Subject: [Atheist] AANEWS for July 30, 1996 Special Bulletin Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 14:01:

Subject: [Atheist] AANEWS for July 30, 1996 ~ Special Bulletin
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 14:01:48 -0700
From: AMERICAN.ATHEISTS@listserv.direct.net
Reply-To: aanews@listserv.atheists.org, AMERICAN.ATHEISTS@listserv.direct.net

     nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
     nnnnnnnnnn   AANEWS   nnnnnnnnnn
     #115 uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu 7/30/96 (Special Bulletin)
               http://www.atheists.org

    FEDERAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION SUES CHRISTIAN COALITION

   Late this afternoon, the Federal Elections Commission voted to file a
civil complaint against the nation's most powerful religious political
organization, the Christian Coalition.  Reports indicate that four
Commissioners -- two of them Republicans, two of them Democrats -- agreed to
charge the religious right Coalition with improper conduct in the 1990, 1992
and 1994 elections.  Charges include:
  * In 1990, the Coalition specifically aided in the election victory of
North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms by distributing "voters guides" and
targetting specific election data on Helms' behalf.
   * The Christian Coalition engaged in partisan political activity in the
1992 Presidential campaign of George Bush by helping to identify voter
blocks, and by distributing some 28,000,000 "voters guides."
   * In 1994, the group worked on behalf of House Speaker Newt Gingrich by
distributing so-called "scorecards" helpful specifically to the Gingrich
campaign.  The Coalition engaged in similar partisan activity on behalf of
the senatorial effort by Iran-Contra figure Oliver North during the same
year.
   It is not known at the present time how this may affect plans by the
Christian Coalition to distribute a record 65,000,000 voter guides in time
for the November election, through a network of some 100,000 churches and
religious groups throughout the country.
   But the FEC complaint charges that the Coalition has engaged in behavior
not in accordance with its special status as a non-partisan, and presumably
non-political educational organization.  One Washington pundit charged
Coalition Director Ralph Reed of simply being a "head of a political
movement."
   According to the book "Dirty Little Secrets: The Persistence of Corruption
in American Politics," University of Virginia political science professor
Larry Sabato and reporter Glenn Simpson charge that, in effect, Christian
Coalition "voters guides" are a form of campaign literature.
   "Taken as a whole, the effect (of the guides) was to make the guides seem
like campaign fliers."  The authors note that the guides were instrumental in
"turn-about" races.  In some cases, candidates have alleged that the guides
actually misrepresented their stands on issues.  The guides may have also
made a crucial difference in tight races, such as the recent election contest
between Jesse Helms and challenger Harvey Gantt.
   The guides are reportedly shipped to target churches, with specific
instructions as to when they are to be released.  Candidates charge that they
often do not have time to respond to how they rated or described in the
disingenuous "voters guides," and that complex legislation is often presented
in simplistic categories such as "Voluntary Prayer in Public School" or
"Capital Punishmen for Murder."
   Today's decision may not do much to stop the Coalition from distributing
its guides in time for the November election.  "They've already pushed the
envelope on this issue," noted one Washington observer talking on the latest
CNN reports.
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