Religious Right Hitmen

by digby

I noted a couple of weeks back that pastordan had found an amazing example of the AP taking dictation from an unknown Republican’s new oppo research arm, Focus on the Family — and today Max Blumenthal sheds some new light on the story. Turns out it was Hollywood Fred’s boyz:

With onetime Republican presidential frontrunner Senator John McCain in meltdown, Mitt Romney suddenly finds himself under fire from some of the Christian right’s most influential activists. Romney’s evangelical critics claim the former Massachusetts governor and devout Mormon was complicit in the Marriott hotel chain’s sale of pay-per-view porn on its in-room television sets when he served on the corporation’s board of directors from 1992 to 2001. Two Christian-right operatives involved in orchestrating the charges have enlisted as Internet organizers for former Senator Fred Thompson, who is preparing to enter the race formally. The tactics of these religious-right players, targeted below the radar against Romney, are calculated to alter decisively the outcome of the Republican primary contest. The assault was launched on July 5 with an opening shot in the form of a breathless press release issued through the mega-ministry Focus on the Family. In it, veteran antiporn crusader Phil Burress called Romney’s failure to take action against pay-per-view hotel porn during his tenure on Marriott’s board “extremely disturbing.” That same day, a Focus on the Family spokesman took to the radio airwaves to ask whether Romney would “turn a blind eye” to pornography if elected President. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, which functions as Focus’s Washington lobbying arm, immediately joined the pile-on. He briefed the Associated Press on the record, explaining that Romney must “take some responsibility” for his supposed connection to Marriott’s porn profiteering. The AP report on the accusation against Romney was subsequently reprinted in the pages of major outlets from the Boston Globe to the Washington Post. It only took a full six years after Romney resigned from Marriott’s board for the Christian right’s leading lights to profess their outrage–and only hours for the press to echo it.

It is a testament to the absolute desperation of the Christian Right that they are forced to settle on Hollywood Fred. Romney is a flip-flopper extraordinaire, but he could be counted on to do the fundamentalists bidding down the line. He’s about taking care of business and he’d feed the freaks whatever they needed, at least as much as Junior or Reagan ever did. But they can’t get him past the Morman haters. So, 60ish Hollywood Fred with the trophy wife and the two new babies it is. (Hey, maybe that’s progress.)

Thompson and Romney can bloody each other up all they want as far as I’m concerned. But I am just a little bit concerned that the Associated Press is doing Hollywood Fred’s dirty work for him. The Democrats are sure to be the real victims of this as soon as all the wingnut oppo-assassins decide on a candidate and aim their fire our way. It would be really refreshing if the mainstream press stopped laundering their smears for them just as a change of pace if nothing else, but it looks like they are going to be with them all the way. Indeed, they’re stoking their “relationships” early.

Update: Here’s more on the new Christian Right idol, and the principled reasons why they believe in him:

Fred Thompson just got some encouraging news. Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission tells The Brody File the following: “My assessment is that at this moment in time it is Fred Thompson’s race to lose. It may be a convergence of the right man, in the right place and at the right time. I have never seen anything like this grassroots swell for Thompson. I’m not speaking for Southern Baptists but I do believe I have my hand on the pulse of Southern Baptists and I think I know where the consensus is.” Strong words. Dr. Land doesn’t endorse candidates but he is a powerful figure in Evangelical circles. His words matter. So why the fascination with Thompson? Land told me there are a lot of factors. He believes electability is extremely important and thinks that Thompson may be the best social conservative candidate right now to beat Hillary Clinton. He says just look at the head to head polling between the two of them. But there’s more. You know, it was Land that came up with the term, “Southern-Fried Reagan” when describing Thompson. So now he tells me the following: “He has an ability to connect with people. He comes from small town America where he can appeal to NASCAR dads, Security moms, and Reagan Democrats.”

I have long said that the Christian Right is not in the business of religion at all. They are in the business of politics. That’s why you are hearing the arguments of a political strategist coming out of the mouth of the head of the Southern Baptist convention. I’m certainly looking forward to hearing more about how these deeply moral, conservative spiritual leaders choose presidents on the basis of “electability.” It’s very inspiring.

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