Saturday, May 19, 2007 7:48:20 PM
Some GOP Notables to Miss Falwell Rites
President Reagan shakes hands with The Rev. Jerry Falwell, right, during a convention of National Religious Broadcasters in this Jan. 30, 1984 file photo in Washington. Falwell, the folksy, small-town preacher who used the power of television to found the Moral Majority and turn the Christian right into a mighty force in American politics during the Reagan years, died Tuesday, May 15, 2007. He was 73.
(AP Photo/Ira Schwarz, file)
Falwell Funeral to Focus More on the Personal, Religious Than His Political Influence
By BOB LEWIS Associated Press Writer
RICHMOND, Va. May 18, 2007 (AP)
U.S. Sen. John McCain isn't planning to attend the Rev. Jerry Falwell's funeral Tuesday. Rival Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani can't make it, either.
Nor can former Virginia former governor and long-shot 2008 Republican presidential candidate Jim Gilmore.
While some Republican figures will attend next week's funeral in Lynchburg for the founder of the Moral Majority, many will not. Experts say that even with a presidential election looming, it's not a must-attend event and there likely won't be political consequences for skipping it.
"This funeral will be very much more about the people who were influenced by him and his ministry," said Merle Black, political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta.
Falwell died Tuesday after collapsing in his office at Liberty University. Through his founding of the Moral Majority, he has been long credited with transforming the religious right into a force in American politics.
Even so, his funeral is much more likely to focus on his efforts in other arenas, including the founding of Lynchburg's largest and best-known church, Thomas Road Baptist Church, and Liberty University.
What's more important to voters on the religious right is how candidates meshed with Falwell and other religious leaders, said University of Virginia political science professor Larry J. Sabato. Candidates' statements about Falwell when they learned of his death also matter, he said.
"It's helpful to be there but it probably doesn't hurt if they're not," he said.
Veteran GOP strategist Christopher J. LaCivita, architect of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth initiative against Democrat John Kerry in 2004, found the suggestion that religious conservatives would punish no-shows offensive.
"To assume that Christian conservative voters would hold it against any candidate for public office because they did not attend a respected leader like Jerry Falwell's funeral, that's just another attempt to portray Christian values voters as shallow," LaCivita said.
Gilmore said he tried to clear his schedule for Tuesday, but had commitments outside Virginia he could not miss for the sake of his campaign. McCain, who as a presidential candidate in 2000 publicly criticized Falwell, made amends with Falwell last May when he addressed Liberty's spring commencement.
President Bush does not plan to attend, but the White House is sending Tim Goeglein, a mid-level aide.
Even among Republicans without White House aims, there are commitments that can't be broken. U.S. Sen. John W. Warner has critical votes in Washington on Tuesday. Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Bill Howell can't attend.
Virginia's lieutenant governor, Bill Bolling, and Attorney General Bob McDonnell, both Republicans popular among Christian conservatives, will be there.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3190651
[F6 note -- to pull together just some of what has been posted on this board relating to Falwell and the religious right -- in addition to (items linked in) the post to which this post is a reply (and http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19750073 ), see also (items linked in):
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19781517 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19781237 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19750382 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19750222 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19665781 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=18229005 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=17163267 (original, with embedded links, at http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/021707.html );
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=16065712 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=13542027 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=12945055 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=11237459 (and the other replies to http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=11208888 );
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=10618311 (and following);
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=10599963 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=10240876 (note the correction at the end);
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=9223439 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=9174001 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=7473418 and (the many) preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=6725040 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=6163348 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=6092087 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5970876 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5720199 (and preceding) and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5669151 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5570717 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5533289 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4956275 (AND the post preceding) (. . .);
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4729068 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4622714 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4577424 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4558283 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4536951 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4525081 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4505026 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4468937 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4449928 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4391514 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4185724 and (preceding and) following (compare http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4185663 );
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4130757 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4117882 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3747949 abd preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3434418 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3134736 and preceding (. . .);
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3121544 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3103490 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=2971731 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=2899914 and following; and
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=2716969 and following (including in particular http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=2769237 and preceding and following)]
President Reagan shakes hands with The Rev. Jerry Falwell, right, during a convention of National Religious Broadcasters in this Jan. 30, 1984 file photo in Washington. Falwell, the folksy, small-town preacher who used the power of television to found the Moral Majority and turn the Christian right into a mighty force in American politics during the Reagan years, died Tuesday, May 15, 2007. He was 73.
