Last Ditch Political Tactics ... with a religious overlay

These four items caught my eye:

** Voter Guides, Part I
It has been common for conservative Christian groups to provide voting guides to help their church members make the "right" choices for important races, as if the faithful did not know before hand. These were not, strictly speaking, endorsements because the guides merely laid out a candidate's position on issues, but, as everyone knows, once you define what issues to include, the guides become de facto endorsements.

Now, the leadership of the FLDS has published a voter's guide rating candidates' views on issues important to the polygamous group. Not surprisingly, the Utah Attorney General and two district court judges, each of whom had been involved in a high profile case involving FLDS members that did not go well for the FLDS people, received a negative rating.

** Voter Guides, Part II
Not to be outdone by the religious community, the John McCain campaign has issued its own "voter guide" to help the undecided voters in key swing states. The issues McCain chose to highlight, though, are all of those that are always common in the religious guides, like defense of traditional marriage, against "activist" judges, and for school choice. Many within the conservative Christian community applauded the publication, but said it should have been distributed much earlier.

** More aspersions against the Democrats
Bishop Finn of the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese called for the faithful to ask Mary to intercede in the upcoming Presidential election and duplicate the overwhelming victory Christian forces experienced before. In Bishop Finn's words, "In 1571, in the midst of the Battle of Lepanto, when the future of Christian Europe was in the balance and the odds against them were overwhelming, prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary brought the decisive victory. We ask her now to watch over our country and bring us the victory of life."

For those who are not up on 16th century European conflicts, the Battle of Lepanto was a decisive victory by the armies of Christian Europe against the Ottoman Turks, the Muslim invaders. Bishop Finn did not indicate whether his allusion to the Muslim invaders referred to Obama and Biden only or to all Democrats.

** Can a godless candidate win?
The news out of North Carolina is not pretty. The Republican incumbent in the Senate race, Elizabeth Dole, has aired an ad claiming her opponent took money from a group of atheists. Quoting the CNN story, "'Godless Americans and Kay Hagan,' the ad continues. 'She hid from cameras. Took 'Godless' money. What did Kay Hagan promise in return?' The ad ends with a picture of Hagan and a voice that sounds like hers declaring, 'There is no God.'"

Of course, the ad skirts lightly around some facts. Senator Dole's challenger, Kay Hagan, is a Sunday School teacher and an Elder in a Presbyterian church. The ad does not mention any of this.

What issue relating to the operation of the American government did this ad address?
What do you think Senator Dole was hoping to achieve with this ad? Do you think it was a legitimate issue to raise? It will be interesting to see how North Carolinians respond to this type of ad.