religious left all bummed and stuff
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0207/2693.html
Edwards Blogger Flap Discomforts Religious Left By: Ben Smith February 9, 2007 03:28 PM EST
As the flap over alleged anti-Catholic writings by two John Edwards =
campaign bloggers devolves into a shouting match between conservative =
religious voices and liberal bloggers, some members of the “religious =
left” say they feel =96 again =96 shoved to the margins of the Democratic =
Party.
“We’re completely invisible to this debate,” said Eduardo Penalver, a =
Cornell University law professor who writes for the liberal Catholic =
journal Commonweal. He said he was dissatisfied with the Edwards =
campaign’s response. “As a constituency, the Christian left isn’t =
taken all that seriously,” Penalver said.
Democrats — and Edwards in particular — have embraced the language =
of faith and the imperative of competing with Republicans for the =
support of religious voters. His wife, Elizabeth Edwards, even sits =
on the board of the leading organization of the religious left, Call =
to Renewal. But in private conversations and careful public =
statements today, religious Democrats said they felt sidelined by =
Edwards’ decision to stand by his aides.
“We have gone so far to rebuild that coalition [between Democrats and =
religious Christians] and something like this sets it back,” said =
Brian O’Dwyer, a New York lawyer and Irish-American leader who chairs =
the National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council, a Democratic Party =
group. O’Dwyer said Edwards should have fired the bloggers. “It’s not =
only wrong morally =96 it’s stupid politically.”
O’Dwyer e-mailed a statement to reporters saying: “Senator Edwards is =
condoning bigotry by keeping the two bloggers on his staff. Playing =
to the cheap seats with anti-Catholic bigotry has no place in the =
Democratic Party.”
In a comment that several Catholic Democrats told The Politico they =
found particularly offensive, Edwards aide Amanda Marcotte asked, in =
a posting to her personal blog, “What if Mary had taken Plan B after =
the Lord filled her with his hot, white, sticky Holy Spirit?”
The other Edwards blogger, Melissa McEwan, has come under fire for =
referring to Christian conservatives as =93Christofascists=94 in her =
personal blog.
Thursday, the campaign issued a statement from Edwards saying that he =
had been personally offended by the remarks and that the bloggers =
“have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign =
anyone’s faith, and I take them at their word.”
The campaign also sent out semi-apologetic statements from each =
blogger saying she was sorry if anyone was offended.
And so religious liberals find themselves in a quandary. They have no =
interest in associating with the likes of William Donohue, the =
Catholic League president who is closely aligned with the GOP and led =
the charge against Edwards’ aides. Donohue said Thursday he would =
take out newspaper advertisements attacking Edwards as anti-Catholic. =
But religious liberals also think Edwards’ aides merit more than a =
slap on the wrist.
=93I thought his explanation was not satisfying,” said Cornell’s =
Penalver. “It’s obvious that they did mean to give offense.”
“You imagine a similar kind of comment directed at the Jewish =
community or at the gay community =96 something at this level of =
intentional offensiveness — and I have a hard time believing it gets =
resolved in the same way,” he said.
The Catholic Alliance, which stresses that fighting poverty and =
social injustice are Catholic values, sent out a careful public =
statement Thursday afternoon,
“We accept Senator Edwards’ assurances that he too was offended by =
comments made by recently-hired staffers and that religious =
intolerance has no place in his campaign,” the group’s executive =
director, Alexia Kelley, said in the statement.
But in a mark of how religious Democrats are fighting a war on two =
fronts, Kelley also took a passing shot at Donohue in an interview.
She said she hoped that Donohue would hew to the Catholic value of =
forgiveness in forgiving the bloggers =96 as Donohue had notoriously =
forgiven Mel Gibson.