![](http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/mccain-rod-parsley250x200.jpg alt= class=image-table-left border=0 height=200 hspace=0 width=250 /><br>Washington Dispatch: Televangelist Rod Parsley, a key McCain ally in Ohio, has called for eradicating the "false religion." Will the GOP presidential candidate renounce him?<br>By David Corn <br>March 12, 2008 <br>Senator John McCain hailed as a spiritual adviser an Ohio megachurch pastor who <br>has called upon Christians to wage a "war" against the "false religion" of Islam <br>with the aim of destroying it. <br>On February 26, McCain appeared at a campaign rally in Cincinnati with the Reverend <br>Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, a supersize Pentecostal institution <br>that features a 5,200-seat sanctuary, a television studio (where Parsley tapes a <br>weekly show), and a 122,000-square-foot Ministry Activity Center. That day, a week <br>before the Ohio primary, Parsley praised the Republican presidential front-runner <br>as a "strong, true, consistent conservative." The endorsement was important for <br>McCain, who at the time was trying to put an end to the lingering challenge from <br>former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a favorite among Christian evangelicals. <br>A politically influential figure in Ohio, Parsley could also play a key role in <br>McCain's effort to win this bellwether state in the general election. McCain, with <br>Parsley by his side at the Cincinnati rally, called the evangelical minister a "spiritual <br>guide." <br>The leader of a 12,000-member congregation, Parsley has written several books <br>outlining his fundamentalist religious outlook, including the 2005 Silent No <br>More. In this work, Parsley decries the "spiritual desperation" of the United <br>States, and he blasts away at the usual suspects: activist judges, civil libertarians <br>who advocate the separation of church and state, the homosexual "culture" ("homosexuals <br>are anything but happy and carefree"), the "abortion industry," and the crass and <br>profane entertainment industry. And Parsley targets another profound threat to the <br>United States: the religion of Islam. <br>In a chapter titled "Islam: The Deception of Allah," Parsley warns there is a <br>"war between Islam and Christian civilization." He continues: <br><br><br> I cannot tell you how important it is that we understand the true nature of <br> Islam, that we see it for what it really is. In fact, I will tell you this: <br> I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand <br> our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, <br> but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, <br> in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed, and I believe <br> September 11, 2001, was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore.<br>Parsley is not shy about his desire to obliterate Islam. In Silent No More, <br>he notes—approvingly—that Christopher Columbus shared the same goal: "It was to <br>defeat Islam, among other dreams, that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World <br>in 1492…Columbus dreamed of defeating the armies of Islam with the armies of Europe <br>made mighty by the wealth of the New World. It was this dream that, in part, began <br>America." He urges his readers to realize that a confrontation between Christianity <br>and Islam is unavoidable: "We find now we have no choice. The time has come." And <br>he has bad news: "We may already be losing the battle. As I scan the world, I find <br>that Islam is responsible for more pain, more bloodshed, and more devastation than <br>nearly any other force on earth at this moment." <br>Parsley claims that Islam is an "anti-Christ religion" predicated on "deception." <br>The Muslim prophet Muhammad, he writes, "received revelations from demons and not <br>from the true God." And he emphasizes this point: "Allah was a demon spirit." Parsley <br>does not differentiate between violent Islamic extremists and other followers of <br>the religion: <br><br><br> There are some, of course, who will say that the violence I cite is the exception <br> and not the rule. I beg to differ. I will counter, respectfully, that what some <br> call "extremists" are instead mainstream believers who are drawing from the <br> well at the very heart of Islam.<br>The spirit of Islam, he maintains, is one of hostility. He asserts that the religion <br>"inspired" the 9/11 attacks. He bemoans the fact that in the years after 9/11, 34,000 <br>Americans "have become Muslim" and that there are "some 1,209 mosques" in America. <br>Islam, he declares, is a "faith that fully intends to conquer the world" through <br>violence. The United States, he insists, "has historically understood herself as <br>a bastion against Islam," but "history is crashing in upon us." <br>At the end of his chapter on Islam, Parsley asks, "Are we a Christian nation? <br>I say yes." Without specifying what actions should be taken to eradicate <br>the religion, he essentially calls for a new crusade. <br>Parsley, who refers to himself as a "Christocrat," is no stranger to controversy. <br>In 2007, the grassroots organization he founded, the Center for Moral Clarity,<br><br>called