GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain is “reassessing” his candidacy in light of an allegation that he had a 13-year-long extramarital affair. Many social conservatives are reassessing their support for the Cain campaign since Atlanta businesswoman Ginger White told a Fox News affiliate that she was involved in a “very inappropriate situation, relationship” with Cain.

Cain campaign suggested that such an extramarital affair would be private and not a legitimate topic for public scrutiny. The allegation of an extended affair comes on the heels of claims of sexual harassment during Cain's time as president of the National Restaurant Association. Cain has denied both the affair with White and the harassment charges.

When Cain faced harassment charges, many conservatives came to the candidate's defense. The charges were simply that—allegations. Cain was considered innocent until proven guilty. Newt Gingrich, one of Cain's rivals for the Republican nomination, told NBC on November 11, “Up to now [Cain] seems to have satisfied most people that the [harassment] allegations aren't proven, and that having people who hold press conferences isn't the same as a conviction. So I think people are giving him the benefit of the doubt.”

According to a poll of likely Iowa Republican voters, born-again Christians and cable news watchers became more supportive of Cain after the harassment allegations.

A poll began a week before the November 7 press conference by women claiming harassment allegations against Cain and ran for another week after. While the average voter grew slightly less supportive of Cain after the press conference, those who watched cable news saw Cain as more intelligent, more trustworthy, and a stronger leader after the allegations than they did before the press conference.

“The effect of the scandal on perceptions of Cain depends on where people are getting their information,” said Dave Peterson, interim director of the Harkin Institute of Public Policy. "Those who tune in to the major networks react as one might expect: they view him more negatively. Cable news watchers, in contrast, report more positive assessments, suggesting that they are rallying behind Cain.”

Among likely Republican caucus goers, there was a drop in the support for Cain among Catholics and Mainline Protestants (those who did not say they are “born again”). Among evangelical, born-again voters, however, there was an increase in support for Cain after the harassment claims, according to data Peterson provided to Christianity Today.

White had records of 61 phone calls by Cain's personal cell phone to her. Fox News 5 texted the phone, and Cain called them back. He said he knew White but was only trying to help her financially.

While Cain denied the allegation of an affair, Cain’s attorney, Lin Wood, sent FOX 5 in Atlanta a statement about the claims:

...This is not an accusation of harassment in the workplace – this is not an accusation of an assault - which are subject matters of legitimate inquiry to a political candidate.

Rather, this appears to be an accusation of private, alleged consensual conduct between adults - a subject matter which is not a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public. No individual, whether a private citizen, a candidate for public office or a public official, should be questioned about his or her private sexual life. The public's right to know and the media's right to report has boundaries and most certainly those boundaries end outside of one's bedroom door...

The statement did not deny the allegation. It argued that one's private life has no bearing on a candidate's public integrity—an argument that did not sit well with many conservatives who have now turned on Cain.

Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called Wood's statement “a disaster” and “an argument of desperation.”

“Voters know that a candidate’s sexual life is an essential dimension of character. So is the candidate’s fidelity or lack of fidelity in marriage,” Mohler said. “Character does not end at the bedroom door. Any effort to make this claim will be recognized by the public for what it is. We live in a morally confused age, but there is little confusion about the fact that sexual behavior and personal character are inseparable. The question of character is among the most crucial issues of a political campaign.”

Iowa talk-radio host Steve Deace told Politico that the statement by Cain's lawyer was the “kill-shot” for Cain's campaign. “For an ordained Baptist minister to assert through his attorney that what happens in his private sex life doesn’t matter is preposterous,” Deace said.

In an interview on the Scott Hennen radio show, Michele Bachmann said her campaign considered Cain's run for the nomination to be all but over.

"When it came out yesterday, everyone said, 'This is it. He's done.'” Bachmann said. “And so people just don't see that there is an ability for him to be able to come back after that." Bachmann told Hennen that she would likely benefit from Cain's departure and from other candidates falling in the polls.

Most of Cain’s opponents, including frontrunners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, have remained silent.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at November 30, 2011 10:57AM | Comments (12)

Republican evangelicals are less likely than other religious voters to support Mitt Romney in the primary elections, but they are more likely vote for him over President Obama in the general election, a new poll suggests.

Among Republican voters, just 8 percent say Romney’s religion makes them less likely to vote for him and 44 percent say it would not make a difference. Among white evangelical Republican voters, however, 15 percent say Romney’s religion would make them less likely to support him.

