Guest guest Posted July 3, 2004 Report Share Posted July 3, 2004 > " G > Fri, 2 Jul 2004 13:06:56 -0700 > Bush Seeks Church Membership Data > > Bush Seeks Church Membership Data > > By David Morgan, Reuters > > WASHINGTON (July 1) - President Bush, seeking to > mobilize religious conservatives for his reelection > campaign, has asked church-going volunteers to turn > over church membership directories, campaign > officials said on Thursday. > > In a move sharply criticized both by religious > leaders and civil libertarians, the Bush-Cheney > campaign has issued a guide listing about two-dozen > " duties " and a series of deadlines for organizing > support among conservative church congregations. > > A copy of the guide directs religious volunteers to > send church directories to state campaign > committees, identify new churches that can be > organized by the Bush campaign and talk to clergy > about holding voter registration drives. > > The document, distributed to campaign coordinators > across the country earlier this year, also > recommends that volunteers distribute voter guides > in church and use Sunday service programs for > get-out-the-vote drives. > " We expect this election to be potentially as close > as 2000, so every vote counts and it's important to > reach out to every single supporter of President > Bush, " campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said. > But the Rev Richard Land, who deals with ethics > and religious liberty issues for the Southern > Baptist Convention, a key Bush constituency, said he > was " appalled. " > > " First of all, I would not want my church > directories being used that way, " he said, > predicting failure for the Bush plan. > > The conservative Protestant denomination, whose 16 > million members strongly backed Bush in 2000, held > regular drives that encouraged church-goers to " vote > their values, " said Land. > > " But it's one thing for us to do that. It's a > totally different thing for a partisan campaign to > come in and try to organize a church. A lot of > pastors are going to say: 'Wait a minute, bub', " he > added. > > The guide surfaced as a spate of opinion polls > showed Bush's reelection campaign facing a tough > battle. > A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll showed Bush running > neck-and-neck with Democratic presidential candidate > John Kerry among registered voters, 47 percent of > whom said they now believed the president had misled > Americans about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's > Iraq. > > The Bush campaign has also been spending heavily on > television ads, only to see the president's approval > ratings slump to new lows. > > Stanzel said the campaign ended the month of June > with $64 million on hand. He had no figures on how > much Bush has raised in June. At the end of May, > Bush had raised $213.4 million and spent all but $63 > million. > > The latest effort to marshal religious support also > drew fire from civil liberties activists concerned > about the constitutional separation of church and > state. > > " Any coordination between the Bush campaign and > church leaders would clearly be illegal, " said a > statement from the activist group Americans United > for Separation of Church and State. > > 07/01/04 19:30 ET > > Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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