Land says third party option is not a bluff
October 25th, 2007The threat by some leading evangelicals to vote for a third party candidate if Rudy Giuliani is the Republican nominee is not a bluff. So says Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
If Giuliani is the nominee there will be a third party. There are things that Giuliani could do to help mitigate the damage. But I have been in too many discussions over the last 15 years where evangelical leaders have said, “The one thing we will never allow to happen is for the Republican Party to take us for granted the way the Democratic Party too often takes the African-American community for granted.” This is not a bluff.
Hat tip: Denny Burk
Do evangelicals really make up that little of a constituancy? If evangelicals are opposed to Guliani, why is he so far ahead in all the polls?
This is bad news for the Republican party. Not only will a conservative third party guarantee the election of a Democrat, but Land’s sentiments also point out that the structure of the GOP is becoming just like that of the Democrats, a collection of special interest groups rather than a broad swath of voters with the nation’s general best interests in mind.
Not only that, Land needs to sit down and get busy doing something more important…like ministry.
I just wanted to use that retort today, sorry.
I have had Dr. Land as a professor at SBTS, and I respect his experience in dealing with the political climate. He also a great heart for the Church and the SBC. I think he is correct on this issue. If all the evangelicals who voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004 cast their support behind a 3rd party candidate, he may not win, but he would play a decisive role in the race.