Friday, October 13, 2006

Dobson's Response to Bushite Con Job

Yesterday, I discussed allegations made by David Kuo that the Bushite faith-based initiative was designed chiefly for political ends, and that the evangelicals were regarded as "nuts". So how would Fundie-in-Chief James Dobson respond to this? Outrage? Disappointment? Sadness?

None of the above. This is what Dobson says (thanks to Carpetbagger):
"The release of this book criticizing the Bush administration's handling of its faith-based initiative program seems to represent little more than a mix of sour grapes and political timing. David Kuo's book doesn't hit shelves until next week, but excerpts released by media outlets paint the picture of a dissatisfied federal employee taking shots at the White House effort to connect faith-based nonprofit groups with legitimate societal needs. Big media will no doubt play this story to the hilt in the next several weeks, because it allows them to take aim at two of their favorite targets: President Bush and socially conservative Christians. Sadly, Kuo's characterization of his former colleagues, bosses and mission — mischaracterizations, really — will be fed to the public as truth. "
In other words, he is sticking with Bush no matter what. The reason is quite simple: Dobson and his friends are simply a part of the Republican party. They do not really exist in any independent fashion. So of course the party is going to defend its own from attack.

But, in spite of Dobson, the evangelicals on the ground are not dumb. They know they've been played for fools. There are lots of polls floating around in this frantic pre-election season, but the most telling to date is a Gallup one showing the decline in support for Republicans among white frequent church-goers. In a spate of 3 months, a 29-percentage point advantage has dwindled to zero. This is fundamental. Remember, this is the last solid group in the Republican base.

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