for prosecuting people who commit adultery. In January, he<br><br>compared Planned Parenthood to Nazis. In the past Parsley's church has been <br>accused of engaging in pro-Republican partisan activities in violation of its tax-exempt <br>status. <br>Why would McCain court Parsley? He has long had trouble figuring out how to deal <br>with Christian fundamentalists, an important bloc for the Republican Party. During <br>his 2000 presidential bid, he referred to Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell as "agents <br>of intolerance." But six years later, as he readied himself for another White House <br>run, McCain repudiated that remark. More recently, his campaign hit a rough patch <br>when he accepted the endorsement of the Reverend John Hagee, a Texas televangelist<br><br>who has called the Catholic Church "the great whore" and a "false cult system." <br>After the Catholic League protested and called on McCain to renounce Hagee's support, <br>the presumptive Republican presidential nominee<br><br>praised Hagee's spiritual leadership and support of Israel and said that "when <br>[Hagee] endorses me, it does not mean that I embrace everything that he stands for <br>or believes in." After being further criticized for his Hagee connection, McCain <br>backed off slightly, saying, "I repudiate any comments that are made, including <br>Pastor Hagee's, if they are anti-Catholic or offensive to Catholics." But McCain <br>did not renounce Hagee's endorsement. <br>McCain's relationship with Parsley is politically significant. In 2004, Parsley's <br>church was credited with driving Christian fundamentalist voters to the polls for <br>George W. Bush. With Ohio expected to again be a decisive state in the presidential <br>contest, Parsley's World Harvest Church and an affiliated entity called Reformation <br>Ohio, which registers voters, could be important players within this battleground <br>state. Considering that the Ohio Republican Party has been decimated by various <br>political scandals and that a popular Democrat, Ted Strickland, is now the state's <br>governor, McCain and the Republicans will need all the help they can get in the <br>Buckeye State this fall. It's a real question: Can McCain win the presidency without <br>Parsley? <br>The McCain campaign did not respond to a request for comment regarding Parsley <br>and his anti-Islam writings. Parsley did not return a call seeking comment.<br>"The last thing I want to be is another screaming voice moving people to extremes <br>and provoking them to folly in the name of patriotism," Parsley writes in Silent <br>No More. Provoking people to holy war is another matter. About that, McCain <br>so far is silent.<br><br><br><br>David Corn is Mother Jones' Washington, D.C. bureau <br>chief.<br>)
McCain'sSpiritualGuide:DestroyIslam
WashingtonDispatch:TelevangelistRodParsley,akeyMcCainallyinOhio,hascalledforeradicatingthe"falsereligion."WilltheGOPpresidentialcandidaterenouncehim?
ByDavidCorn
March12,2008
SenatorJohnMcCainhailedasaspiritualadviseranOhiomegachurchpastorwho
hascalleduponChristianstowagea"war"againstthe"falsereligion"ofIslam...[
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 <br> these is exceptionally strong evidence that about one-quarter of her vote <br> yesterday came from Republicans were just trying to stick it to the <br> Democratic party.<br> (I've explained my methodology at the bottom of this page.)<br> ::<br> What impact does this have?<br> First, it has an impact on delegates.<br> Yesterday, Barack Obama won 60.6% and Clinton won 37.2%. If her <br> Republican voters hadn't shown up, she would have won about 28% and Obama <br> would have won about 68%.<br> The threshold for winning a larger share of statewide delegates is 62.5% <br> -- so the Republican voters definitely cost him delegates.<br> I don't know exactly how many and will update this blog entry when I've <br> got more numbers.<br> <br> Here's an update on the delegate totals from our very own wizard of <br> odds, poblano. According to poblano, net/net Obama might have been able <br> to do as well as 24-9 instead of 19-14. Put another way, he could have <br> netted +15 instead of +5 delegates -- a ten delegate swing. Anyway, here <br> is poblano's<br> <br> comment (and while I'm at it, let me plug poblano's brand new blog,<br> fivethirtyeight.com):<br> <br> He was very close to the 62.5% threshold to gain 3 out of 4 <br> pledged PLEOs. <br> He was also close to the threshold for getting 5 out of 7 <br> at-large delegates (he needed 64.3% of the two-way vote to do this).<br> AND he was close to getting the 70% he needed to win a 4-1 split <br> in CD-3 (he got 66.8%).<br> AND he was close to getting a 6-1 split in CD-2; he needed 78.6% <br> of the vote to do that, and got 76.3%.<br> AND he was close to winning CD-1 outright, which would have <br> netted him an extra delegate (he got 48.3% instead of the required <br> 50.000001%).<br> If Obama had an extra 4% of the vote statewide, he would have <br> surpassed each of these thresholds, and the delegate split would <br> have been 24-9 rather than 19-14. <br> <br> <br> Second, it has an impact on media perception. One of the <br> key takeaways from the media yesterday was that Hillary Clinton's supporters <br> didn't like Barack Obama as much as Barack Obama's supporters like Hillary <br> Clinton.