Value Voters Unleash Wrath Against Romney

The Nation: Christian Right Highlights Romney's Porn Connection

(The Nation)  This column was written by Max Blumenthal.

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With onetime Republican presidential frontrunner Senator John McCain in meltdown, Mitt Romney suddenly finds himself under fire from some of the Christian right's most influential activists. Romney's evangelical critics claim the former Massachusetts governor and devout Mormon was complicit in the Marriott hotel chain's sale of pay-per-view porn on its in-room television sets when he served on the corporation's board of directors from 1992 to 2001. Two Christian-right operatives involved in orchestrating the charges have enlisted as Internet organizers for former Senator Fred Thompson, who is preparing to enter the race formally. The tactics of these religious-right players, targeted below the radar against Romney, are calculated to alter decisively the outcome of the Republican primary contest.

The assault was launched on July 5 with an opening shot in the form of a breathless press release issued through the mega-ministry Focus on the Family. In it, veteran anti-porn crusader Phil Burress called Romney's failure to take action against pay-per-view hotel porn during his tenure on Marriott's board "extremely disturbing." That same day, a Focus on the Family spokesman took to the radio airwaves to ask whether Romney would "turn a blind eye" to pornography if elected president. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, which functions as Focus's Washington lobbying arm, immediately joined the pile-on. He briefed The Associated Press on the record, explaining that Romney must "take some responsibility" for his supposed connection to Marriott's porn profiteering. The AP report on the accusation against Romney was subsequently reprinted in the pages of major outlets from the Boston Globe to the Washington Post. It only took a full six years after Romney resigned from Marriott's board for the Christian right's leading lights to profess their outrage — and only hours for the press to echo it.

This carefully sequenced attack on Romney over hotel porn is just the opening volley in what appears to be a concerted effort to doom his candidacy. Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association's Michigan chapter, told me, "This is just part of a broader pattern of concern over Mitt Romney's record of aggressively promoting abortion on demand, the homosexual agenda and gun control. We are judging Romney by his record." Glenn is a leading Christian-right operative in the home state of Romney's late father, former Republican Governor George Romney, one of Romney's bases within the Republican Party. Glenn is also a member of the DC Group, a conference of 15 anti-porn activists that meets four times a year to plot political strategy. The DC Group devised its plan to undermine Romney at its most recent gathering, Glenn revealed to me.

The hostility of segments of the Christian right to Romney coincides with its mounting interest in Fred Thompson. Less than two weeks before Focus on the Family launched its attack on Romney, the Family Research Council began an informal campaign to rally support for Thompson. Without fanfare, the Family Research Council's director of web communications, Joe Carter, and the group's web editor, Jared Bridges, founded Blogs for Fred, a website that alternately shields Thompson from criticism and promotes him as the Great Right Hope. When Carter and Bridges are not plumping for Thompson, they blog on the Web site of the Family Research Council, advancing the causes of faith, family and freedom for the purportedly nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization.

In the meantime, Carter has found time to attack other religious-minded bloggers for alleging that the Family Research Council's criticism of Romney is motivated by political partisanship. When The Rev. Dan Schultz, author of the progressive Christian blog Street Prophets, said, "The Religious Right has decided to stick a shiv in Romney's campaign," Carter posted a petulant response on Schultz's blog accusing him of having a "conspiratorial mindset." Carter also went out of his way to defend his boss, Tony Perkins, from charges that the Family Research Council president might be involved in a plot against Romney, despite his having trashed Romney to the AP. "There is no vast right-wing conspiracy," Carter said. "There are just people advocating for their positions."

Technically, because Thompson is still undeclared, Blogs for Fred is not yet an official entity of his campaign machine. But that may soon change. Carter and Bridges recently have begun offering free pro-Thompson paraphernalia to bloggers who promise to sign on as Thompson supporters. A Kentucky consulting firm, GOP Campaign Masters, provides the campaign knickknacks through a retail outlet called The Fred Store. The firm, as one of its spokesmen admitted, openly seeks a lucrative contract with the Thompson campaign. "We're big supporters of Fred Thompson, and we've had communications with people who are in his [presidential campaign] committee," GOP Campaign Masters director of communications Brien Shea told me. "We're hopeful that we'll be formally affiliated with his campaign in the future." Shea eagerly volunteered that he is a close friend of Bridges.

To be sure, on paper Thompson is by no means the Christian right's perfect candidate. A July 7 Los Angeles Times story revealed that he lobbied in 1991 on behalf of the pro-choice National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. Fortunately for Thompson, he has Carter in his corner to attempt to protect him from the fallout. On Blogs for Fred, Carter composed a point-by-point refutation accusing the L.A. Times of "sloppy" reporting while attacking the story's source, Judith DeSarno, as unreliable because of her contributions in the past to the political campaigns of Hillary Clinton. Glenn, of the American Family Association, echoed Carter's line of defense, advising me when I raised the issue of Thompson's pro-choice lobbying to "consider the source of the story" — the old bogeyman, the liberal media.

