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Jerry Falwell Hustles for Bush |
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By Bill Berkowitz
In an early-October fundraising letter signed by his son Jonathan, the Jerry Falwell Ministries accused "liberals, and especially gay activists" of launching "a vicious smear campaign to discredit him." The letter said that Falwell was "being roundly vilified by the news media for remarks he made in a TV interview while calling for spiritual revival in America." The letter is referring to the very same post-September 11 appearance on Pat Robertson's 700 Club for which Falwell later took pains to apologize. Less than a month later he and his son were using it as a funding appeal. Jonathan Falwell's letter went on: "It seems that Satan has launched a hail of fiery darts at dad recently. He needs to know you still support him. Please return the enclosed Vote of Confidence Reply Card right away in the envelope I have provided within the next 5 days….And with your card, please remember to include a special Vote of Confidence gift for Jerry Falwell of at least $50 or even $100 along with your signed card." Out of the penitence closet Now, three months after the terrorist attacks, visions of those glorious days of yesteryear when he spearheading the Moral Majority must be dancing around in Falwell's head. With Pat Robertson out of the picture, having recently stepped down as the head of the Christian Coalition, Falwell is out of the penitence closet and is writing fundraising appeals for himself. According to Richard L. Berke in the New York Times, Falwell's new fundraising letter tells supporters that "he is organizing a campaign to take advantage of President Bush's popularity from the war to press aggressively for a conservative family-oriented social agenda." As usual, "taking advantage" are the operative words.
The Wall Street Journal: "Democrats in the Senate will hesitate to carry out borkings that clearly undercut Mr. Bush's leadership." Bush should "use the moment to press a broad agenda that he believes is in the national interest." According to the New York Times, Falwell said he sent the letter to more than two million Christians, and claimed that the president was enthusiastic about his plans to rally conservative voters. "President Bush and I are longtime friends," Mr. Falwell said. "He's counting on me to mobilize my Christian supporters and build a groundswell of overwhelming pressure on 'wobbly' members of Congress to pass his pro-family legislative agenda, confirm his all-important Supreme Court appointments and defeat the left's campaign to destroy him…. He was very excited when I told him about the $1,200,000 'Christian Call to Action' I'm describing to you now," Falwell added. Not so fast came the reply from the White House. Scott McClellan, a White House spokesman, disputed Falwell's letter, saying, "We're not aware of any conversation he had with the president on this." And, it's doubtful that there has been any conversation. Although, come to think of it, with Karl Rove around you never know how many back room deals are being cut with conservative ideologues. But, all things being equal, you've got to figure that the President still wants to distance himself from Falwell. Is the President missing an opportune moment? . Are Falwell and the Wall Street Journal correct in their analysis? A grinding conservatism Conservative ideologues complaining that the Bush Administration is not taking advantage of his high popularity ratings and pushing hard enough for the conservative agenda is like Gary Condit whining about his lack of media exposure before September 11. The Bush administration has never stopped pushing its conservative domestic policy agenda, both through its appointments within the administration and its policy initiatives. It has recognized, however, that change is incremental and there are certain issues not worth going to the mat over. The school voucher provision in the education bill is one of these. While vouchers were included in the president's initial education package, they were removed early on from the version that will soon pass in the Senate and be signed by the president. Vouchers were deep-sixed, yet the president's massive testing initiative is in. Also included is a provision allowing churches and other religious groups to provide tutoring and after-school programs. Another conservative measure thrown into the mix is a provision that would strip federal financing from any school district that "discriminates against the Boy Scouts" or similar groups that bar homosexuals. Did the president get everything he was after? No. Has the education bill moved future discussions in a more conservative direction? You bet. Many of the President's other domestic policy agenda items are chock full of hard-core conservative proposals. The cornerstone of the president's faith-based initiative is the "charitable choice" provision that clearly blurs the line between the separation of church and state by allowing religious institutions to receive, without major restrictions, government funding to provide a bevy of social services. Conservative policy wonks are working on a welfare reauthorization bill, characterized in a new report by Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) as a series of proposals that "could devastate gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) families and individuals."
The Bush Administration continues to pursue its socially conservative agenda. Maybe not hard-line enough for the likes of Jerry Falwell and other Religious Right leaders, but its public policy initiatives are clearly moving one issue after another to the right. Bill Berkowitz is an Oakland-based freelance writer covering the Religious Right and related conservative movements. |
After sticking his foot in his mouth about the September 11 tragedy, Falwell's back to fund-raising 
Falwell claims Bush Administration is "pushing" his agenda 
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