Was Dobson consulted by McCain campaign on the handling of BabyGate

With Dobson's statement coming out so quickly in support of the Palin family, I cannot help but wonder if the McCain campaign didn't approach Dobson on how to handle this issue in a manner that would successfully quell dissent within the evangelical base.


Dobson on Bristol Palin's Pregnancy

September 01, 2008 1:52 PM

Dr. James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family issued the following statement:

"In the 32-year history of Focus on the Family, we have offered prayer, counseling and resource assistance to tens of thousands of parents and children in the same situation the Palins are now facing. We have always encouraged the parents to love and support their children and always advised the girls to see their pregnancies through, even though there will of course be challenges along the way. That is what the Palins are doing, and they should be commended once again for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances.

"Being a Christian does not mean you're perfect. Nor does it mean your children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord. I've been the beneficiary of that forgiveness and restoration in my own life countless times, as I'm sure the Palins have.

Balance of article here: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/dobson-on-brist.html

Had this been a Dem teenage mom, she'd be called a slut and a whore by the religious right, and held up as an example of how liberals lack family values.

almost as if he had a hand in knitting the yarn.

wing of the party...it doesn't matter what is good for the country...he comes up with excuses to get this nut case into the WH..

"That's right, if you are a republicon, you are Immediately and Totally forgiven for all your stinking hypocrisy. It's one of our traditions. Smirk."

- Dobbie

A Dem candidate's daughter in this same situation would be dragged through the mud and then stoned to death by the RW/MSM mouthpieces.

Well, now at least we know what Bristol was doing while she was home for 8 months recovering from "mono". This whole thing still stinks to high heaven. There is more whitewash going on here than Tom Sawyer painted on that picket fence.

in the ground. These fuckers are shameless.

why do Focus on the Family advocates even have teenage pregnancies anymore? Isn't it working?

Last week, while the media focused almost obsessively on the DNC's spectacle in Denver, the country's most influential conservatives met quietly at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis to get to know Sarah Palin. The assembled were members of the Council for National Policy, an ultra-secretive cabal that networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.

CNP members have included Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Grover Norquist, Tim LaHaye and Paul Weyrich. At a secret 2000 meeting of the CNP, George W. Bush promised to nominate only pro-life judges; in 2004, then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told the group, "The destiny of the nation is on the shoulders of the conservative movement." This year, thanks to Sarah Palin's selection, the movement may have finally aligned itself behind the campaign of John McCain.

Though Dobson and Perkins reportedly attended the recent CNP meeting in Minneapolis, a full roster of guests would be nearly impossible to require. The CNP deliberately operates below the radar, going to excessive lengths to obscure its activities. According to official CNP policy, "The media should not know when or where we meet or who takes part in our programs before or after a meeting." Thus the CNP's Minneapolis gathering was free of reporters.

I learned of the get-together only through an online commentary by one of its attendees, top Dobson/Focus on the Family flack Tom Minnery. (Watch it here) Minnery described the mood as CNP members watched Palin accept her selection as John McCain's Vice Presidential pick. "I was standing in the back of a ballroom filled with largely Republicans who were hoping against hope that something would put excitement back into this campaign," Minnery said. "And I have to tell you, that speech by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin -- people were on their seats applauding, cheering, yelling... That room in Minneapolis watching on the television screen was electrified. I have not seen anything like it in a long time."

Minnery added that his boss, Dobson, has yearned for a conservative female leader like Margaret Thatcher to emerge on the American scene. And while Palin is no Thatcher, "she has not rejected the feminine side of who she is, so for that reason, she will be attractive to conservative voters."

The members of the Council for National Policy are the hidden hand behind McCain's Palin pick. With her selection, the Republican nominee is suddenly -- and unexpectedly -- assured of the support of a movement that once opposed his candidacy with all its might. Case in point: while Dobson once said he could "never" vote for McCain, he issued a statement last week hailing Palin as an "outstanding" choice. If Dobson's enthusiasm for Palin is any indication, he may soon emerge from his bunker in Colorado Springs to endorse McCain, providing the Republican nominee with the backing of the Christian right's single most influential figure.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?pid=3521...