<br> They implied racial animus was at the root of this division, nicely <br> playing into the whole Geraldine Ferraro storyline.<br> They thing they left out was that a full quarter of Clinton's supporters <br> were Republicans! And the Republicans didn't like her either! Because they <br> were gaming the process!<br> It wasn't race! It was Rush!<br> Third, Republicans may -- and I qualify this because if <br> they did it was close -- they may have tilted (edit: the primary vote in) <br> Texas to Hillary Clinton. I estimated that she won at least 65,000 votes <br> from Republicans that she wouldn't have won had there not been an increase <br> in Republican cross-over voting. She won Texas by 100,000. Given the fact <br> that I think some Republicans who are tricky enough to game a primary will <br> lie to exit pollsters and say they are Democratic, I really wouldn't be <br> surprised if Republicans actually won Texas for Hillary Clinton.<br> ::<br> The bottom-line as far as I'm concerned is that this new trend is <br> symbolic of a Democratic primary that has gone completely haywire.<br> Not only is there division between the Clinton camps and the Obama camps, <br> but now Republicans are actively intervening in our primaries and caucues to <br> screw with our process.<br> It's only going to get worse -- Republicans will change parties when <br> there is closed primaries and in open primaries, they will cross-over and <br> vote for Hillary Clinton in increasing numbers.<br> Effectively, this emerging pattern calls into question the validity <br> of any voting from here on out, even in closed primaries. There's just <br> so much lead time before the next contests that Republicans have plenty of <br> time to register as Democrats and monkey with our primary.<br> Imagine just how effin' hard it will be to make sure revotes in <br> Florida and Michigan don't end becoming a huge clusterf**k.<br> ::<br> Ironically, this is exactly the kind of scenario that super <br> delegates can be useful in.<br> How?<br> The ones that are on the sidelines who clearly support Barack Obama but <br> have not committed to him -- superdelegates like Nancy Pelosi and others -- <br> can publicly declare their support for Barack Obama.<br> <br> <img src=http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z142/jedreport/oiw-clintonsdelegatemath-small.png?t=1205326235 align=right />As <br> you can see from this chart, the fact is that in an ungamed primary,<br> there's <br> absolutely no way Hillary Clinton is going to take over the pledged delegate <br> lead. It's just absolutely not going to happen. Nobody thinks <br> it will -- not even the Clinton campaign.<br> There's also just about no chance she's going to win enough <br> superdelegates to get the nomination.<br> The problem is that Republicans whose only goal is sabotage our <br> nomination process are going to make this seem closer than it really is. And <br> that's going to embolden Hillary Clinton to continue to make more attacks on <br> our eventual nominee. And it's going to further divide the party. And maybe <br> even cost us the election.<br> But if enough super delegates step up now, and declare that they will <br> support Barack Obama it will become clear that Hillary Clinton has no path <br> to the nomination -- and even if she does not withdraw from the race, her <br> support will evaporate, and we can begin the process of uniting this divided <br> party so that we can take back the White House in November.<br> Barack Obama has all but won the nomination. It's time to make it <br> official.<br> The Republicans are having a party at our expense. It's time to shut it <br> down.<br> ::<br> <br> A note on the methodology (skip this if it bores you!):<br> The exit poll data was taken from MSNBC. You can get it<br> here.<br> You will notice that none of the numbers I cite in this entry seem to <br> be in the exit poll.<br> Let me explain why. The exit poll reports the percentage of people <br> overall who agree with each answer to each question. The poll then <br> breaks down how each answer was distributed amongst the candidates. So <br> for example, on the trustworthy question: his Hillary Clinton <br> trustworthy, you learn that overall, 49% say she is and 50% say she <br> isn't. 23% of the people who say she isn't are Clinton backers and 73% <br> are Obama backers. Meanwhile, 52% of the people who say she she IS <br> trustworthy are Clinton backers and 46% are Obama backers. To determine <br> the percentage of Clinton voters who think she is NOT trustworthy, you <br> multiply the number of people who think she isn't trustworthy by the <br> percentage of those people who are Clinton voters, and then divide that <br> by the sum of the same number plus the number of people who think she is <br> trustworthy multiplied by the share of those people who are Clinton <br> supporters. And then you got the numbers. Hopefully that makes sense!<br> <br> <br> ::<br> Late addition: Here is Rush Limbaugh <br /><br> kicking off his dirty tricks campaign. <br /><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br><br>)
TheGOPisnowgamingourprimaryforClinton.
