Christian conservative leaders from scores of Ohio's fastest growing churches are mounting a campaign to win control of local government posts and Republican organizations, starting with the 2006 governor's race.We're going to rely on our readers to recognize the bias in this piece (like "so-called Patriot Pastors" - what? religious people can't be partiots?), but point out just a couple of things...
In a manifesto that is being circulated among church leaders and on the Internet, the group, which is called the Ohio Restoration Project, is planning to mobilize 2,000 evangelical, Baptist, Pentecostal and Roman Catholic leaders in a network of so-called Patriot Pastors to register half a million new voters, enlist activists, train candidates and endorse conservative causes in the next year.
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The initial goal is to elect Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, a conservative Republican, governor in 2006. The group hopes to build grass-roots organizations in Ohio's 88 counties and take control of local Republican organizations.
"The establishment of the Ohio Republican Party is out of touch with its base," said Russell Johnson, the pastor of the Fairfield Christian Church and the principal organizer of the project. "It acts as if it lives in Boston, Mass."
On the whole I agree with the assessment of the Ohio Restoration Project, namely that the Ohio Republican Party IS out of touch with their base (see more here and here). My fear, though, is that the Ohio Restoration Project will wind up doing more harm than good - like the Christian Coalition. All the best intentions aren't going to mean a thing if they don't help us win.
The WMD Editorial Board supports Ken Blackwell for Governor of the State of Ohio.