Still, voters could find themselves voting for Romney if he wins the GOP nomination, according to the poll released Wednesday from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. About 90 percent of white evangelical Republican voters say they would back Romney over Obama in a general election matchup.

In the general election, those who say they attend religious services at least once
a week were more likely to vote for Romney over Obama (55% to 41%). "Overall, white evangelicals would be among the strongest Romney supporters if he is the GOP nominee challenging Obama next fall," the survey suggests.

White evangelical Protestant voters appear to have mixed opinions about Romney; 46 percent of them expressed favorable views compared to 40 percent of those who suggested unfavorable views. Romney would likely find weakest support among white evangelical Republicans who agree with the Tea Party where just 11 percent of these voters support Romney for the GOP nomination compared to 39 percent who said they would back Herman Cain.

In the poll, conducted November 9-14, Cain led Romney (17% to (26%) among white evangelical Republican and Republican-leaning voters. Romney was running nearly neck-and-neck with Cain among white Catholic Republican voters (26% and 23%). Cain's standing in the polls has dropped since some women accused him of sexually harassing them. Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich's numbers have been up recently, and 19 percent of evangelical voters suggested they support the former House speaker.

Despite Mormonism's increased visibility in recent years, little has changed among perception among evangelicals since Romney's 2008 run for the GOP nomination.

About half of all voters--and 60 percent of evangelical Republicans--know that Romney is a Mormon. Half of the survey respondents said Mormonism is a Christian religion while a third said it is not, demonstrating little change in beliefs about Mormonism over the past four years.

The survey also looked at party perception among religious voters. Despite Democratic outreach to religious voters, 43 percent of Americans currently say the Republican Party is friendly to religion, compared to 30 percent of those who say the same thing about the Democratic Party.

However, fewer see the GOP as friendly to religion (43%) than did so during President George W. Bush's years in office (50%). A majority of white evangelical Protestants (53%) say the GOP is friendly to religion, compared to 18 percent of evangelicals who said the same thing about the Democratic Party.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at November 22, 2011 11:45PM | Comments (16)

Religious groups lobbying for hunger programs were pleasantly surprised last week when President Obama signed the agriculture appropriations act. The law unexpectedly protected—and even expanded—programs aimed at reducing hunger both in the United States and around the globe.

When Congress considered spending reductions this summer, a broad coalition of religious leaders and international aid organizations mobilized to keep funding for hunger programs. Evangelical and other Christian groups formed the Circle of Protection, a coalition that lobbied the president and congressional leaders not to cut back on aid to vulnerable populations.

World Vision president Richard Stearns wrote an open letter to Congress last month, calling for the protection of humanitarian programs. “The United States’ global humanitarian programs are some of the most cost-effective programs within the federal budget,” Stearns said. “Together, they amount to $50 per American per year, just 14 cents per American per day. There are very few places within the federal budget where such a small amount of money can directly save so many lives.”

The lobbying efforts succeeded. The final appropriations bill increased funding for aid programs above and beyond what was expected. The Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC) received over $6.6 billion, which is more than either the House or Senate originally approved. The bill also appropriated $177 million to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program that serves low-income seniors. According to Bread for the World, both programs should have enough funds to cover their caseloads.

Foreign aid programs also fared well. InterAction, a coalition of 200 U.S.-based international aid groups offered recommended levels of spending for international programs. Congress met or exceeded these recommendations for many programs. InterAction recommended $1.3 billion for emergency food assistance. Congress decided on nearly $1.5 billion, in part because of the growing need for humanitarian aid for those in drought-stricken areas in Africa.

InterAction also recommended that the United States spend $200 million on the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, which provides school children in the world's poorest nations with at least one meal. The bill provides $184 million for the program.

Bread for the World president David Beckmann said the appropriations bill is a significant victory but not the end of the battle for foreign aid.

“Although cuts to programs vital to hungry and poor people in the fiscal year 2012 agriculture appropriations bill were not nearly as severe as originally proposed, the battle isn’t over,” Beckmann said.

