Typical media spin

Hello, many of you know that Tom and I were interviewed by the Dallas Morning news last week and as we were interviewed we felt that the article would be spun, but gave Wayne Slater the benefit of doubt with his questioning as a possible "devil's advocate for the media".

My response to the State of Texas is below and was sent today to Dallas Morning News:

Letter:
I was interviewed by Wayne Slater of Dallas Morning news this past week as one of many Evangelicals supporting Senator McCain in the upcoming election in the State of Ohio. I feel very strongly that the title to his article from October 4th, "Evangelical right slow to support McCain", is deceiving and unfair. Even if other Evangelicals interviewed in Ohio last week were lukewarm in support, this should have been balanced by our fervent support and other Evangelicals' extreme excitement and positive outlook for our candidate of choice!

This excitement was not shown in the title nor body of the article printed in your paper. I can, however, assure you it was shown in my and my husband's interview. The article should have read "Evangelical right EXCITED to support McCain"! This is the annoying and misleading spin we have seen repeatedly from American Media across the Nation. Though the quotes may have been fact and nothing was wrong with what was said in the body of the article, the whole article gave a feel that Ohio Evangelicals are complacent or lax in support of McCain. Our friends in Texas should know that McCain Values Voters in Ohio are EXCITED about their support for McCain, and his pick of Governor Palin has served to reenergize the campaign in ways not even seen during President Bush's reelection four years ago! We WILL pull Ohio for John McCain, and Mr. Slater's typical spin has only served to motivate us to work even harder. Thank you.





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If you feel as fed up with this, feel free to write a letter yourself!


Original Article printed below:


Evangelical right slow to support McCain

By Wayne Slater

The Dallas Morning News

October 4, 2008

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/100508dnpolevangelicals.19213c7.html



WESTERVILLE, Ohio – David Barton never specifically mentioned Sarah Palin from the pulpit. But everybody knew what he meant.



"Christians, you've got to register. You've got to vote. You've got to vote your values," the Texan told parishioners who packed Genoa Baptist Church last week.



Outside the sanctuary, tables were festooned with voter guides and voter-registration forms. And Mr. Barton, a Christian historian and founder of Aledo-based WallBuilders, cautioned that if evangelicals don't turn out in big numbers, advocates of abortion and homosexual rights will be elected in November.



His warning, designed to push attendees at Tuesday's event to the polls, may be prescient. Ms. Palin's nomination initially energized Christian conservatives, the constituency that has helped Republicans win elections for a generation.



But in this key swing state and elsewhere, there's still a sense of impending political doom.



Ms. Palin is wildly popular with conservative evangelicals, but they're still lukewarm over John McCain, because of past disappointments, Republican miscues, Bush fatigue and especially the roiling economic crisis.



Mr. McCain faces a tough political climate to begin with, so any lack of enthusiasm that dampens voter turnout among core Republicans could make victory impossible.



"I don't sense the energy this time around," said the Rev. Mark Fuller of the Grove City Nazarene Church, south of Columbus. Ms. Palin's presence on the ticket, though, "at least has gotten some buy-in from the conservative wing of the Republican Party and many evangelicals," he said.



In 2004, President Bush beat John Kerry 2-1 here in exurban Delaware County north of Columbus, and if Mr. McCain hopes to win this year, he'll have to do that well, too.



Four years ago, a gay-marriage ban on the Ohio ballot drove evangelical turnout. This year, Republicans hope Ms. Palin will do the trick.



"She's like a breath of fresh air. All of our friends are going to vote for Palin and McCain," said Barbara Dils, a conservative Christian who attended the rally at Genoa Baptist, one of six last week across Ohio.



Here and in other swing states, such backing is crucial for Mr. McCain – he lacks the deep funding Mr. Bush had and his campaign isn't as well organized, so he needs help getting voters to the polls, especially against Barack Obama's sophisticated campaign machinery.





Increased energy



Mr. Fuller said that on a scale of one to 10, "before Sarah Palin came in, the energy level was maybe five. She has brought it up to a seven or eight."



Then, he paused, shaking his head as he sat in the pastor's study.



"But whether she can bring us back up to 10 again," he said, "I just don't know."



Mr. McCain has had problems with the Christian right. He called some leaders "agents of intolerance" in 2000 and ruffled feathers this year by rejecting the endorsement of San Antonio televangelist John Hagee, who had made controversial remarks about the Catholic church and the Holocaust.



But in picking the 44-year-old Alaska governor with deep roots in evangelical churches and a family story that Christian conservatives admire, he hoped to remedy that – and motivate evangelicals in decisive states like Florida, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Ohio.



"People have gotten off the fence and are willing to work now," said Chris Long of the Ohio Christian Alliance. "They're willing to work phone banks; they're willing to work events, to distribute material. All that was unknown up until the Palin pick."



But the Palin selection could be a liability among voters who are concerned about having too much religion in government.



After weeks of mounting doubts about her readiness for the job, Ms. Palin's performance in Thursday's vice presidential debate heartened religious conservatives working for the GOP ticket in Ohio.



"Talking to my friends who are also evangelical Christians, we feel in our heart, looking into her background, that she thinks like us and she speaks for us," said ("me")



Ohio usually picks the winner in presidential races. No Republican in 150 years has won the White House without carrying Ohio.



Mr. Bush won the state four years ago, following a blueprint by political consultant Karl Rove that rolled up big margins in rural and exurban counties by mobilizing evangelicals – offsetting Mr. Kerry's 66 percent of the vote in Ohio's most urban counties.



Mr. Obama, who talks more openly about his faith than Mr. Kerry or the 2000 Democratic nominee, Al Gore, had hoped to make inroads among white evangelical voters this year.



"But I think the Palin nomination completely ended this discussion about evangelicals going to Obama," said Kelly Shackelford of the Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute.



A Washington Post-ABC News poll taken after the GOP convention found that 72 percent of white evangelical Protestants support the McCain-Palin ticket. That's only slightly less than Mr. Bush's evangelical support in 2004.



For political operatives, though, the key is not just whether evangelicals will vote, but whether they'll actively work for the ticket in their churches and communities.



Mr. Shackelford said that with Ms. Palin on board, "the electricity has been hooked back up and things are moving. People are excited about her, so there's actually a fighting chance now."



After the event at Genoa Baptist, evangelicals flocked to the Citizens for Community Values table to pick up voter guides, church bulletin inserts and a patriotic CD featuring Mr. Barton.



Warning



Phil Burress, who heads the group, spearheaded passage of the Ohio marriage amendment in 2004. In June, he told Mr. McCain at a private meeting in Cincinnati that if he didn't pick an anti-abortion running mate, he would lose evangelical support – and the state of Ohio as a result.



"I know evangelicals, and they were sitting on their hands," he said. "The ship was just sitting there, nobody at the steering wheel and no engine running."



He's confident Ms. Palin changed things, but that might not be enough. Recent polls indicate Mr. Obama's lead is growing in Ohio.



Mr. Burress said he has faith. There's a bumper sticker his wife put on their car that says, "Palin Power."



"It doesn't even say anything about John McCain," he said.