Preachers, politics and campaign 2000

Church & State, Sep 2000 by Boston, Rob

This year Americans United has reactivated

"Project Fair Play," a special effort designed to protect the integrity of the religious community and the political process by making certain that federal tax law is respected.

In previous election cycles, Americans United has advised houses of worship about the pitfalls of distributing biased "voter guides" prepared by the Christian Coalition, TV preacher Pat Robertson's ultra-conservative political group. That arm of Project Fair Play is being expanded, and this month Americans United is sending letters about tax law governing non-profit groups and political activity to thousands of houses of worship throughout the nation. In addition, a special legal memorandum has been prepared detailing the Internal Revenue Service rules.

The effort comes at a time when the Christian Coalition is struggling to maintain its political influence. Over the past two years the Coalition has seen its budget decline, its membership atrophy and a number of its chapters collapse. Three months ago, Republican regulars in South Carolina - one of the Coalition's strongest states - beat back the Robertson group's effort to kick out the state party chairman and stack the central committee.

With the Coalition struggling, Robertson is desperate to find a way to revive the organization's clout. In this election season, Robertson has promised to distribute 75 million "voter guides."

Robertson clearly sees the guides as helpful to the Bush candidacy. During the GOP primary season, when the Texas governor's run was briefly threatened by the upstart candidacy of U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Robertson groused on CNN that the Coalition was under no obligation to distribute voter guides and would not do so if McCain, a critic of the Religious Right, won the nomination. Thus the TV preacher all but conceded that his supposedly "nonpartisan" guides are unleashed on behalf of or in opposition to certain candidates.

Robertson also knows that Americans United can be a serious impediment to his plans. Last February, just before the California primary, AU and its allies distributed Project Fair Play materials to churches around the state, explaining that Coalition voter guides are deliberately stacked. (The California guides favored Bush and attempted to portray McCain, who has a conservative voting record in the Senate and was once given a 93 percent approval rating by the Coalition itself, as a liberal with views similar to Democrats Gore and former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley.)

The Americans United memo to clergy stated bluntly, "Our considered advice to you is this: Don't distribute Christian Coalition voter guides through your house of worship."

Last June an infuriated Robertson sent a three-page letter to Coalition members nationwide, warning them of "AN UNDERHANDED EFFORT TO BULLY CHURCHES ACROSS THIS NATION AND STIFLE CHRISTIAN COALITION OF AMERICA'S HISTORIC VOTER GUIDE PROJECT."

The Robertson missive charged that `Americans United for Separation of Church and State - a so-called `watchdog' group has launched a nationwide effort for the sole purpose of crippling our historic Voter Guide project this election year. This ultra-liberal organization has sent a letter to pastors across America deceitfully warning them not to distribute our Voter Guides!" Continued Robertson, `Americans United has a long histo