Yet another potential source of friction between Thompson and the Christian right may be his second wife, Republican lawyer/lobbyist Jeri Kehn Thompson. Kehn Thompson is nearly a quarter-century younger than her husband — younger than his daughter from his first marriage — and her revealing dresses have raised eyebrows at Washington galas. A July 8 article in The New York Times Fashion and Style section reported as objective fact that Kehn Thompson is a "trophy wife," posing the question: "Will the so-called value voters accept this union?" If Glenn's labors succeed, indeed they will.

"Jeri Thompson is very sympathetic personally to the concerns that we [right-wing evangelicals] have about the direction of this country," Glenn said. "As the mother of two young children, 2 years old and 6 months old, she understands our concern about the culture and society in which our children will have to raise their children."

Glenn described a May gathering of the highly secretive and influential Council for National Policy, an elite group of several hundred right-wing leaders, as a pivotal moment in the formation of the conservative movement's opinion on Thompson. After entering the meeting to a standing ovation from the audience of conservative financiers and theocratic activists, Thompson launched into a rambling address denouncing Roe v. Wade, the supposed elimination of "God from the public schools and the public square" and, for several minutes, the prosecution and conviction of Scooter Libby. Afterward, Kehn Thompson worked the room, assuring the conservative power brokers of her solid credentials. According to Glenn, many in attendance found her "very appealing."

Perhaps the most salient explanation for the Christian right's sudden swell of support for Thompson may be that he is the lesser of several evils. Glenn explained, "The best way to ensure that Hillary Clinton is the next president is to nominate Rudy Giuliani or John McCain or Mitt Romney, all of whom will give social conservatives sufficient cause to go fishing."

But Glenn's allies, who include movement heavyweights such as Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and his Beltway lieutenant, Perkins, are demanding additional reassurances from Thompson before they leap onto his bandwagon. "Social conservatives are open-minded to the possibility of being supportive of Fred Thompson, but I don't think anybody's going to rush to a decision," Glenn said.

Thus the self-proclaimed shepherds of America's "value voters" are setting the stage for Thompson. If he lets them write his script, he may hope that he can steal the GOP spotlight. But he will discover that this acting job comes with strings attached.

[laser01]

Mitt Romney owns BAIN and SanKaty.

Has holdings or control of BAIN, Sankaty, KB Toys, Stage Stores and more.

It has been documented by Federal Court admittance that non disclosure of Conflict of Interest has occurred in eToys, Stage Stores and KB Toys.

When Dov Avni complained in Stage of statutory violations as a stock holder of $4500 of stock, he was "sanctioned" $380,000 and the US Marshalls were sent upon him 10 times.

In eToys when it was discovered that persons connected to BAIN were inside eToys selling the bankruptcy assets to BAIN the US Trustee made a settlement with the admitted statutory violators with the following illegal language.

WHEREAS the United STates Trustee shall NOT seek to compel any additional disclosures of TBF.

(please see eToys DE Bankr 01-706 from Dec 2004 till now)

Please see 3rd Circuit appeals 07-2360 and the real battle of illusions 3rd Circuit appeal 06-4308.

Using a clandestine Hiring Letter as a contract the parties rewarded Barry for not seeking the Courts approval of his hiring by giving him the CEO position if he did choose not to apply to the Court.

They sold the assets to themselves, have a plan to wipe all the shareholders away and they are now going to be public again as eToys direct is now merging with Baby Universe on NASDQ as POSH.

All while the US Dept of Justice aggressively assist in punishing this whistle blower and defending the errant, illegal behavior.

[ctrandrm]

This issue is being completely blown out of proportions. These same people fear his faith, but don%u2019t want to be accused of intolerance or bigotry, so they have been waiting for something like this so they could pounce on him and go aha! Now we won%u2019t have to vote for him! Give me a break. By saying that Mitt Romney is a pornographer for serving on the Marriot board is like calling the cable guy a pornographer for installing your cable! The truth of the matter is that the subject probably never came up in these board meetings and for all we know he may have never even knew about that business side of the hotel. By saying he supports pornography for serving on that board is no different by saying everybody who has ever stayed in that hotel was supporting pornography because they were supporting an institution that provided it. Ridiculous! By the way, I want the name of any politician running for president that never ever stayed at a hotel in their entire life that did not offer porno movies other wise by the same reason giving for rejecting Mitt Romney could be used for them all!

[geschwarz]

The Evangelicals have been raising the fear that Romney as president would be taking direction from Salt Lake. Isn%u2019t it funny that the Evangelicals are now confounding their own argument by pointing out that while Romney was on the board at Marriott that he did nothing about the pay-per-view porn.

The fact of the matter is that Marriott offers the pay-per-view only to stay competitive because that is what business travelers prefer. Romney is anti-porn. Romney is also a successful businessman. Romney is Pragmatic.

Romney did not take direction from Salt Lake while on the Marriott board, so why should we believe the Evangelicals when they say that Romney will take direction from Salt Lake as president?

[smirk5]

The right attacking the right. Nothing but good can come of that. Hopefully, at some point, the mormons in the west will learn that the southern baptists pretty much consider the mormon religion a cult. Anything that can drive a wedge between both of these groups of Republican block voters is good for America.

