The Bush alliance with the Religious Reich is alive and well
Jeb Bush on Saturday made a major overture to evangelical voters, seeking to reassure a skeptical voting bloc that when it comes to core beliefs about religious freedom and Christianity’s role in the world, he’s with them.
The former Florida governor and likely presidential candidate made his pitch at a commencement address at Liberty University, a prominent symbol of evangelical Christianity in Lynchburg, Va., that has become a routine campaign stop for presidential hopefuls. Bush aimed to connect with evangelical voters — many of whom have been wary of his potential candidacy — by decrying progressives who, in his characterization, see no role for religion in public life.
“I am asked sometimes whether I would ever allow my decisions in government to be influenced by my Christian faith,” Bush said, building on a spirited defense of the First Amendment and the importance of free exercise of religion. “Whenever I hear this, I know what they want me to say. The simple and safe reply is, ‘No. Never. Of course not.’ If the game is political correctness, that’s the answer that moves you to the next round. The endpoint is a certain kind of politician we’ve all heard before – the guy whose moral convictions are so private, so deeply personal, that he even refuses to impose them on himself.”
Bush, a convert to Catholicism, is personally devout, and his record as Florida governor is regarded as a conservative one. But nationally, he hasn’t discussed religion as openly or as frequently as several other 2016 competitors, like Ted Cruz, for example, who launched his presidential campaign at Liberty. The former governor has been seeking to change that recently.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/jeb-bush-courts-evangelicals-at-liberty-university-117776.html#ixzz3ZlkM0Xsr
