Starring Fred Thompson as Richard Land's Man-Crush
This is not the first time Land has weighed in on the yet-to-be-Presidential-candidate Fred Thompson. Back in April on Chris Matthews Hardball, Land remarked:A very influential religious leader has some pretty strong opinions about soon-to-be presidential candidate Fred Thompson. Dr. Richard Land is head of the Southern Baptist Convention. Within evangelical circles he is well known. Politically, he is a mover and a shaker.
Today CBN News asked Dr. Land what he thought about former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson.
"This is Fred Thompson's race to lose" he said. "I have never seen anything like this
grassroots swell for Thompson. I'm not speaking for Southern Baptists, but I do believe I have my hand on the pulse of Southern Baptists and I think I know where the consensus is."
He further said that in his assessment, Thompson may be the right man, in the right place, at the right time.Bottom line: Land believes that Thompson looks to be the strongest social conservative who could beat Hillary Clinton in a general election.
"Fred Thompson reminds me of a Southern-fried Reagan...To see Fred work a crowd must be what it was like to watch Rembrandt paint."Apparently, Fred Thompson is Richard Land's man-crush. Yuck.
Perhaps Land should review fellow Baptist David Gushee's 17 Rules for Christian Leaders...
1. Christian leaders must not officially or unofficially endorse political candidates or a political party.Remember Southern Baptists, Richard Land won't speak FOR YOU but he's got your pulse...
3. Christian leaders must not publicly handicap or comment upon the political horse race.
Previous Posts:
Does Richard Land Speak For Southern Baptists?
Labels: Fred Thompson, Richard Land
posted by Big Daddy Weave at 7:21 PM
8 Comments:
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7:23 AM
BDW,
I'm not a Richard Land fan. IMHO, he is more about Richard Land than anything else. However, in the case of Fred Thompson, I think he's right.
Blessings,
Les
9:26 AM
big daddy,
First of all the article is inaccurate because Broady claims Land "is head of the Southern Baptist Convention." Dr. Land is President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. He is an influential voice among Southern Baptists, but he is "one" voice.
Question: are you upset at Dr. Land because he gave his two cents on Fred Thompson, or because he slighted Hillary?
You will pardon me if don't subscribe to Dr. Gushee's 17 rules for Christian Leaders as gospel like you do. By the way, Dr. Land didn't endorse Thompson, he gave his own assessment of the political landscape at the present time.
One final point, your article about Hillary's religious views, is that tacit approval by you of her campaign and an endorsement of her for President?
9:38 AM
Jim,
No and No.
I won't be voting for Hillary in the primary. But thanks for trying to draw the parallel and paint me as a Christian leader....
9:49 AM
He doesn't have the pulse of this Southern Baptist. Thompson is another one of those Republican "non-candidates" who hasn't really jumped into the race, and for whom the "ground swell" of support (not much of a swell but of course, we're talking about Land's impression) is the result of not having been exposed to the campaign yet. In his case, I think there is more to be exposed that isn't pretty than there was in either Giuliani or Romney. In terms of his committment to issues of interest to Christians, he's probably as clueless as Bush has been, and would probably take the same approach, which is basically to do nothing, and claim to be doing something.
5:07 PM
Les,
Richard is right how? Correct that Thompson is "Southern Fried Reagan"
Maybe he is. After all, they're both Hollywood stars, both have either flip flopped or been inconsistent on abortion and both rarely if ever attend(ed) CHURCH.
If you mean that Richard is right - that he's got the pulse of Southern Baptists - then I wonder how someone could make such a statement? Thompson is a non-candidate. Even a political junkie like myself doesn't know a great deal about WHO Fred Thompson is and what he stands for, etc..
I've got a clue. But if you asked me to distinguish Thompson from the rest of the Republican pack - I couldn't do it.
I'm not sure how Richard Land knows the pulse of Southern Baptists as it relates to Mr. Thompson...
I'm still befuddled as to why Richard Land won't throw all of his weight behind Mike Huckabee. Talk about a conservative! And he actually goes to church too! He's a real-live minister for crying out loud!
11:13 PM
It may just be speculation on my part, but I've always had the impression that Land was bucking for some kind of cabinet appointment. I think that's what is behind his obvious overestimations of support from Southern Baptists for Bush. It doesn't matter that the front running Republicans happen to be a pro-choice, thrice divorced lapsed Catholic Giuliani, a Mormon Romney, and a social liberal McCain, those three have an "R" behind their name and thus, may offer Land a cabinet post if he can convince them that he delivered the votes of "16 million Southern Baptists," even though 10 million of them don't go to church and a good third of them by the most conservative of estimates are Democrats. Land is going to get out his tissues and toilet paper to follow around whatever "R" gets the nomination, regardless of whether the interests of Southern Baptists and others in the religious right will be represented. Land won't support Huckabee, even though they agree on the issues right down the line, because Land knows Huckabee won't win the nomination.
Huckabee, as far as I am concerned, is the ideal candidate to represent the religious right. He's a conservative Southern Baptist, and he's straight down the line with regard to his views on all of the right's social agenda. Yet his campaign is having trouble getting traction in the Republican party and even among those of the religious right because of the perception that he can't win. Well, that and I think they see his opposition to the death penalty as some kind of abberation. Imagine that. A Southern Baptist minister with experience as a governor who holds a completely consistent view of the sanctity of human life can't gather support among the religious right wing of the Republican party. That's a hoot!
I'd like to see Huckabee break away from the party and run as an independent, Christian candidate. One thing is for sure. I'm certainly NOT voting for Giuliani, Thompson or Romney and unless there's a genuinely viable third party candidate, I'll have to vote for a "lesser of two evils" Democrat.
9:16 PM
BDW, this article shows just how right you are:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071700104.html?tid%3Dinformbox&sub=AR
While I am disappointed that neither Edwards nor Obama seem to be closing in on Hillary (except in fundraising), this shows that any on the top 3 candidates could beat any GOP candidate running--if the election were held this month. It's possible that Hillary's high negatives (50%) could unite and energize GOP voters in a general election (another reason not to support her), but, as of now, the race appears to be the Democrats' to lose.
2:43 AM
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