(AP Photo/Ira Schwarz, file)
Falwell Funeral to Focus More on the Personal, Religious Than His Political Influence
By BOB LEWIS Associated Press Writer
RICHMOND, Va. May 18, 2007 (AP)
U.S. Sen. John McCain isn't planning to attend the Rev. Jerry Falwell's funeral Tuesday. Rival Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani can't make it, either.
Nor can former Virginia former governor and long-shot 2008 Republican presidential candidate Jim Gilmore.
While some Republican figures will attend next week's funeral in Lynchburg for the founder of the Moral Majority, many will not. Experts say that even with a presidential election looming, it's not a must-attend event and there likely won't be political consequences for skipping it.
"This funeral will be very much more about the people who were influenced by him and his ministry," said Merle Black, political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta.
Falwell died Tuesday after collapsing in his office at Liberty University. Through his founding of the Moral Majority, he has been long credited with transforming the religious right into a force in American politics.
Even so, his funeral is much more likely to focus on his efforts in other arenas, including the founding of Lynchburg's largest and best-known church, Thomas Road Baptist Church, and Liberty University.
What's more important to voters on the religious right is how candidates meshed with Falwell and other religious leaders, said University of Virginia political science professor Larry J. Sabato. Candidates' statements about Falwell when they learned of his death also matter, he said.
"It's helpful to be there but it probably doesn't hurt if they're not," he said.
Veteran GOP strategist Christopher J. LaCivita, architect of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth initiative against Democrat John Kerry in 2004, found the suggestion that religious conservatives would punish no-shows offensive.
"To assume that Christian conservative voters would hold it against any candidate for public office because they did not attend a respected leader like Jerry Falwell's funeral, that's just another attempt to portray Christian values voters as shallow," LaCivita said.
Gilmore said he tried to clear his schedule for Tuesday, but had commitments outside Virginia he could not miss for the sake of his campaign. McCain, who as a presidential candidate in 2000 publicly criticized Falwell, made amends with Falwell last May when he addressed Liberty's spring commencement.
President Bush does not plan to attend, but the White House is sending Tim Goeglein, a mid-level aide.
Even among Republicans without White House aims, there are commitments that can't be broken. U.S. Sen. John W. Warner has critical votes in Washington on Tuesday. Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Bill Howell can't attend.
Virginia's lieutenant governor, Bill Bolling, and Attorney General Bob McDonnell, both Republicans popular among Christian conservatives, will be there.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3190651
[F6 note -- to pull together just some of what has been posted on this board relating to Falwell and the religious right -- in addition to (items linked in) the post to which this post is a reply (and http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19750073 ), see also (items linked in):
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19781517 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19781237 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19750382 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19750222 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19665781 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=18229005 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=17163267 (original, with embedded links, at http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/021707.html );
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=16065712 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=13542027 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=12945055 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=11237459 (and the other replies to http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=11208888 );
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=10618311 (and following);
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=10599963 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=10240876 (note the correction at the end);
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=9223439 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=9174001 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=7473418 and (the many) preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=6725040 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=6163348 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=6092087 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5970876 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5720199 (and preceding) and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5669151 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5570717 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5533289 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4956275 (AND the post preceding) (. . .);
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4729068 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4622714 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4577424 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4558283 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4536951 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4525081 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4505026 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4468937 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4449928 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4391514 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4185724 and (preceding and) following (compare http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4185663 );
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4130757 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4117882 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3747949 abd preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3434418 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3134736 and preceding (. . .);
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3121544 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3103490 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=2971731 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=2899914 and following; and
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=2716969 and following (including in particular http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=2769237 and preceding and following)]
Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07
"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790
F6
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