ONE OF THE GREAT DISAPPOINTMENTS to the GOP in the election of 2000 was the disappearance of more than 4 million evangelical Christians in the final turn-out numbers. In this cycle, evangelical leaders have launched ivotevalues.org to encourage registration and turn-out, and to educate pastors and congregations on their ability to conduct non-partisan registration drives without incurring the wrath of the IRS. One of the nation's most influential voices within the evangelical community is Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of the board of Focus on the Family. Dobson's radio broadcasts are heard by millions of people each week around the globe as his program broadcasts in more than 100 countries, and is heard on thousands of outlets in the United States.
Dobson cannot endorse candidates on his Focus programs or in connection with any Focus program. But he can be interviewed in his capacity as a citizen, which is what I did yesterday for an hour. Here are some of the exchanges from that interview:
Hewitt: Let me get right to the heart of the hunt here. It is the most important presidential election of my lifetime. Do you think it is, doctor?
Dobson: I definitely do. I think we are at a crossroads. There are two paths in front of us, and if we make the wrong decision this time, I don't know if we'll come back from it. I really am very, very concerned about where we
are as a nation.
Hewitt: As between President Bush and Senator Kerry, who will you be voting for?
Dobson.:Well, I'll be voting for President Bush. Once again, I'm not speaking for Focus on the Family, but as a private individual, but the IRS allows me to do that, and I do it enthusiastically.
Hewitt: Tell me why.
Dobson: Well, because President Bush understands the great moral issues of our time. I don't think there's a greater public policy issue before us than the issue of marriage, and it is on the ropes, it is in danger, and if the family goes down, the entire country goes with it, and he has had the courage to take a stand. He's been hit hard by the Washington press and the New York Times and Los Angeles Times and the rest of the news media for taking a stand for marriage like he's done, but I appreciate it, appreciate him doing that. Also, the sanctity of life and many other moral issues, to say nothing of the way he's run the country. I think he's done a good job.
Hewitt: I'd like to start with the war. How do you think the president has acted as commander-in-chief in the war on terror?
Dobson: I think he's responded admirably. We can't sit here and wait to be hit. You can't just hope that the enemy that brought down the World Trade Center is going to wait, or give us a warning before they do something even worse than that. You know, we have the specter now of dirty bombs, and maybe even nuclear weapons themselves, all kinds of biological weapons. I mean we're sitting ducks here, and I'm thankful for a president who is willing to go out there and fight for us and to take the battle to them on their territory, and not wait until we get hit here.
