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DEL.ICIO.USThe Georgia effort to change Catholic minds in Iowa and New Hampshire
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If there’s one thing politicians can’t stand, it’s an outside group inserting itself into local affairs.
But occasionally, it’s the other way around. Someone in Georgia decides to stir the pot everywhere else.
On the Fourth of July, 37-year-old Steve Dillard will launch a national web site called CatholicsagainstRudy.com.
Despite his age, the Macon attorney describes himself as “the grandfather of conservative Catholic bloggers,” having operated a now-defunct site known as Southern Appeal until a couple years ago.
Dillard was a chief Internet advocate for William Pryor, the former Alabama attorney general who finally won a seat on the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in 2005.
Dillard, a convert to Catholicism, was also a vocal critic of John Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign. That’s why he’s going after Rudy Giuliani, who has had only limited success among Southern evangelicals because of the thrice-married candidate’s support of abortion rights, and his statements in favor of civil unions for gay couples.
“We need to tend to our own house. And we need to hold Republicans to the same standard that we did John Kerry,” Dillard said recently.
Many social conservatives are worried that a Giuliani victory in the Republican race for the White House would be followed by a decline in the party’s emphasis on core issues that have rallied Christian conservatives to the GOP side since the early 1980s.
“[Giuliani]is emblematic of a coming — or already existing — rift in the Republican party,” Dillard said.
The attorney, who currently leans toward Fred Thompson, said CatholicsagainstRudy.com would be fit for family viewing.
“You won’t see the picture of Rudy in drag on my web site. You’re not going to see the video of him kissing Donald Trump. I’m not even getting into the divorce stuff,” Dillard said. “I want it to be on his stated public policy. I don’t want this to be a ‘I hate Rudy’ web site.”
That’s because he admits the distinct possibility that Giuliani could carry the day.
“If he becomes the nominee, the web site will shift gears a little bit,” Dillard said. “I don’t hold out the notion that a faithful Catholic couldn’t vote for Rudy in a general election against someone like Hillary Clinton.”
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By TW
June 10, 2007 8:53 PM | Link to this
For the past ten years, the Republican Party has done nothing but wipe its backside with The Bible. Gonna be alot of wide-eyed right-wingers when Saint Peter points at the slide…
By Steve Dillard
June 10, 2007 10:36 PM | Link to this
A few clarifications are in order:
(1) I did not describe myself as “the grandfather” of conservative Catholic bloggers, but rather as “one of the (many) grandfathers of the conservative blogosphere.” My point was simply that I got into blogging before it really took off, and was a well-known conservative Catholic blogger before shutting down my blog, Southern Appeal. I never intended to convey that I was the top dog in the Catholic blogosphere. That collective honor belongs to good folks like Jimmy Akin, Mark Shea, and Amy Wellborn.
(2) I shut down Southern Appeal this past December (the blog was active from August 2002 until December 2006).
(3) While I do believe there are “proportionate reasons” that would allow a Catholic, in good conscience, to vote for Mayor Giuliani in the general election over any of the current Democratic candidates, I will not do so for prudential reasons (e.g., the long-term harm that I believe would result from having someone who holds proabortion views as the leader of the GOP).
The rest of the piece accurately conveys the substance of my interview with Mr. Galloway.
By bubbagump
June 11, 2007 12:25 AM | Link to this
What about the thieves in your own back yard?
By Hypocrisy
June 11, 2007 1:24 AM | Link to this
Hey Steve Dillard, how about “Catholics Against Priests Molesting Children”, or “Catholics Against Monsignors Embezzling Parish Funds”, or “Catholics Against the Vatican Ignoring Darfur”??? I’m a lifelong Catholic, Stevie Boy, and it’s time we get our own house in order before we throw stones at politicians.
By Steve Dillard is a Sham
June 11, 2007 1:30 AM | Link to this
Dillard is a Fred Thompson supporter. The same Fred that divorced his longtime wife, chased skirts in D.C. for a decade, and then married a girl four years younger…than his daughter. Plus Thompson was a K Street lobbyist for ten years. Yeah, Steve Dillard, you’re a moral compass for us to follow.
By Craig
June 11, 2007 5:55 AM | Link to this
Come on guys, don’t be so hard on ol’ Steve. Anything goes, in the eyes of the wingnuts, as long as you’re agin’ gay marriage and abortion. You can lie, steal, sleep around, divorce your wife and find a trophy wife, gamble your savings away, whatever, as long as you’re against abortion. And you don’t even have to really believe abortion is wrong, like Multiple Choice Mitt, as long as you SAY that abortion is wrong.
By MrLiberty
June 11, 2007 9:03 AM | Link to this
What’s wrong with “human beings against Rudy?” I mean this man is a fascist. He wants a national ID card and his entire career prior to being mayor was spent browbeating honest citizens and throwing them in jail on trumped up charges of basically behaving in a manner the feds were not happy with. Michael Milkin did more for the economy and financial well-being of this country than Rudy ever will. Then as mayor he oversaw the most corrupt police department since the LAPD. He likes to say he cleaned up NYC, but you could say the same for Hitler about Germany, or Mussilini about Italy. If you folks don’t care about freedom and liberty than Rudy is the stooge for you. He is grossly ignorant on foreign affairs, as Ron Paul proved definitively, and obviously lacks a solid grasp of the constitution and the bill of rights. You don’t need to be Catholic or anti-abortin to be against this clown, only awake and a patriot. Go Ron Paul.
By SpaceyG
June 11, 2007 10:09 AM | Link to this
Yeah, everyone’s against abortion… until the young hottie they’re having an affair with suddenly needs one.
By Catholics For Following the Money
June 11, 2007 2:52 PM | Link to this
Chew on this one Steve:
http://www.catholic.org/national/nation al_story.php?id=22413