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Politics : THE VAST RIGHT WING CONSPIRACY -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (5337)	1/8/2004 3:07:49 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 6358

Dean Works Religion Angle in Campaign URL:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107762,00.html Thursday, January 08, 2004 MONTPELIER, Vt. — When Vermont Gov. Howard Dean delivered an impassioned speech April 26, 2000, on why he was signing a civil unions law (search) granting marriage rights to gay couples, he never mentioned religion as a reason. Now, as he seeks the Democratic presidential nomination and tries to connect with voters for whom religion is an important part of their values, Dean has said that his faith was one of the reasons he signed the law. "The hallmark of Christianity (search) is to reach out to people who have been left behind," Dean told reporters Tuesday night. "So there was a religious aspect to my support of cis at a group of people who have been outcasts for many, many generations." People who followed his nearly 12-year career as Vermont governor were surprised to hear about Dean's recent comments on the religious aspect of his thinking. "He never played the religion card as governor of Vermont," said Peter Freyne, a political columnist for the Burlington weekly 7 Days. "Religion and his personal religious views were never raised by the governor during his 11 years in office." Religious faith is something that rarely plays a role in the politics of New England, despite the soaring white church steeple that is the enduring image of the region, and Dean was no exception during his 20 years of public life in Vermont. "Part of the culture about this part of the country is religion is a private matter and what people do or don't do about religion is their own private business," said Middlebury College political scientist Eric Davis. "I don't recall Howard Dean, or for that matter anybody else who has been governor in the past 20 years -- Richard Snelling, Madeleine Kunin, Howard Dean, talking about religion." Dean left the Episcopal Church (search) about 20 years ago in a dispute with the Burlington diocese, which opposed a bike path he championed to cross lakefront property it owned. He joined the Congregational Church. His wife, Judy, is Jewish. Dean always seemed to be eager to talk about almost any topic that came up while he was governor. Religion was the exception. He rarely discussed faith. But his personal life often was off limits, even to his closest allies. "It would be something that I wouldn't think he would be sharing even with his close friends," said state Sen. Richard Mazza, the longest-serving Democrat in the state Senate and perhaps Dean's closest friend in the legislature. As it was for many lawmakers, Mazza's decision on how to vote on the civil unions issue was driven in part by his faith. The Catholic Church strongly opposed the bill and tried to sway Mazza and others in its flock. Mazza ultimately decided to vote for the bill, but he said he never discussed his religious considerations with Dean. Mazza was accustomed to Dean maintaining a strict separation between his political and personal even if some of his gubernatorial decisions often were shaped by personal or family considerations. "Being as private as he was about his personal life and family ... it doesn't surprise me it may have played a role but that it was not something that he was out talking about," Mazza said.

To: calgal who wrote (5337)	1/8/2004 3:14:24 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6358

Jesus was Jewish Shhhhh...don't confuse them. <gg> story.news.yahoo.com Bush Polls Well Among Hispanic Voters By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) starts this election year in a relatively strong position among Hispanics, who reacted favorably to the capture of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), according to poll results released Thursday. More than half, 54 percent, in the poll done for the Pew Hispanic Center in early January, said they think the president is doing a good job. Almost four in 10, 37 percent, said they would like to see President Bush re-elected. Less than half in the poll, 47 percent, said they would prefer that a Democratic candidate win the election. Those results are significantly better for Bush than in a poll taken by the same group right before the capture of Saddam. "This shows serious inroads into what had previously been a traditionally Democratic constituency," said Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center. Suro said the poll shows where Hispanic opinion on Bush was just before his latest push to win over Hispanic support. The January poll was taken just before Bush proposed a plan that could brighten his election-year prospects with Hispanic voters, a fast-growing part of the electorate. Bush on Wednesday proposed granting legal status — at least temporarily — for millions of illegal immigrants working in the United States. Hispanics were divided about whether the president has a clear plan for bringing the situation in Iraq (news - web sites) to a successful conclusion. And slightly more, by 50 percent to 40 percent, said the war in Iraq has not been worth the toll in American lives and other costs. In early December, they said the war in Iraq was not worth the toll by a 2-1 margin. Pollster Sergio Bendixen said the level of support for Bush's re-election should not be overemphasized since the poll was of Hispanic adults, not Hispanic voters. But he said the level of support from Hispanics had been dropping through 2003, and definitely moved up over the last month. "These two polls show the volatility of Hispanics and tend to reinforce those who feel Hispanics are a swing vote in the 2004 election," Bendixen said. In the poll taken in early December, fewer than half of the Hispanics said Bush was doing a good job, and about a fourth said they would vote to re-elect him. Hispanics were evenly split on his handling of the economy in the January poll, and a majority thought he made the right decision in using military force in Iraq. He improved his standing on both issues since early December. Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) got 62 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2000, according to exit polls, while Bush got 35 percent. Hispanics make up an increased share of the electorate in many states in the South and West that will be important in the general election, so any gains among Hispanics by Bush this year could be significant. The two polls of 500 Hispanics each were conducted Dec. 8-11 and Jan. 2-4 by Bendixen and Associates and have margins of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. ___ Pew Hispanic Center — pewhispanic.org