amatuers.
http://www.spp.gov/
www.american.edu/internationalaffairs/cnas/PastorTrilateral.pdf
www.americanpolicy.org/pdf/NAUFS3.pdf
These links will get you started. Remember, the really powerful players operate below the radar. They are the real threat to our national sovereignty and liberties.
Mark,
This stuff is as old as the John Birch Society.
This is not even remotely seriously considered, and the idea has no momentum and no traction.
Many of the tenets they espouse are seriously flawed, without going into detail at this time, although the reports talk a lot about cooperation, which is always good.
It’s well understood that opening the borders and sharing an army to police the borders would be much less secure than we have now.
The idea of using a common dollar is not that radical because the US and Canada already use the dollar.
The commission published two reports and nowhere in them will you find any idea of combining the governments.
And mark my words, the devil will have you before the Canadians or Mexicans would have anything to do with getting under our control. Take it easy- I’t not gonna happen.
Here is an article that will get you started on the non-paranoid side of this;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Task_Force_on_North_America
Dale,
Thanks for the link. I’ll check it out.
When it pertains to my liberties, I sleep with one eye open.
Mark,
I don’t like to lose sleep over fantastic conspiracy theories.
About the roads. Dwight Eisenhauer was so tqken with the German autobahn that when he became president after WWII, he started the interstate system. At the time, it was also understood to be militarily needed to move troops around the country in case of invasion, etc.
In theory, I am totally in favor of developing highway corridors with rail systems included.
Everything we touch gets delivered by truck. One locomotive can move the equivalent of what 500 trucks can move, resulting in a huge increase in efficiency You wouldn’t want to stand in the path of progress, now would you, Mark?
[…] There is a lot going on today, including Dobson’s huge get out the vote event at the 10,000 seat Nashville Auditorium Dobson’s modest event at Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, TN — the good Dr. was forced to reschedule after what appears to be lower than expected ticket sales (tonight’s event is now free). […]
Dale wrote: “In theory, I am totally in favor of developing highway corridors with rail systems included.
Everything we touch gets delivered by truck. One locomotive can move the equivalent of what 500 trucks can move, resulting in a huge increase in efficiency.”
Dale, in theory I would agree with you. One problem with this idea would be the need to secure the additional right-of-way that would be required. It would also require much better planning for future growth since such railroad lines would be landlocked, making future expansion difficult and costly. Finally, it would drive up the costs of all the bridges overpassing the roadway/railway corridors in order to satisfy the vertical clearances. None of this, from an engineering standpoint is difficult to solve, but the costs would be much greater, including for ongoing maintenance.
Tony,
Coming from a structural engineer, I won’t argue with you, but, I see a long term pay off, and what a fun way to travel, as in Europe.
Actually, if I could become king of the US, I would decree that we would have a hydrogen economy by 2020, and it would happen, like when JFK set his sights on the moon.
[…] As Defcon has been reporting, Dobson’s words were reported from a “Justice Sunday” event to a crowd that was “substantially smaller than a ‘Justice Sunday’ event held two years ago in the same church.” His get out the vote tour is tanking. Bookmark to: […]
[…] Bloomberg of course referring to Dobson’s failed “Stand For The Family” events. […]
And for this, THANK GOD or whoever you thank! I was RAISED by these idiots. Recent times and events have given me a term to describe my family of origin. Fanatical religious extremists. Perhaps less violent, but no less dangerous than those who are Muslim. They need to be relegated back to the dark corners (ages) from whence they came. How EMBARASSING to US citizens to have these few receive any kind of press. The world watches, you know?
siri
More and more kids are being raised and home-schooled by these fanatics than in my generation. I wonder when the backlash will begin and what it will look like?
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: DO YOU REMBER THE MAG. “MAD”? AND THE WORLD FAMOUS ALFRED E. NEWMAN? WELL, ONE TIME THEY HAD HIS FACE ON THE FRONT COVER OF MAD AND THE CAPTION
WAS, “ALFRED E. NEWMAN FOR PRESIDENT” WITH HIS FAMOUS SAYING,”WHO, ME WORRY?” IN MY OPINION,HE MADE IT. HE JUST CHANGED HIS NAME TO, GEE WIZ BUSH.
Scary to think — my family has 3 nuts who feel home-schooling is the only way to protect the children
from radical ideas and crazed gunmen or kidnappers. And these kids will grow up to fanatics…
Or maybe they’ll react like siri with ianalytical thinking/ntelligence
When I was in high school, the hottest chick in town was… the preachers daughter. I apologize if that remark offends anyone but it does have a point. Home schooled kids become home schooled teenagers and after that, VERY naive young adults. They will be very poorly adjusted socially and will be a bigger threat to themselves than anyone else.
There will be a brand new generation of extremists for sure, but they will be easy to spot because of the social naivete. As for the ones that fall, they will fall hard. I trust that people of compassion will be there to catch them.
I AM LOVING IT!!!!
These Pharisees are, FINALLY, getting their comeuppance. Dobson is the modern-day Caiphas! Jerry Falltohell is the modern-day Annas. I realize I keep repeating myself, BUT:
Whether Christian or Muslim, fun(duh)MENTAList love to hate and hate to love!
Something I’ve been saying since, 1998. after they gained power over Congress.
Their politicians are a waste of human flesh, literally! Any doubts just look and President Cheney and his Bush and Rove puppets.
