John McCain
“I am a betting man”
By Mark Silk — September 29, 2008
The Democratic National Committee has wasted little time putting together an attack ad on McCain and gambling. Brody thinks it could work with evangelicals, and on such matters his opinion is worth paying attention to. I have my doubts though. While It’s generally believed that reports on George W. Bush’s drunk driving hurt him with […]
Religious Right Voodoo
By Mark Silk — September 28, 2008
OK, the touchstone of the narrative of John McCain and the religious right is his angry denunciation, following the 2000 South Carolina primary, of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson as “agents of intolerance.” But now, thanks to Jo Becker and Don Van Natta Jr.’s fascinating investigative piece on John McCain and the gambling industry in […]
Altar Call
By Mark Silk — September 4, 2008
Former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs: “I believe that electing John McCain and Sarah Palin will spark a return to God’s Word and a spiritual revival that will bring our nation together.” This strikes me as one of remoter possibilities of the next four years.
Oy Gevalt
By Mark Silk — September 3, 2008
Premillennialists tend to give Jews the willies, but if there’s anyone who drives them round the bend, it’s Jews for Jesus, aka Messianic Jews. And as for the evangelicals who lionize these traitorous fifth columnists (so to speak), they are deeply distrusted and roundly condemned. So it’s not really a good thing for the McCain […]
Bold John
By Mark Silk — September 2, 2008
Turns out the choice of Sarah Palin was not so courageous after all. According to today’s NYT report by Elisabeth Bumiller, McCain really wanted to go with one of his old pro-choice buddies, Joe Lieberman or Tom Ridge, but then had to go eyeball-to-eyeball with James Dobson & Co. and blinked. It is tempting to […]
McChabad
By Mark Silk — August 28, 2008
In a phone call with 40 Chabad rabbis from around the country, John McCain asks for their support by emphasizing that he will “put my country first. And I want to promise you that. I will put my country first.” That’s in contrast to Obama? Then McCain assures them, “I will do everything in my […]
Who remembers campaign finance reform?
By Mark Silk — August 17, 2008
One more thing from Saddleback. In the first segment of each interview, Warren asked for an example where the candidate had provided leadership against his party’s interest, and even his own best interest, for the good of the country. Obama cited ethics and campaign finance reform, tipping his hat to his opponent for being out […]
McCain’s Privacy
By Mark Silk — August 8, 2008
Brody has interrupted his vacation to share the news flash that the McCain campaign is distributing a letter on his faith to “conservative grassroots groups” around the country. The letter consists of excerpts from his book, Faith of My Fathers. So what’s the news? Other than the fact that the McCain campaign is revealed as […]
Religion in the Empire State
By Mark Silk — August 7, 2008
Today’s Quinnipiac poll of New Yorkers has McCain winning Catholics by the relatively hefty margin of 54-40 and trailing Obama among Jews by the relatively small margin of 37-60. In 2004, Bush carried the Catholic vote in the Empire State by only 51-48, while Kerry carried the Jewish vote by a whopping 80-18. Yet for […]
The Romney Perplex
By Mark Silk — August 4, 2008
I’m still catching up from last week, and in the process this piece by the Washington Times‘ Ralph Z. Hallow caught my eye. The questions it raises have to do with the extent of evangelical antipathy to Mitt Romney, and the degree to which it is based on anti-Mormonism or concerns about Romney’s less than […]
McCain’s Dalaiance
By Mark Silk — July 25, 2008
John McCain’s meeting with the Dalai Lama this afternoon in Aspen poses some interesting political questions. 1. After the March disturbances in Tibet, McCain called on President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Bush declined to do so. The Dalai Lama himself has rejected the idea of a wholesale boycott of the […]
Pass the Smelling Salts
By Mark Silk — July 20, 2008
James Dobson tips the AP that, ah, well, after all, he just might could hold his nose and, all things considered, as it were: “While I am not endorsing Senator John McCain, the possibility is there that I might.”
No Fire in Iowa
By mcmorris — July 18, 2008
Thanks to Reid Vineis for taking a pause in his summer break for a link to this AP story on evangelical Republicans in Iowa who remain unsure about McCain’s faith cred. One of the people interviewed, Dordt College president and radio show host Carl Zlystra, explains that while Bush “was a man who loved the […]
Deal or No Deal
By mcmorris — July 17, 2008
While Mark gets a well-deserved break from the blogosphere, the familiar “with friends like these” beat goes on. Over in Alex Koppelman’s War Room at Salon there’s a report on a group called Catholics United who are demanding that Deal Hudson gets a pink slip from the Catholics for McCain National Steering Committee. It seems […]
Whoa!
By Mark Silk — July 16, 2008
Here, courtesy of Brody, is Heidi Hess Saxton, the Founder of the adoption services group “Extraordinary Moms Network,” on The Great McCain Same-Sex Adoption Waffle: [S]aying a child is better off in a same-sex household than to continue waiting for placement in a traditional home is like saying an unborn child is better off if […]
