Primary Focus

We are in the midst of the primary election season. Several have already occurred and some big ones are today. This has brought out the political focus of some Christian leaders. For instance, a Bob Jones University official has publicly supported a Republican challenger to current Republican U.S. Representative Bob Inglis of South Carolina. And the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins recently endorsed Republican U.S. Representative Roy Blunt, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri. Perkins, who spoke at the recent Southern Republican Leadership Conference, even campaigned with Blunt at a few events, including two events that were held in Baptist churches.

However, the oddest endorsement effort recently involves today's Kentucky U.S. Senate race and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, who is increasingly focusing on politics. Dobson had previously endorsed Republican Dan Coats, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Indiana. In Kentucky, Dobson first endorsed Republican Trey Grayson. Dobson declared:

Trey Grayson is the only candidate with the conviction to lead on the issues that matter to Kentucky families. ... As a matter of conscience, I encourage Kentuckians to support Trey Grayson on May 18th.

However, the next week Dobson changed his mind and endorsed Grayson's primary opponent Rand Paul. So much for all his talk of "conviction" and "conscience." Interestingly, Paul's campaign manager immediately responded to Dobson's endorsement of Grayson by critiquing Dobson for having "ventured abroad to endorse an establishment moderate in a U.S. Senate race." When Dobson flip-flopped on his endorsement just days later, he claimed GOP leaders had "given misleading information about the candidacy of Dr. Rand Paul." He added that he changed his mind after having "received further information" and after "interviewing the candidate himself." What a thought! He did some research on the candidate instead of just trusting what someone told him. It is irresponsible to start spouting off on elections halfway across the nation without doing the necessary research. Dobson clearly needs to figure out the political process a little better if he is going to continue to get more political. Or, maybe he should just focus on the family.