GOP: Hide your Bibles if Kerry wins!

Published September 24, 2004 2:12PM (EDT)

If Republicans can claim with straight faces that al-Qaida is fighting to elect John Kerry (finally, Osama finds a U.S. presidential candidate he can get behind!), should it surprise us that the GOP is warning voters that liberals want to ban bibles? The Republican party actually admits doing this in mass mailings in two states:

"The mailings include images of the Bible labeled 'banned' and of a gay marriage proposal labeled 'allowed.' A mailing to Arkansas residents warns: 'This will be Arkansas if you don't vote.' A similar mailing was sent to West Virginians.

"... In an e-mail message, Christine Iverson, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, confirmed that the party had sent the mailings. 'When the Massachusetts Supreme Court sanctioned same-sex marriage and people in other states realized they could be compelled to recognize those laws, same-sex marriage became an issue,' Ms. Iverson said. 'These same activist judges also want to remove the words 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance.'

"The mailing is the latest evidence of the emphasis Republicans are putting on motivating conservative Christian voters to vote this fall. But as the appeals become public, they also risk alienating moderate and swing voters."


By Geraldine Sealey

Geraldine Sealey is senior news editor at Salon.com.

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