[glb1969]

Let's face it. It doesn't matter what religion this person embraces, they are all just different forms of the same mental disease. No sane person could ever vote for someone who believes there is a make believe "god" entity.

[nativewoman]

Posted by angelboy29 at 08:36 AM : Jul 19, 2007

ALL religions are biased to their own religions.

Fanatics of any religion all want the same thing. Government by their own religion. All the while they attack other religions for wanting the same thing.

Because, of course, only their religion is the one "true" religion.

[oleander8]

Christianity may be the most repressive, intolerant, self-righteous organized religion in the world today.

[sjc_1]

Bring democracy to Iraq has very little to do with things, bringing oil to America has most to do with things.

[hwk_i67]

While not a fan of Romney at all (he of the flip flop issues. He waffles more than IHOP), this story is pretty weak. It would be like a candidate getting blasted for a porn connection because he shops at Circle K where they sell Playboy.

American politics at it's finest. It's like John Stewart said last night on the daily show, "And this is what we're striving so hard to bring into Iraq." lol

Peace and tolerance.

[chris_umass]

The only real news here is that CBS news has demonstrated that it has an anti-Republican agenda that strong enough to make them willing to embrace the small and over-the-top splinter of the Christian Right that hates Mormons enough to influence their political judgment. Sadly, no matter who the candidate, elections are such that any activist with a passionate enough attack will get attention by the media no matter how much lacking in substance. Romney's opponents know that his values, family, and history of Christian-principled leadership are his greatest strengths, and that is why they are attacking him so hard on these things.

[oxmyx-2009]

Let's see, some schizophrenic (hears voices) walks into the badlands and proclaims himself supreme. Until 1968, in official Mormon publications, blacks were pronounced an inferior race. Multiple wives, to this day in some places. Sounds like a cult to me. It's ALL tribal horse****, just in varying degrees of scale.

[grumpas]

Why haven't these people gone after Rudy Guiliani??? Or have I missing something here? Guiliani has openly come out for abortion, gay marriage and etc. He appears to be far more secular than Romney. Not that I am going to vote for any of them anyway. I stopped voting for Republican's in the 80's when the religious nuts took over the party! It was bad news for this country then and it's gotten decidedly worse over the years.

[angelboy29-2009]

These group of evangelical christians are "I HATE MORMONS GROUP". Oftentimes, this group of people who hate Mormons are unintellectuals, misinformed, bigots, and biased to their own religion. Fred Thompson is nothing compared to Mitt Romney when it comes to spirituality and compassion. I would like to challenge you, christian evangelicals to compared the life and acheivements of Mitt Romney to Fred Thompson.

[angelboy29-2009]

These group of evangelical christians are "I HATE MORMONS GROUP". Oftentimes, this group of people who hate Mormons are unintellectuals, misinformed, bigots, and biased to their own religion. Fred Thompson is nothing compared to Mitt Romney when it comes to spirituality and compassion. I would like to challenge you, christian evangelicals to compared the life and acheivements of Mitt Romney to Fred Thompson.

[angelboy29-2009]

These group of evangelical christians are "I HATE MORMONS GROUP". Oftentimes, this group of people who hate Mormons are unintellectuals, misinformed, bigots, and biased to their own religion. Fred Thompson is nothing compared to Mitt Romney when it comes to spirituality and compassion. I would like to challenge you, christian evangelicals to compared the life and acheivements of Mitt Romney to Fred Thompson.

[soldat44]

Why do these christian group support Fred Thompson when Mitt Romney is even more Christ-like than him? What kind of people are these people? Have they gone mad? Or are they spritually blinded? Mitt Romney could not and should not in any case impose his own personal belief onto any company or organizations he do not fully own.

Mormons believe in "Free Agency", the freedom to choose between good and evil. That makes a man accountable unto himself. A persons individual faith should be treated as personal and not public.

To all christian groups, Mitt Romney is your man whom you could proudly represent to the world as a truly conservative christian.
Posted by angelboy29 at 12:55 AM : Jul 19, 2007

Ummmm...yea...We're going to move your desk to the basement...we need this space for storage.

Good gravy...

[emmac6]

Who cares? Almost every major company in America has ties to porn. I bet if someone were to comb Thompson's financial records they would show he has stock in companies that make money in porn. I'm not saying that's a good thing but it's an unfortunate reality. I think the real issue these envangelical's have is that he's Mormon--which should not matter. I'm not Mormon but I know plenty of Mormons and they are just like regular people--usually better than a lot of other people I know.

[elz523]

Values voters is a misnomer. This is all about money, whcish is the only thing the Christian Right values. Remember, these are the people shucking for your dollars on TV everyday so they can afford their expensive lifestyles and the resources needed to keep an eye on you.

[incog-nito]

Let's see. McCain's history. Rommey's hated by evangelicals, Giulani not doing much better. Thompson's their last best hope, until they find something wrong with him too.

[brianbwb-2009]

Pay per view porn in Marriott hotels?

At the prices they charge for their rooms, it should have been included for free.