Howard Dean loves Jesus, or at least he says he does for the benefit of the Southern vote.
He [Dean] acknowledged that he was raised in the "Northeast" tradition of not discussing religious beliefs in public, and said he held back in New Hampshire, where that is the practice. But in other areas, such as the South, he said, he would discuss his beliefs more openly.[SNIP]
Political analysts note that discussing religious beliefs could provide an important link to Southern voters. Greater numbers of Southern voters feel religion and politics need not be separate. An ABC/Washington Post poll released this week showed that 46 percent of Southerners said a president should rely on his religious beliefs in making policy decisions, compared with 40 percent nationwide and 28 percent in the East. The South is a potential problem area for Dean's campaign for the Democratic nomination, particularly as rivals like retired Army general Wesley K. Clark of Arkansas and Senator John Edwards of North Carolina invoke their Southern roots. In recent years, the South has been tough ground for any Democrat in the general election."If the Dean people are playing chess instead of checkers and are moving down the board and trying to figure out how to win a general election as well as how to win a nomination, they had best explain Dean to the people in terms of religiosity," said Stephen Hess, a senior fellow in governmental studies at the Brookings Institution.And, like the Big He and his sort-of faithful servant, Dean knows how to play to us "backward, religious colored folk."
Just how much Dean will inject religion into his campaign, Hess said, remains to be seen. He pointed to an appearance at an African-American church in Columbia, S.C., as an example of what voters might hear in the future.
There, before nearly 100 parishioners, Dean said in a rhythmic tone notably different from his usual stampede through policy points, "In this house of the Lord, we know that the power rests in God's hands and in Jesus's hands for helping us. But the power also is on this, God's earth -- Remember Jesus said, `Render unto God those things that are God's but unto Caesar those things that are Caesar's,' " a reference to Jesus's admonition that the secular and religious remain separate.Who is advising this poor son-of-an-unmarried-mother (figurative pejorative)? If Howard Dean really loved Jesus, he would be mindful of the perils of his latest maneuver, using the Big JC as a means to get votes. According to the Bible, God is having hypocrites even less than he’s having non-believers. If his church believes in “not discussing religious beliefs in public,” then why would he go against that now, except to use Jesus as a prop? If Dr. Dean really does believe in the redemptive power of accepting Jesus Christ as the Savior, then his long-term planning skills are questionable. If he does not, then he is a liar and a manipulator of the first order.
And the Leftists want this guy to be the Democrat candidate for president? Well, shucks. So do I.