A couple of words of wisdom to the extreme wrong-wing of the Corruplican Party and the pseudo-”Christian” wrong:
From Roseanne Rosannadanna’s Grandma: “It’s always something.”
From Abraham Lincoln: “You can fool all of the people some of the time …”
And to those pseudo-”Christian” capitalist pigs with their propaganda about godless communism and social(ist) programs–and their own worship of the Almighty $: “The love of money is the root of all evil” and “As you have not done it unto the least of these, so have you not done it unto me.”
Sorry to step on anyone’s balloon, but the 27 October, 2006 edition of the NY Times carries an article titled “G.O.P. Moves Fast to Reignite Issue of Gay Marriage,” which features the usual suspects and their sheer delight over the timely decision of the NJ Supreme Court.
Pity the Court couldn’t have waited another eleven days; this plays right into the clutches of the bible-beating-bunko artists, bigots and ignoramuses, particularly those masquerading as “Christians”.
[…] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your ownsite. […]
Dobson, Santorum, Perkins, et al., focus on your own damn family!
Mark: More power to you, brother…I saw all this stuff coming and, being a former GOP voter, never even considered voting for Bush last election. I wish you would have too…but coulda woulda shoulda on my part…
[…] Posted on Friday 27 October 2006 Stand For The Family Events Bomb […]
Short answer to them, each and all:
John 3:16 promises eternal life BUT it does not say where.
Matthew ch 25, v 31-46 tells you where you will go. Notice, Matthew does NOT say anyone has to be a believer to be a sheep or a goat.
religion is the root of ALL evil in this world! it is really time to TAX THE CHURCHES! Tax the businesses owned by th churches. That is really what the church is, a business. Selling lost, confused, ignorant people a “Ticket to Heaven”! Give, Give Give and you will buy me a big house and a rolex, re, I mean jesus will love you. Isn’t that what these preachers and pastors are all about!? Focus on the killing of already living humans!-IRAQIS! Not unborn Embryos. i guess as long as they are muslim they don’t count, what do they call them….oh ya…Collateral Damage!
Those wacky fundamentalists that you are all talking about, confer regularly with the President and influence his decisions. Their influence has totally spilled over into “secular” society. Their insane BS sells just as many books as (if not more books than) secular publishers.To paraphrase H.L. Mencken, they are abundant everywhere that learning is too great a burden for the mortal mind to bear. They aren’t going away.. ever. Though I wish they would. They’re here, they’re selling fear, get used to it.
May I recommend to all:
www.losingmyreligion.com
and also the books by Sam Harris “The End of Faith” and “Letter to a Christian Nation”
Please. Get real. To suggest that Americans have wisened up to the theocratic agenda of the Christian Right is to be out of touch with the reality that the Christian Right has been betrayed by the Republican Party. Not only did the GOP cover up Mark Foley’s on-line prccadilloes with teen-aged Capitol Hill page boys — which the Christian Right condemns as the ultimate in sacriligious hypocisy — but they also b=feel betrayed by the tell-all book exposing Bush & Co.’s private disdain for evangelicals even as they publicly appeal for their votes.
The latest Zogby Poll shows that 22 percent of likely voters are heavily influenced by the Foley scandal. Well, guess what? That 22 percetn represents the percentage of the electorate who are conservative evangelical and fundamentalist Christians.
It’s hard for Focus on the Family to draw tens of thousands to their their get-out-the-vote crusades when their erstwhile allies, Tony Perkins’ Family Reserch Council, has publicly declared war on the GOP for their cover-up of the Foley scandal.
Their homophobia is beside the point; what matters is that the Christian Right is extremely pissed off by the GOP’s apparent hypocrisy.
Bottom line: The Republicans cannot win without the Christian Right. Nor can they win without the independents — who are going 2-1 for the Democrats. With both groups abandoning the party, the Republicans are doomed to lose control of the House — unless they succeded in rigging the voting machines.
I live in Colorado Springs, where Focus on the Family is headquarters. They have a multimillion dollar operation here but as a religious nonprofit, they don’t pay property taxes. If they are going to functions as a political lobbying group, they should lose their non-profit. The separation of church and state in our current government has practically disappeared….
I think that Bush and his administration has used the religious right to further their own agenda. After all, he has said that he talks with God so they will be a sure to support him. I don’t understand how a supposedly religious person could have put his country in such a mess in Iraq and caused the death of so many American soldiers and the Iraqi people. It sounds very un-Godly to me but thats me??? I hope that people are starting to wake up and see that the Republican values are more for money than family values. When you put money ahead of people and what’s right you are always going to see corruption and that’s what happening right now in the Washington. I hope that people get out there and vote Democratic and try to make a change in this country for the better, for us all. Too many of one party in office ruins the checks and balances that this country is based on. I also believe very strongly in separation of church and state.
I hope that people are waking up to what has been going on in this nation of OURS. James Dobson, and many more
like him (including our President) profess to be Christians who care and have compassion for people, but their
actions show them to be power hungry and full of hate for their fellow human beings. They seem to ignore or
forget that Jesus had compassion for all and especially for the poor and the downtrodden. I hope that they seek
forgiveness for their sins and try and make amends for the evil that they have done. I hope many will join me in
prayer for them to turn their hearts back towards God and towards those that are poor and downtrodden.
God Bless us all.
[…] Dobson and Perkins will continue to message as though they are still deeply connected to this constituency. Of course they have not lost all influence, but the message sent this fall when Dobson was met with empty arenas during his national get out the vote stadium tour is a resounding one. […]