Category: Social Conservatism

Republicans Should Not Moderate Their Message

| January 29, 2013 | Reply

The RNC Winter meetings have concluded and I was pleased to be able to attend on behalf of my fellow Iowans. I received the honor of being re-elected to the Resolutions Committee as a representative for the Midwestern Region. The RNC Winter meetings resulted in the overwhelming re-election of Reince Priebus and Sharon Day as [...]

Read More

The American Crisis: It’s Not Just a Political Problem, It’s a Spiritual Problem

| November 14, 2012 | 1 Reply

As I mentioned in my previous piece, the political animals of our culture dream that the re-election of Barack Obama was primarily a political failure addressable by compromising on political issues or formulating a better strategy. However, as Christians, we have to be aware that our nation more than having political problems has spiritual problems [...]

Read More

Selling Your Inheritance For a Half Bowl of Gruel: Huck Pac Forks Over Cash to Romney

| November 1, 2012 | 23 Replies

Genesis 25:29-34 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright [...]

Read More

The FAMiLY Leader Abandons Its Stated Principles to Promote Romney, Oust Barack Obama

| October 22, 2012 | 12 Replies

In the summer of 2011, The FAMiLY Leader (TFL) called on Republican presidential candidates to sign its marriage vow. When it was released, the Iowa organization said that it would not support or back any candidates that refused to sign the pledge. Mitt Romney refused to sign it, though he submitted an alternative pledge to [...]

Read More

Why Politics and History Do Not Mix

| September 20, 2012 | 1 Reply

Those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it. Welcome to politics.

Read More

The 2008 Election: A Case Study

| July 19, 2012 | 4 Replies

The following is part two of the Introduction for “With Christ in the Voting Booth.” For more than three decades evangelicals had been praying for a presidential candidate they could support whole-heartedly. For a few months in the last election cycle, it looked like their prayers might be answered. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher-turned-Governor, offered [...]

Read More

Brief History of the Modern Christian Right

| July 13, 2012 | 2 Replies

There is nothing vainer than the idea that we can restore a nation, rebuild our once great country, and leave Christ out. That’s the whole conservative movement in a nutshell. It’s been apart from Christ.[1] Without much fanfare, Evangelicalism and conservative politics got married in the 1970s.[2] Its progeny, the Christian Right,[3]  was conceived in [...]

Read More

With Christ in the Voting Booth: The Foreword by Mike Huckabee

| July 10, 2012 | 1 Reply

Today starts a series of posts excerpted from my book, With Christ in the Voting Booth. To begin, I am posting the complete Foreword written by Governor Mike Huckabee. Thank you governor for adding your kind words to the book. Foreword by Mike Huckabee, Former Governor of Arkansas: In polite company, one avoids discussing three [...]

Read More

Bachmann Breaks FAMiLY Leader Vow Made Before God, Endorses Romney. Will Santorum Follow Suit?

| May 7, 2012 | 9 Replies

  Back in July, I challenged Christians and other Republicans to ask Michelle Bachmann and Rick Santorum whether they would actually keep the FAMiLY Leader vow they made before God not to endorse or support any GOP candidates who did not make the vow, such as Mitt Romney. Here is the vow that citizens were [...]

Read More

Can an Evangelical Christian Vote for Mitt Romney?

| April 29, 2012 | 12 Replies

Now that the question of who the 2012 Republican presidential nominee will be seems to have been answered, another question is being hotly debated in Evangelical circles: Can an Evangelical Christian vote for Mitt Romney? It’s a question that’s been discussed all along, but for most Evangelicals, it was a question that they hoped they [...]

Read More

Conservative Charity vs Liberal Government

| April 29, 2012 | 2 Replies

Republicans want to kill grandma. Republicans want to kill sick people. Republicans want poor people to starve and die. Republicans want blacks dead or enslaved. Republicans want hispanics imprisoned or gone. Republicans want the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. Republicans want to poison the water and destroy the land and [...]

Read More

Gallagher: Social Conservatives Unite Around Santorum

| January 6, 2012 | 2 Replies

By Maggie Gallagher On Tuesday night in Iowa, he stood before the cheering throngs like a Republican Rocky, or better yet, a latter-day Rudy suddenly lifted above his Notre Dame teammates in a fantastic storybook finish. On Tuesday night, for the first time, Rick Santorum was a contender. And a contender like nobody has yet [...]

Read More

Iowa Caucus: Three Take-Aways

| January 4, 2012 | 7 Replies

The most telling statistic of the Iowa Caucus is the payoff for the money each candidate spent. It tells a story of the integrity of Iowa Republican voters. Iowa voters are not easily persuaded by flashy ads. We want to hear the candidate and discuss his or her record—at length. Let’s look at each candidates [...]

Read More

EXCLUSIVE: Family Leader and Bob Vander Plaats Will Not Endorse Gingrich, Great News for Bachmann or Santorum

| December 15, 2011 | 15 Replies

At Governor Huckabee’s Gift of Life movie premiere last evening, I had an opportunity to sit down with The FAMiLY LEADER president Bob Vander Plaats. In an earlier interview I heard him suggest that the Family Leader may have to make a pragmatic decision on who to endorse for President. I was concerned that “pragmatic” [...]

Read More

Where’s The FAMiLY Leader’s Leadership?

| December 8, 2011 | 8 Replies

I find it interesting that The FAMiLY Leader has not endorsed a Presidential candidate yet.  Bob Vander Plaats positioned the organization to be a player in the Iowa Caucus as they reorganized.  They have had more opportunities than any other organization (that I’m aware of) to vet candidates through their Presidential Lecture series.  Each prospective [...]

Read More

Is the GOP Really Stuck With Mitt Romney? or Why We Need a William Farel

| October 5, 2011 | 5 Replies

I’ve said before that it is not the supposed flip-flops that give me heartburn when I consider the possibility that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney could be the standard bearer for the Republican Party against President Obama in 2012.  It is that Romney really hasn’t flipped at all on the issues most important to conservative, [...]

Read More