It'stimetoendit.
byJedReport
WedMar12,2008at06:15:58AMPDT
Now
thatJohnMcCainhaswontheGOPnomination,Republicansarevotingin
theDemocraticprimaryinincreasingnumbers,hopingtopicktheir
opponentfortheNovemberelection,oratleastcausemoreturmoilin
ouralreadydivisivenominationbattle.
Theirchoice?HillaryClinton.
Yesterday...[
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5ReasonstobeVeryAfraidofJohnMcCain
Ourlittlelistof5ReasonstobeVeryAfraidofMikeHuckabeecreatedquitetheriftbetweenreaders:somethoughtthatHuckabeeisindeedascarycandidate;othersinsistedhewouldn’tstayintheracelongenoughtobeaviablecandidateanyway(we’lltrytoresistsaying“wetoldyouso”).Lestweshowapreferencefortheotherguy,hereareourtop5reasonstobeveryafraidofJohnMcCain.
5.Hebelievesthatpresident...[
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 - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton now argues that the North American Free Trade Agreement needs to be renegotiated, but newly released records showed on Wednesday she promoted its passage.<br><br>The National Archives and the Clinton presidential library jointly released more than 11,000 pages of Clinton\)
Print|Closethiswindow
FirstladyrecordsshowClintonpromotedNAFTA
WedMar19,20087:30pmEDT
BySteveHolland
WASHINGTON(Reuters)-DemocraticpresidentialcandidateHillaryClintonnowarguesthattheNorthAmericanFreeTradeAgreementneedstoberenegotiated,butnewlyreleasedrecordsshowedonWednesdayshepromoteditspassage.
TheNationalArchivesandtheClintonpresidentiallibraryjointlyreleasedmorethan11,...[
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Storybehindthestory:TheClintonmyth
ByJIMVANDEHEI&MIKEALLEN|3/21/081:32PMEST
OnebigfacthaslargelybeenlostintherecentcoverageoftheDemocraticpresidentialrace:HillaryRodhamClintonhasvirtuallynochanceofwinning.
Herowncampaignacknowledgesthereisnowaythatshewillfinishaheadinpledgeddelegates.ThatmeanstheonlywayshewinsisifDemocraticsuperdelegatesarereadytoriskabacklashofhistoricproportionsfromt...[
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CBSPoll:GoodReviewsForObamaSpeech
March21,2008
(CBS)Sen.BarackObama\'sspeechonracethisweek,inwhichhediscussedhisrelationshipwithRev.JeremiahWright,hiscontroversiallongtimeminister,hasreceivedlargelypositivereviews,accordingtoanewCBSNewspoll.
ButthepercentageofvoterswhothinkObamawouldunitethecountryaspresidenthasdroppedsincelateFebruary.
Sixty-ninepercentofvoterswhohaveheardorreadab...[
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HALPERIN’STAKE:PainfulThingsHillaryClintonKnows—OrShouldKnow
1.Shecan’twinthenominationwithoutoverturningthewilloftheelecteddelegates,whichwillalienatemanyDemocrats.
2.Shecan’twinthenominationwithoutabloodyconventionbattle—afterwhich,evenifshewon,historyandmanyDemocratswouldcastherasavillain.
3.Catchingupinthepopularvoteisnotoutofthequestion—butwithoutre-votesinFloridaandMichigan...[
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CNN,MSNBCLIED!seeRev.Wright\'s\'9/11\'commentincontext
FoxNews,CNN,MSNBC,CBS,ABC,NBC,andothernewsmediaallliedanddistortedtheimageofpastorJeremiahWright.ThoughBarackObamahasalreadygivenastunninghistoricalspeechonraceandWright,it\'simportantforvoterstogetfullcontextofclips..Forexample,Wright\'schickenroostremarkquotesawhiteUSAmbassador,Peck.[
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