Final passage of the appropriations bill was a rare show of bipartisanship in Congress. In the Senate, the vote was 70-30. All of the opposition came from Republicans while 17 GOP Senators voted for passage. In the House, the vote was 298-120. Opposition came from a coalition of conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats. Republicans in both chambers voted against the bill because of concerns about deficits and because they had promised to not pass so-called omnibus spending bills. Some opposed school lunch policies and the lack of regulation for agricultural commodities futures markets. Few (if any) voiced opposition to the spending for hunger programs.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at November 22, 2011 12:26PM | Comments (1)

Those who will likely vote in Iowa’s presidential caucuses remain undecided, a new poll suggests. Those that did report an opinion in the poll admitted that they could still be persuaded to change their vote.

Herman Cain, Ron Paul, and Mitt Romney are leading the pack among likely caucus goers, according to a poll conducted by Iowa State University, The Gazette, and KCRG of 1,256 of registered Iowa voters. Other candidates received single-digit support in the Hawkeye State.

Herman Cain received the most votes among Catholics (35 percent) and Protestant/born-again (25 percent), but he has very little support among secular voters (10 percent). Secular voters represent a small portion of caucus voters, but they are the most unified with six-in-ten of them backing Ron Paul.

Among religious voters, born-again Protestants are the least supportive of Mitt Romney. Only one-in-eight born-again voters support the former governor of Massachusetts, compared to nearly one-in-four support among other Protestants. Evangelicals are twice as likely to support Rick Perry compared to other religious voters.

Michele Bachmann is also trailing in the poll, partly due to her lack of support (0 percent in the poll) among Catholics. Bachmann's former membership in a Wisconsin Synod Lutheran church in Stillwater, Minnesota, previously drew some attention earlier this year because the Synod suggests that the Catholic Papacy is the Antichrist.

The poll found a high level of fluidity among voters. Dave Peterson of Iowa State said that the race in Iowa is still up for grabs.

“My take away from these results is that voters are still really unsure of whom they will support. Over half of the people are still trying to decide, and another third are merely leaning toward a candidate,” said Peterson, who is interim director of the Harkin Institute of Public Policy. “When asked, people will express a preference for one candidate, but that they will also admit that this is a weak attitude. This is anyone's race at this point.”

Religious voters appear fairly undecided.

“Religious voters are particularly fluid at this time," Peterson said. "While only around 16 percent of all voters say they have made up their mind, the rate is even lower amongst voters of faith. 37 percent of secular voters say that they have made up their mind, but less than 10 percent of voters who identify as either Catholic or Protestant have made a firm choice.”
Iowans cast votes for the GOP nomination on January 3.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at November 18, 2011 4:31PM | Comments (8)

Michele Bachmann and Beverly LaHaye appear to be the exception, not the rule, in conservative politics. A recent “Battleground Poll” conducted by Politico and George Washington University suggests that there is a gap between male and female evangelicals.

The November poll interviewed 1,000 likely voters about their plans for the upcoming election, their views of current events, and their evaluations of government. Among those interviewed, evangelical men were some of the most conservative.

Evangelical men in the survey preferred a generic Republican to Obama by a two-to-one margin. Two-thirds of evangelical men said they would vote for the Republican candidate next year. Only 27 percent of these men (including African Americans and other minorities) said they would support Obama.

Evangelical women, however, were almost evenly split, with around 44 percent favoring Obama and 43 percent supporting the Republican, about the same as men who are not evangelical.

Women who are not evangelical are the most supportive of Obama with a majority reporting they will vote for him next fall. A majority of these women (58%) also identify themselves as Democrats. In contrast, 64 percent of evangelical men say that they are Republicans. For evangelical women and men who are not evangelical, there is an even split between Republicans and Democrats.

The survey also suggests a difference in the policy priorities of evangelical men and women. When asked what policies should be a priority for Congress, most Americans of all religions and sexes said the economy was most important.

There was also a divide between the priorities of men and women, even among evangelicals. Evangelical men were much more likely to point to government spending and the deficit as a top concern. Few of these men said that things like health care costs were a priority.

Evangelical women, however, saw the needs of the country differently. Like other women, evangelical women were more likely to say that health care costs should be part of the congressional agenda. They were less concerned about government spending than evangelical men.

On average, evangelical men are some of the most conservative and pro-GOP voters in the country. One survey suggests that evangelical women might be more religious, but they also appear to be less conservative in their voting choices and policy priorities.

