Howard Dean: Bush doesn't think much of the Christian Coalition

[Karmadillo]

Dean was on Bill Press this morning and noted that when he and Bush were governors, Bush told him how he didn't think much of the Christian coalition. He further noted he didn't think Bush was a religious extremist, but someone who was simply using evangelicals for his own purposes. In the past, the media has had no problem amplifying Dean's statements, especially when they can be used to tar Dean or the Democrats. I wonder how much time they'll give these charges. It's hard for me to imagine the media daring to allow a discussion regarding the sincerity of the religious beliefs of the Liar, User, & Hypocrite-in-Chief.

NOTE: I was listening on the way out the door, so I'm not claiming to provide exact quotes. I do think I got the substance of Dean's remarks fairly accurately.

[bleedingheart]

1. Wasn't it Lee Atwater that called the fundies the "extra chromosome" crowd

??

edit:spelling

[ulysses]

2. oh hell, we knew that.

Bush is the money crowd - happy to use the fundies to be sure, but not one of them.

[MemphisTiger]

7. I've been saying this for years

look at the last election, as soon as the election was over you never heard another word from him on the gay marriage ammendment and what has he done to combat abortion? The fundies are being duped and they are too stupid to realize it.

[mattclearing]

3. Sounds like Howie's playing with fire, there.

Personally, if something's off-the-record and years old, it seems kind of odd to bring it out now. Wonder what he's getting at.

[madfloridian]

10. He is saying that Bush is acting against his own beliefs.

This was in his book that came out in Sept. 2004. I quoted it here before.

[Prism]

4. It's Machiavellian

I think as long as Bush does what the politically powerful Conservative Christians want him to, they really don't care too much. Reading around, they tend to get ticked off when a politician says they agree with their agenda, but do nothing in office. In Bush, they have someone doing what they want. The rest, as they say, is details.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. And you know what? They don't care that he doesn't care.

As long as they get what they want (a theocracy), the Christian Coalition, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, etc. don't give a rat's ass about *'s sincerity. As long as he can use his power to give them power over the rest of us, they wouldn't care if he was a flaming atheist.

[Canuckistanian]

6. Ah, but * keeps dangling the constitutional amendment carrot

Notice he never actually DOES anything?
And the leaders of the various "Coalition" groups may not care about *'s beliefs, but their supporters sure do and they are insatiable.

[liberal N proud]

8. When will the Christians wake the #$%-up and stop supporting

the regime and anyone associated with it?

At this point that would be anyone with the (R) next to their name.

[Imagine My Surprise]

9. Point being: Christians CANNOT wake up

[madfloridian]

11. Here is more. It was in Dean's book last year.

Bush has been using the sincere people on the religious right to further a wrong agenda. I am glad Howard Dean brought this out.

From You Have the Power

"I ran for president because I was angry about where our country was going
and I thought we could do better.

I was horrified by the way George W. Bush was governing our country.
Mortgaging our future with irresponsible tax cuts for his friends.
Despoiling our environment with huge giveaways to industry. Dividing us in
the worst possible ways. Endangering our children with air pollution and
draconian cuts in health-care services. Turning America into a monster in
the eyes of the rest of the world.

I hadn't started out a Bush-basher. In fact, I'd been predisposed to like
George Bush. I knew him personally and had dealt with him professionally
when we were both governors. He'd always been charming and hospitable to me
and my family, both in the Governor's Mansion in Texas and at the White
House. He'd always been more than upright in the business dealings between
our states, keeping his word when he had no legal obligation to do so. What
I knew of his record in Texas bespoke a moderate man who was willing to put
pragmatism before ideology, to raise taxes when necessary to equalize state
education spending, and to take some heat from the right wing of his party
for doing so. ("I hate those people," he'd once snarled at me when I ribbed
him at a White House governors' gathering about some trouble he was having
in Texas with the Christian Coalition.)

I'd approached his presidency with an open mind. 'I hadn't voted for Bush,
but I didn't expect the worst of him, either. After all, I'd always been in
the moderate middle of my own party — a staunch advocate of fiscal
discipline, a devotee of balanced budgets, pro-choice but also pro-gun
owners' rights, and in favor of the death penalty in some instances.'


— Howard Dean
From his book, 'You Have the Power'