I like Herman Cain the man, but his lack of clarity on the abortion issue is a deal-killer for me. His public pro-life position has been consistent over the years, but he keeps muddying the waters when asked about his own family members. He did it last week with Piers Morgan, and now here’s an interview today with The De Moines Register in which he does it again: DR: Part of your 2004 Senate campaign focused on your stance against abortion, something you’ve struggled in recent days to articulate after an interview with Piers Morgan. What did you need to clarify in that interview? CAIN: I am pro-life from conception.…
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Speaking of Political Ads…
My good friend and historiophile Matt Hall recently pointed out a website featuring vintage political ads, and I confess that I haven’t been able to get enough of it. The ad above is from Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1952 campaign in which he defeated Adlai Stevenson. The one below is from John F. Kennedy’s successful 1960 campaign against Nixon. There are scores more where these came from ranging from 1952 all the way to 2008. The website is called The Living Room Candidate, and it is a piece of history.
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The Oddest Political Ad I Think I’ve Ever Seen
I really do think this may be the oddest political ad I have ever seen. It features Herman Cain’s chief of staff giving an endorsement of Herman Cain. The testimonial ends with the guy taking a drag on a cigarette and blowing the smoke into the camera. Finally, the ad concludes with the candidate giving his grin of approval. John Huntsman had an odd ad that turned a lot of heads at the launch of his campaign, but I have to say that this Cain ad outdoes Huntsman’s.
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Robert Jeffress Writes Op-Ed for Washington Post
Pastor Robert Jeffress has penned an Op-Ed for The Washington Post defending his position that Christians ought to prefer Christian political candidates over non-Christian ones. He has a number of points, but in one section he seeks again to clarify where he believes he has been misrepresented in the press. He writes: I believe I have been misquoted repeatedly as telling the GOP not to vote for Romney. I have never made such a statement; I realize I might very well end up voting for Romney if he is the Republican nominee. While I prefer a competent Christian over a competent non-Christian, religion is not the only consideration in choosing…
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Herman Cain Not a Fan of Irving Kristol
Herman Cain admitted on “Meet the Press” Sunday morning that he doesn’t know what neoconservativism is. Here’s the exchange:
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Robert Jeffress on Bill Maher’s “Real Time”
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Doug Wilson on the Occupy Wall Street Protest
Ed Rendell is probably one of the more affable Democrats there is, and if he’s down on your protest movement then something’s probably wrong. Earlier this week, I heard Rendell say that the Occupy Wall Street protesters needed to go take a bath and get serious. Ouch! From the other end of the spectrum, Doug Wilson weighs-in today with his thoughts about the protesters. It’s pretty hard-hitting and worth the read. The money line is at the very end: They know how to demonize absolutely everyone but the demons. Read the rest here.
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Wayne Grudem’s Endorsement of Mitt Romney
In 2007, Wayne Grudem wrote an article for Townhall.com endorsing Mitt Romney’s bid for the 2008 Republican nomination for President. In the article, Grudem considers whether or not Evangelical Christians should vote for a Mormon, and I think his reflections are apt for the conversation we are having in 2011. He writes:
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Why the Media Disinterest in Romney’s Mormonism?
The media have spent a lot of time the past couple of days not on Mormonism, but on one pastor’s critique of it. David Murray is asking why the media have been so disinterested in the religion itself. He’s writing as an outsider looking in, and I think he’s on to something here. He writes: I’ve been reading Latayne Scott’s The Mormon Mirage over the past few days, as I prepare to interview her on the Connected Kingdom podcast. I must confess that, with most of my Christian life and ministry having been spent in the Scottish Highlands, I’ve not needed to know much about Mormonism and I’ve had very…
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Is Mormonism a Cult?
Last week, Pastor Robert Jeffress introduced Rick Perry to the Values Voter Summit. Right afterward, Jeffress was interviewed by a gaggle of reporters about Mormonism and his opposition to Mitt Romney’s bid for the Republican nomination for President. Jeffress shocked the secular press covering the event by labeling Mormonism a cult and by arguing that Christians ought to support Christian political candidates over non-Christian ones. There has already been a lot of debate about pastors endorsing political candidates and about whether calling Mormonism a cult in this setting might actually have hurt Perry’s campaign. Those are important conversations, but that is not what this article is about. What I want…