Editor's note: This post has been updated on 11/18.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at November 17, 2011 11:27AM | Comments (15)

Family Research Council recently elevated the criticism of President Obama, saying the President disrespects Christianity and is creating an environment “hostile” to Christianity.

During last week’s broadcast of Family Talk with Dr. James Dobson, FRC president Tony Perkins joined a discussion over the Air Force Academy’s apology for promoting participation in the Operation Christmas Child program conducted by Samaritan's Purse. Host James Dobson said he suspected that the Obama administration influenced the apology (though he suggested he had no proof of this). Perkins said the President disrespected Christianity:

I have no doubt, as you look back over the last two and a half of years of this administration, that the President has used his bully pulpit—he has done public policy but beyond the public policy that he’s pushed for—that it's created an atmosphere that is hostile toward Christianity. And we’re seeing this played out all across this culture. And the courts have been emboldened by this. And now you see the military doing it as well. There’s no end to this as long as you have someone who is the Commander-in-Chief, who is the president of this country that has a disdain for Christianity.

Alliance Defense Fund president Alan Sears and American Values president Gary Bauer joined Perkins on Dobson's show.

Perkins’s statement on Family Talk came after a similar statement to Fox News last week. Fox reported on the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to oppose the addition of President Franklin Roosevelt's D-Day prayer to the World War II Memorial at the Washington Mall.
"This is further evidence that the administration has created an environment that is hostile towards American history -- but in particular towards Christianity. I hope America wakes up and realizes what this administration is doing to this country and how they want to radically and fundamentally change America,” Perkins said. "They want to erase every aspect of America's heritage. Any president, any official in history that has embraced Christianity, is no longer welcome in this administration. That's the environment they are creating."
A year ago, Samaritan's Purse president Franklin Graham said that while Obama himself was not hostile to Christianity, some in the White House were. In an interview on CNN, Graham was asked by Campbell Brown if he believed the president was “hostile to evangelicals.”
“I don't think there's any hostility [from Obama]. But I certainly think there are probably some people under him that would be hostile towards evangelicals,” Graham said. “It's interesting, Campbell, that the evangelical community has been disenfranchised in this administration. I think they need to understand that there are millions of evangelicals that voted for President Obama this last election. But there has not been a movement towards this administration, toward the evangelical community at all.”

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at November 14, 2011 9:46AM | Comments (81)

The National Association of Evangelicals on Tuesday (Nov. 8) called for greater precautions with nuclear weapons and a renewed effort toward disarmament.

"The rules have changed in the past 25 years," NAE President Leith Anderson said. "Nuclear weapons don't serve as a deterrent to the dangers of our post-Cold War era, which include rogue nations and terrorist groups."

The resolution calls for taking a second look at the Cold War doctrine of deterrence in light of shifting global politics, and challenges the U.S. to pursue new negotiations with Russia and other nuclear countries.

It does not, however, call for unilateral disarmament.

The resolution also challenges the Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, which would create significant impediments for countries to develop new, usable nuclear weapons. The U.S. is one of only nine remaining nations that must ratify the treaty for it to come into force.

The board of directors of NAE, which represents more than 45,000 churches from over 40 evangelical denominations, approved the resolution at its semiannual meeting in October.

Anderson said nuclear stockpiles should be "a matter of national attention" because "one of the greatest terrorist threats would be a dirty bomb or some rogue nation that used a nuclear weapon."

With the nation's current attention focused almost exclusively on the economy, NAE Vice President Galen Carey said a nuclear attack would cause tremendous economic devastation.

"Over time, if we're able to negotiate a multilateral reduction to nuclear weapons, it may also lead to some savings in the national budget," said Carey.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at November 9, 2011 6:40AM | Comments (3)

Officials at the Air Force Academy have issued an apology to its cadets for an e-mail encouraging them to support Operation Christmas Child.

Last week, Academy cadets received an e-mail encouraging them to support the Christian-affiliated toy drive, which is sponsored by Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse. The e-mail, which was sent by cadets, should have been sent through the Chaplain Corps, as it is “responsible for advertising faith-based programs and events,” the Academy stated in a press release.

"This was an oversight by me that has been addressed and forwarded through the proper channels," Brig. Gen. Richard Clark said. "The cadets had nothing but good intentions, but this was something that should have started with the Chaplains, not the Cadet Wing. That doesn't mean the cadets can't volunteer for the Christmas toy drive; they can participate through the Cadet Chaplain Corps.”

