The New York Times reported this morning that the McCain campaign recently requested a meeting with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson.
'In July, when James C. Dobson, the influential founder of Focus on the Family, said on his radio broadcast that he, too, might drop his staunch opposition to a McCain presidency, campaign operatives quickly called to express their thanks and ask Dr. Dobson to meet alone with the candidate, a spokesman for Dr. Dobson said.'
This weekend's John McCain/Sarah Palin rally in Colorado Springs would seem the ideal time for such a meeting, no? But Focus on the Family spokesman Gary Schneeberger says the McCain campaign has not been in touch about setting up any meetings between McCain--or his aides--and Dobson or Focus staff while in town on Saturday. "We'd be open to it if it was something the campaign would want to do talk about, just like we would for any candidate, but this sounds like a fly in fly out thing and I don't know if anything will happen, he says.
Schneeberger adds that Dobson is out of town on book leave at the moment and won't be around this weekend.
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Why is it so surprising that that the right is also embracing a broader vision for the interaction of religion and politics in the public square? It is not only the "religious left" that does not follow Dobson but also many "religious right" who are progressive in areas such as the environment, poverty, and health insurance. Newsflash: the media puts WAY TOO MUCH weight on Dobson.
I like the idea of this "God-o-Meter", even if the name is kinda kitschy, because it gives a quick means of comparing how faith-friendly the candidates are. However, if not meeting with Dr. Dobson due to scheduling pressures can reduce McCain's rating from 8 to 6, and Obama's acceptance of infanticide in the case of botched abortions still allows a rating of 8, then the integrity of your meter is suspect, and I can not rely on it as a useful measure.
I am sooo tired of the talk that pro choice candidates are pro abortion. I am a Christian, with a capital C. I love the Lord with all my heart, but I am pro choice too. I don't think that being pro choice makes me a baby killer. The baby killer is the woman who got out of her car 7 months pregnant and smoking a cigarette...by the way she had a bumpersticker that said I vote pro life. I guess I have a liberal view on life and religion since I am voting for a candidate that uses the mind God gave him and wants to better America, but votes pro choice. Oh one more thing...Regan, nor either of the Bush presidencies have overturned Roe v Wade, think about it before you respond.
Scott-
God-o-Meter doesn't have the algorithm to take the hundreds of faith-related decisions of each campaign and spit out a mathematically accurate reading each day. For the criteria that GOM uses in moving its needle left or right, click here. You should consider GOM's analysis as more qualitative than quantitative. Also, GOM is not simply a measure of "how faith-friendly the candidates are." It's as much a gauge of how they're trying to use faith as an organizing tool--cynically or not--as it is a measure of genuine faith-friendliness.
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