2008 Woodie Awards
Evangelicals say one Clinton is enough
Issue date: 12/30/07 Section: Divine Intervention
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The Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, Clintons' United Methodist pastor during the White House years, said the woman he knows does not match the public caricature.
"A number of times, I saw her interacting with people where there was no political gain to be had and she was sensitive and caring," he said.
Some wonder if conservative Christians would be uneasy with a female commander-in-chief. The Southern Baptist Convention, after all, has declared that a wife should "submit herself graciously" to her husband, and many early evangelical warriors cut their political teeth in the fight against the Equal Rights Amendment.
But Texas author and professor Dorothy Patterson said there's a difference between voting for a woman and voting for this woman. Many evangelicals, she said, would feel perfectly comfortable with, say, Margaret Thatcher in the White House.
"I just do not think she espouses the values important to me," said Patterson, whose husband, Paige Patterson, is president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. "I do not think she has the character I would want to see in a woman."
Patterson and others, including Tamara Scott, an independent political consultant in Ankeny, Iowa, said Clinton's mantra - "It takes a village to raise a child" - shows "she's very anti-family."
"For most Christian parents, we understand parents are the God-given authority, and we're not willing to hand our children over to the village to be raised," Scott said. "It's, in fact, the village I'm protecting my children from."
Evangelicals are deeply skeptical of her reasons for remaining married to the former president.
"I appreciate the fact she's stuck by her man," said Sidonie Graves, member of the Republican Central Committee of Buchanan County, Iowa. "But I think she also knew that if she didn't stick with him, there was no hope for her political future."
Adds Kitty Rehberg, president of Iowa Eagle Forum: "We know where she wanted to go in her life and what power she wanted to have. I'm very skeptical on whether this is a true marriage."
"People vote who they trust," said Janice Shaw Crouse, director of the Beverly LaHaye Institute of the Washington-based Concerned Women for America. "I think the biggest factor Hillary will have to overcome is that trust factor, because so many people are suspicious of her motives."
"A number of times, I saw her interacting with people where there was no political gain to be had and she was sensitive and caring," he said.
Some wonder if conservative Christians would be uneasy with a female commander-in-chief. The Southern Baptist Convention, after all, has declared that a wife should "submit herself graciously" to her husband, and many early evangelical warriors cut their political teeth in the fight against the Equal Rights Amendment.
But Texas author and professor Dorothy Patterson said there's a difference between voting for a woman and voting for this woman. Many evangelicals, she said, would feel perfectly comfortable with, say, Margaret Thatcher in the White House.
"I just do not think she espouses the values important to me," said Patterson, whose husband, Paige Patterson, is president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. "I do not think she has the character I would want to see in a woman."
Patterson and others, including Tamara Scott, an independent political consultant in Ankeny, Iowa, said Clinton's mantra - "It takes a village to raise a child" - shows "she's very anti-family."
"For most Christian parents, we understand parents are the God-given authority, and we're not willing to hand our children over to the village to be raised," Scott said. "It's, in fact, the village I'm protecting my children from."
Evangelicals are deeply skeptical of her reasons for remaining married to the former president.
"I appreciate the fact she's stuck by her man," said Sidonie Graves, member of the Republican Central Committee of Buchanan County, Iowa. "But I think she also knew that if she didn't stick with him, there was no hope for her political future."
Adds Kitty Rehberg, president of Iowa Eagle Forum: "We know where she wanted to go in her life and what power she wanted to have. I'm very skeptical on whether this is a true marriage."
"People vote who they trust," said Janice Shaw Crouse, director of the Beverly LaHaye Institute of the Washington-based Concerned Women for America. "I think the biggest factor Hillary will have to overcome is that trust factor, because so many people are suspicious of her motives."
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