By November 2, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) had been contacted by more than 130 cadets and faculty members about the e-mail, the majority of whom were Protestants or Catholics, said MRFF president Michael Weinstein. Weinstein filed a complaint on behalf of those who had contacted him, and the following evening, the Air Force issued an apology.

The controversy shows the cultural shift happening in the U.S., said Jordan Sekulow, executive director for the American Center for Law and Justice. “This is a perfect example of how heartless these groups are when it comes to defending their anti-religion position,” Sekulow told Fox News. “It’s not about the First Amendment. It’s about a real hatred of religious people and people of faith that they would go so far as to stop an assistance program like [Operation Christmas Child].”

Weinstein said the issue was not about the toys, but the evangelical message that is included in the gifts, and promoting that violates the First Amendment. “We are not trying to take shoe boxes of toys and candy away from kids,” he said. “But this is clearly an egregious Constitutional mistake.”

He was also concerned because of OCC’s ties to Franklin Graham, who leads Samaritan’s Purse. “Graham is a fundamentalist – a total enemy of the Constitution – an absolutely incredible Islamophobe,” Weinstein said.

Graham made headlines in 2010 after he was disinvited from a Pentagon prayer service because of comments he had made about Islam, saying it was evil and offensive. He was slated to be the lead speaker at the event, but several groups raised objections to his appearance.

At the time, Graham said there would be increasing levels of secular repression. "Oh, no question. It's coming," Graham said in an interview with Newsmax Television. "I think when you preach that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, I think we're going to see one day that people will say this is hate speech."

A spokesman for Graham said Graham was traveling overseas and had not issued a comment. Operation Christmas Child has distributed 86 million shoe boxes for children for Christmas since Samaritan's Purse launched the program in 1993.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at November 7, 2011 9:06AM | Comments (18)

President Barack Obama noted in speech today that the House ignored his jobs bill but passed legislation yesterday affirming that “In God We Trust” is the U.S. national motto.

“That’s not putting people back to work,” the president said in Virginia today. “I trust in God, but God wants to see us help ourselves by putting people back to work.”

As a follow-up to his speech, press secretary Jay Carney was asked by a reporter, “Isn’t it a bit much to bring God into the jobs debate?”

“Well, I believe the phrase from the Bible is, 'The Lord helps those who help themselves,’” Carney said at the White House daily news briefing. "And I think the point the President is making is that we should — we have it within our capacity to do the things to help the American people."

The White House noted later in the transcript "The Lord helps those who help themselves" is a "common phrase" and does not appear in the Bible. Many Christians cringe at the saying, suggesting that it diminishes the idea of grace. One's need for salvation rests on his or her dependence on God, evangelical theologians would likely argue.

Obama raised the issue of jobs when he met with members of the National Association of Evangelicals executive board last month. A source close to the president sent CT the following statement:

"The President was likely making the simple point that Congress should focus on helping those in need and putting people back to work; he’s done more to engage people of faith than any Democrat in recent memory. Those making hay out of this are just attempting to rile the faith community, they don’t genuinely think the Administration was being disrespectful."

The following includes a portion of the transcript (starting around minute 2 of the YouTube video):

Q Okay, and on the President’s speech today, he referenced the House action yesterday on the “In God We Trust” motto and said, “I trust in God, but God wants to see us help ourselves by putting people back to work.” I mean, isn’t it a bit much to bring God into the jobs debate?

Carney: Well, I believe the phrase from the Bible is, “The Lord helps those who help themselves.” And I think the point the President is making is that we should — we have it within our capacity to do the things to help the American people. And that’s why he’s working so hard to get Congress to take action on the American Jobs Act and the provisions therein. And he — because he believes it’s in the interest of the American people that that action be taken and certainly believes that Americans who are unemployed, who are looking for work, deserve the attention of Washington, the attention of Congress as well as of the President in their policymaking decisions. It’s a number-one priority for him, getting the economy growing faster and getting the economy creating more jobs.

Now, he was obviously making this particular reference in the context of inaction by the House of Representatives, which has spent time on issues like commemorative Hall of Fame baseball coins and reaffirming a motto that I don’t think anyone doubted, which is that “In God We Trust” is our motto. So his point was simply that the House should get busy with matters of great importance to the United States and to the American people.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at November 2, 2011 4:43PM | Comments (29)