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Hillary Clinton
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Thursday November 29, 2007
Clinton Announces Black Pastor Endorsements
God-o-Meter is surprised that this story hasn't gotten more pick-up: A group of 60 pastors, almost all of them African American, shared a stage with Hillary Clinton in Spartanburg, South Carolina yesterday, apparently offering their endorsements (video of the event here.) The Spartanburg Herald-Journal has the story:
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s campaign launched an aggressive effort to mobilize black voters through the faith community — crisscrossing two segments vital to winning her party’s nomination in this state — during her first visit to Spartanburg as a candidate Tuesday.About 60 pastors from around the Upstate joined her on stage at the Marriott at Renaissance Park — all but two of them were black — and her campaign said another 20 or so were in the audience. The crowd, more than 400 strong, was about two-thirds white....
By 7 p.m., the Clinton campaign was only able to provide 44 names of pastors who had endorsed her. Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Cherokee and Union counties were said to be represented. A spokesman for the Obama campaign said it was not yet releasing the names of its supporters in the religious community. He did point out that Sen. Obama has conducted “faith forums” in 20 counties across South Carolina and signed up 180 volunteers through those. Teresa Wells, an Edwards spokeswoman, added, “We all have black ministers. This is not a two-person contest. I don’t know if we have 80. I’ll be honest with you: If we did, I don’t think we’d put them out there like that.”
Sure, the "Hillary peeling off black support from Barack Obama" is the obvious angle for the news media to sink their teeth into, as the Associated Press does. But God-o-Meter wonders about the propriety of all these pastors making endorsements, given IRS rules against church-based politicking. Forgive GOM if it's just being thick here, but isn't that why, amid the blizzard of Republican endorsements from Christian Right/evangelical figures, there have been relatively few from congregation-based pastors?
Filed Under: Barack Obama, black pastors, casting stones, Democrats, endorsements, Hillary Clinton, South Carolina
posted by Dan Gilgoff @ 1:01pm Permalink 
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The God-o-Meter (pronounced Gah-DOM-meter) scientifically measures factors such as rate of God-talk, effectiveness—saying God wants a capital gains tax cut doesn't guarantee a high rating—and other top-secret criteria (Actually, the adjustment criteria are here). Click a candidate's head to get his or her latest God-o-Meter reading and blog post. And check back often. With so much happening on the campaign trail, God-o-Meter is constantly recalibrating!
God-o-Meter blogger Dan Gilgoff is Beliefnet's Politics Editor. A former political correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, he is author of The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War.
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Comments
Uh oh! One more post and she's going to be a theocrat just like Huckabee. How appropriate :-)
Posted by: Michele McGinty | November 29, 2007 9:46 PM
The reason why I will not vote democrat again. Pure and simple the Bible says thou shall not kill. Today in Iowa, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama was arguing who was the biggest child killer. Barack Obama stated he sent funds to South Dakota to over turn the governors order ban on abortion. Sixty percent of all yearly abortions are preformed on people of color of that Percent 33% of those abortions are killing black children. Which is 495,000 babies out of 1.5 million. They say womens rights. I was one of those women in 1978 and have been haunted by killing my twins since then with the shame and guilt and with needless praying to die daily. I had to have my femanle organs taken out, because the abotion tore the lining of my uterus and cervix. I am an American Indian Republican now and forever. Life begins at conception, because the Bible says it does. I feel sorry for all of those Black Preachers and Ms. Winfery.
Posted by: Barbara Morris | December 4, 2007 4:42 PM
Ms. Morris:
Please provide me with the Bible quote stating "Life begins at conception". I have to say that's a completely new one to me!
I'm sorry for the horrible experience you had after aborting twins in 1978. As a socially moderate Republican, I believe in a woman's right to choose, but she should proceed forward with an abortion only after she has received the proper education and understands what alternatives to abortion are available to her and the potential ramifications of this decision. If a woman chooses to have an abortion then she will eventually have to answer for her choice to a higher being and live with the outcome. But I also believe taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill for abortions.
Yes, the Bible definitely states "Thou shalt not kill" like you said. But just because elected officials protect your right to make the decision to have an abortion, that doesn't make them responsible for YOUR decision. This is not a decision government should be making and individuals need to be accountable for the personal choices they make.
Posted by: Patrick | January 25, 2008 10:57 PM
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