News Intelligence Analysis
From the Columbus Dispatch
Conservative churches to flex muscle
Pastors statewide organizing effort to elect candidates
Sunday, March 27, 2005
James Dao
THE NEW YORK TIMES
One goal for the group is to help Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell win the governor`s office in 2006.
Christian conservative leaders from scores of Ohio`s fastest-growing churches are mounting a campaign to win control of local government posts and Republican organizations, starting with the 2006 governor`s race.
In a manifesto that is being circulated among church leaders and on the Internet, the group, which is called the Ohio Restoration Project, is planning to mobilize 2,000 evangelical, Baptist, Pentecostal and Roman Catholic leaders in a network of "Patriot Pastors" to register half a million new voters, enlist activists, train candidates and endorse conservative causes in the next year.
The initial goal is to elect Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, a conservative Republican, as governor in 2006. The group hopes to build grass-roots organizations in Ohio`s 88 counties and take control of local Republican organizations.
"The establishment of the Ohio Republican Party is out of touch with its base," said Russell Johnson, the pastor of the Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster and the principal organizer of the project. "It acts as if it lives in Boston, Mass."
Johnson`s challenge to the party could have far-reaching consequences in a state dominated by GOP elected officials but still considered a bellwether in presidential politics. Conservatives in other swing states are watching closely.
"In Ohio, the church is awak- ening to its historic role as the moral voice in the community," said Colin A. Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring, a conservative group based in Pennsylvania that trains ministers in political activism. "Ohio is in the vanguard of that nationally. I very much want Pennsylvania to be with them."
The church leaders say they will try to harness the energy of religious conservatives who were vital not only to President Bush`s narrow victory in Ohio but also to passage of an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage. Issue 1 was credited with drawing large numbers of rural and suburban conservatives to the polls and increasing Bush`s support among urban blacks.
"We`re calling people to act, not just wring their hands in the pews," said Rod Parsley, senior pastor of the World Harvest Church on Gender Road. He is considered a rising star in the religious broadcasting world and will be an inspirational speaker for the project. "We got people motivated last year, and then the election was over. We don`t want folks to think our work is over."
Republican officials are watching warily. The chairman of the state party, Robert T. Bennett, warned that the decadelong dominance of his party could be jeopardized if it is pushed too far to the right. "This is a party of a big tent," Bennett said. "The far right cannot elect somebody by itself, any more than somebody from the far left can."
The conservatives point to the governor`s race as an example of what they consider wrong with the state Republican Party. Of the three Republican candidates, only Blackwell has the solid support of religious conservatives. Attorney General Jim Petro opposed the same-sex marriage amendment on the grounds that it would invite litigation against companies that provide domestic-partner benefits. State Auditor Betty D. Montgomery has supported some abortion rights.
Gov. Bob Taft, who cannot run for re-election because of term limits, allowed a sales-tax increase to close a budget shortfall and opposed Issue 1.
"We`re very confused that you have a Republican Party platform, and yet people running for higher office pay no attention to it," said Phil Burress, the leader of the Issue 1 campaign, who is also helping organize the Restoration Project. "Why don`t they just become Democrats?" he asked.
Petro announced Tuesday that his running mate for lieutenant governor would be Phil Heimlich, a conservative from Cincinnati, and Montgomery has asked for a meeting with Johnson. Conservatives said that is evidence that the candidates recognize the churches` power.
"They understand what happens when 100,000 people committed to our views are on the same page," Johnson said. "In their little political gatherings and cocktail meetings at the country club, they can`t build that kind of loyalty. They can`t spend millions to buy what our people will give for free."
In a three-way primary, many Republican leaders say, Blackwell has a solid chance of winning because conservatives represent much of the party`s base. But moderates worry that he could alienate independent voters and lose the general election. Some are discussing enlisting the White House to prod Blackwell to quit the race.
In a recent meeting of leaders from some of the state`s largest churches, many of them in booming Republican suburbs, the Restoration Project issued a blueprint calling for "Patriot Pastors" to register 500,000 new voters by the May 2006 primary, then inform and energize them with voter guides, rallies and "eprayer networks" on the Internet.
The group hopes to raise $1 million and is considering creating a political action committee to provide direct donations to candidates.
The project, which describes itself as nonpartisan and nonprofit, will not endorse candidates. But Blackwell will be invited to speak to pastoral meetings and to a statewide Ohio for Jesus rally next spring, along with other prominent Christian conservatives such as the Rev. Franklin Graham, Dr. James Dobson and Charles Colson, the plan says.
Democrats say they are buoyed by the momentum for Blackwell. "He`s formidable in many ways, but he`s the candidate we`d most like to run against," said Greg Haas, a strategist for Mayor Michael B. Coleman, who is seen as a favorite for the Democratic nomination.
In an interview, Blackwell, who is black, said that Ohio has shifted to the right and that he now represents mainstream voters. He also predicted that he would draw black religious conservatives into the Republican Party, breaking the Democrats` hold on urban precincts.
"I think what`s happening is we`re seeing a struggle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party," he said. "And that`s healthy."
Experts said that religious conservatives could bring energy to campaigns, but that they had mixed results trying to win control of local political organizations.
"For short periods of time, they often had successes," said John C. Green, a professor of political science at the University of Akron. "But it was very difficult to sustain."
Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the Restoration Project might have a greater effect because it is more homegrown and has ties to a wider array of denominations than previous groups, such as the Moral Majority.
"This represents a new wave in organizing on the part of conservative evangelicals," Lynn said. "From my standpoint, as someone who doesn`t agree with their conclusions, this is a more- dangerous model."
Among conservative leaders, Johnson`s church, which draws 2,500 regular Sunday worshippers in a heavily Republican part of central Ohio, is considered a model for activism. In the past five years, a half dozen of its congregants have been elected to local offices, including a judge, several Lancaster councilmen and Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen.
Phalen said he was encouraged by church members to run for office in 2000, when the incumbent was under investigation for corruption.
Phalen`s official letterhead now reads, "With God, all things are possible."
"These people turn out to vote," he said of Christian conservatives.
"They give money and will become active. And there will always be issues to keep people mobilized."
Send a letter
to the editor
about
this article