Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has been under fire for days because of his statement that small-town Americans “cling” to guns, religion and bigotry because they are “bitter” about their economic circumstances. But other candidates may be tested by Obama’s “bitter” comments, too.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is trying to attach Obama’s words to Democratic Senate candidates Al Franken of Minnesota and Mark Warner of Virginia. The NRSC issued a video press release that all but dares them to endorse Obama.
The video releases also target Democratic convention “superdelegates” John Kerry of Massachusetts, Mary Landreiu of Louisiana, Mark Udall of Colorado and Tom Udall of New Mexico.
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was subjected to a barrage of criticism last week for producing a Christmas video that some people characterized as a blatant and unwise mixture of politics and religion. But other candidates soon followed with their own holiday videos.
Some chose straightforward holiday greetings, others mixed their political philosophies into their messages, and Republican Rudy Giuliani even added a touch of humor to his video by wishing that all of the political candidates would just get along at this time of year. Santa Claus laughed at that request.
Huckabee’s controversial ad, including the bookcase in the background that critics said was made to look like a “floating cross,” is at the top, followed by the other candidate videos.
Do you wish the federal government would just leave you alone? So do Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, and a bunch of other folks — gun owners, home-schoolers, “communities of faith” and small businessmen — who are pushing the idea of a Leave Us Alone Coalition.
“Around the table sit everybody with sort of their hand in,” Norquist said in an interview at Heading Right Radio. “Leave my guns alone, my kids alone, my faith alone, my property alone, my kids alone.” He said none of those people agree on all issues, but all agree that they want minimal government involvement in their lives.
The people in the coalition “simply want to be free,” Norquist said.
Producer’s note: Through a partnership with BlogTalkRadio, AirCongress is promoting federal policy and political content produced by the company’s Internet-based talk-show hosts.
Yesterday’s edition of HotlineTV called attention to the “pro-life, whole-life” catchphrase that Sen. Sam Brownback has been using in his presidential campaign. Now you can hear the Kansas Republican explain it himself.
Here’s an excerpt, followed by a 10-minute video from the campaign trail: “It’s about the life in the womb being sacred, unique, a child of the living God. But it’s about that applying to everybody at every stage in life. And it’s about that applying to Terri Schiavo. When she’s in that difficult situation, she nonetheless remains a sacred, living life, a child of a living God that should be protected and fought for. … We’re just asking people to recognize what life is. It’s an incredible gift.”
Schiavo’s brother endorsed Brownback as part of the pro-life, whole-life tour.
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