I am not going to say much about the latest brouhaha between Dobson and Obama. Suffice it to say, judging from the quick and spectrum crossing opposition and criticism of his words, 2004's Kingmaker is one step from the abyss of insignificance and celebrity death. This is the effort of a wounded and dying animal (metaphorically speaking).
We knew his days were numbered when he tried to get Richard Cizik fired and lost the fight, saw his party fall in 2006 Congressional races (because he had picked the wrong side in the war), railed against Evangelicals caring about poverty and the environment (and lost once more) and saw Jim Wallis' media star rise. He realized his his great concerns of 1) Power, 2) Money, 3) a Seat at the table were in jeopardy and took the loudmouthed approach instead of the smart approach, seriously misjudging his stature.
He has now seen that he no longer has #1, which will bring in less of #2 (which is why he is fighting global warming as an issue- he does not control it). He has already burned his bridges with McCain and Obama, so he gets no #3. Put a fork in him and let him join with has-beens like Robertson, Schlafly, Frist, Zell Miller, Falwell, DeLay, and Santorum. Next up Tony Perkins and Charles Colson. My prediction is that Richard Land plays this one smarter.
4 comments:
as someone who worked alongside the veritable ex-kingmaker, i'll say three things
1) #3 is way, way more important to him than #1 and is incomparable to #2...dobson wants to be whispering in the ears of those who set policy much more than he wants power or money
2) I saw this article by Eric Gorski (the only AP writer Dobson will grant an intv) and just rolled my eyes, his day in the sun is o-v-e-r...he's pushing 75 and needs to retire, unfortunately, he doesn't play golf so he really has nothing else to do
3) my first day working at focus was the monday after he gave his '98 speech declaring he would tell all his listeners to leave the GOP, ever since, i've felt he's been entirely too involved in politics which has unarguably diverted funds from actually ministering to people
that said, i agree with what dobson said about obama
I agree with #3- he was much better at teaching parents how to be good parents. very middle ground between the Dr. Sears crowd on 1 side and the GKGW crowd on the other. I wish he had stayed focused. it was awesome. I still use 2-3 of his books.
See I am not a raving liberal on some things.
#2 I think that is one of the problems with all of those guys. The Builder view of the world and politics is very different from the way it now works, which is why I am always an advocate of Richard Land as the best leader of the Christian Right. He is very conservative, but very smart and understands nuance and is okay with it. he never vilifies or uses excessively mean or partisan language.
#1 I totally agree that #3 is most important, but without 1 and 2, I think it is impossible. Those bucks matter way to much. If it is a broader agenda, like Ciziks or Lands, he loses.
Of course, I strongly disagree with his assessment of Obama and Obama's scriptural and constitutional readings. But, I am Baptist and we take that whole "soul Liberty" thing very seriously.
Thanks for stopping by.
I think you are correct in your analysis that Dobson is rapidly losing influence - due probably to the confluence of many events, not least of which is that he has his no ability to question his own positions. To him they are correct and anyone with another agenda must be mistaken and therefore opposed.
In regards to Obama, the guy is smart, I will give him his due, any person that can have the most liberal record in the Senate and get nominated for President is brilliant. The problem with Obama is that you're not getting what you see. You're getting what he wants you to see so that he can get elected. Whatever he says about any issue I take with a grain of salt for that very reason.
Personally, I can't get over any human being who would defend the right of a doctor to suck a baby's brain from it's skull in order to "abort" it. This is Obama's position.
It is a tragedy of American Christianity, in my view, that Evangelicals are looked upon as just another electoral block and constituency. We follow a Savior who refused to be politicized by Zealots or Romans or anyone else. He had bigger things to do, and so do we. It's unfortunate that guys like Dobson have taken their eye off the ball. This kind of stuff marginalizes the Gospel.
Obama, McCain, Bush, whoever... they all want to pander to voters by making some claim to faith or whatnot. It's not my place to judge, but as you can tell, I'm a bit wary (and weary).
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