Conservative Senator Denied Delegate Slot For Not Being Right-Wing Enough

[meegbear]

Now this is just sad. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican who has long led the conservative forces of his state, has been denied his customary position as a voting delegate to the Republican National Convention -- and it's being done by an even more conservative bunch.

The Iowa Christian Alliance, a successor to the state's Christian Coalition, has effectively taken over the state party's executive committee, and they obviously weren't happy with Grassley. It does seem curious, though, when one considers that he came up in the ranks of conservative activists and was elected to the Senate in 1980 on Ronald Reagan's coattails, and is a reliably conservative vote on issues like abortion and gay rights. What could have gotten them angry?

The Washington Times, of all places, has a hypothesis: Grassley teamed up with Democrat Max Baucus to investigate the finances of televangelists.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/conservative_senator_denied_de.php

[Bluzmann57]

1. Grassley not conservative enough?!

The Iowa "Christian" Alliance are quite obviously crazy people. I live in Iowa and Grassley has often irritated me and others because of his right wing views. But to be fair, he does sometimes actually work with Tom Harkin to try and help the people of Iowa. What a jerk! How dare he try and help the people who elected him.

[WCGreen]

2. That's the ticket boys...

Get yourself more conservative when the country is headed toward a progressive upswing.

Dag nabbit, I'm sticking with buggy whips.

[AlinPA]

3. I love it. Let them take over and soon the "republican" party will be controlled

by Fred Phelps of Kansas.

[KharmaTrain]

4. Chuckles Hit A Third Rail

Religious broadcasting is BIG money. For some "preachers" it's their meal ticket to the good life as they bring in millions of "donations" with only a fraction going to actual overhead (airtime rental, production)...and it's a large marekting tool...for selling merchandise, promoting books and tours and "building projects". This was how religious broadcasting grew in the 80's...especially via Jim & Tammy Faye...and how they and others found gold on the wasteland of cable and nose-bleed TV stations. And using a religious guise means avoiding millions and now billions in taxes.

The problem here is that Chuckles is digging at the money pot...the scam that goes on that fuels the religious broadcasting machine. It's a game that uses our public airwaves to present some of the most discriminating and narrow broadcasting around and has generated a lot of money that in turn buys influence. Chuckles is going against the Dobsons and telefundies who have grown in power and influence in the midwest and west...especially in NW Iowa. Under the surface lies the next embarassing scandal for religious broadcasting...and it took years for them to recover from the last one...they're gonna show Chuckles a thing or two to prevent the next one from happening.

I first met Grassley in 1988 and while there are few things I agree with the man on politically, he's one of the few true "compassionate conservatives".