GOP Presidential candidate Rick Perry's TV campaign in Iowa has ignited a Culture War firestorm as Perry criticizes President Obama for attacking everything Christian in favor of the Gay Agenda and everything secular.
For background, read God Leading Rick Perry to Presidency, Says Wife and also read Rick Perry 'Talks Christian,' Media Perturbed as well as 2012: Obama vs. an Evangelical, or vs. a Mormon?
UPDATE 12/9/11: Rick Perry would hold national day of prayer; holds firm to ‘Obama’s war on religion’ statement
-- From "Rick Perry TV ad hits gays, President Obama 'war on religion'" by Maggie Haberman, Politico 12/7/11
In [TV] the spot, "Strong," Perry says, "I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school. As President, I’ll end Obama’s war on religion. And I’ll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage. Faith made America strong. It can make her strong again.”
The hit on gay rights has become a staple of Perry's faith pitch, after getting a hard push yesterday, but the comment about Obama's "war on religion" will rather easily be read as trying underscore the perception among some voters of the president as "different," and a reminder of the smears that the Christian chief executive is really a Muslim.
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From "Rick Perry ad condemns Obama’s 'war on religion'" by Aaron Blake, Washington Post 12/07/11
Bill Burton, a former Obama White House aide who now runs a super PAC supportive of the president, tweeted that the Perry ad was “astonishingly intolerant”.
Perry, of course, has often straddled this line in his campaign (and before it). He held a large gathering of evangelicals at Reliant Stadium in Houston shortly before entering the presidential race. And, early in his campaign, a pastor who was supporting Perry suggested former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s Mormon religion was a cult.
Of course, part of the coverage of the ad — whether intentional on the part of Perry’s campaign or not — will re-inject religion into the Republican race.
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From "Perry Ad Attacks Gay Rights to Appeal to Iowa’s Evangelicals" by Danny Yadron, Wall Street Journal 12/7/11
Republican presidential candidates have spent much of 2011 trying to woo the evangelical Christians, who backed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008 but haven’t yet settled on a candidate in this election. So far, the courting has been relatively restrained.
But with a month to go until the Iowa caucuses and Mr. Perry polling a distant fourth, his campaign has little time for subtlety. Playing up the governor’s evangelical bona fides could tap into some Christians’ discomfort with the faith of Mitt Romney, a practicing Mormon, and their unease with Newt Gingrich’s three marriages. The ad is running on Iowa TV stations and Fox News nationally.
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From "Perry TV Ad: I Can Defend Faith from Obama’s 'War on Religion'" by Lexi Stemple, FOX News 12/7/11
Perry ties his faith to his conservative stands on social issues, and the campaign has zeroed in on gay marriage and social issues recently, releasing several statements laying out its argument that Obama is attacking the fundamentals social conservative believe in. The arguments range from President Obama directing the Justice Department to stop arguing for the Defense of Marriage Act, to less substantive examples like Obama leaving God out of his Thanksgiving speech this year.
In one emailed statement, Perry stated, "just when you thought Barack Obama couldn't get any more out of touch with America's values, AP reports his administration wants to make foreign aid decisions based on gay rights. This administration's war on traditional American values must stop. This is just the most recent example of an administration at war with people of faith in this country. Investing tax dollars promoting a lifestyle many Americas of faith find so deeply objectionable is wrong."Perry is referring to a presidential memorandum released by the White House, in which Obama has directed all agencies working abroad ensure U.S. diplomacy and aid programs "promote and protect" the rights of gays and lesbians.
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