http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMv28sYQzCY&feature=player_embedded
When historians look back on the Presidential election of 2012, they’ll notice a copious amount rhetorical “wars.” Wars on women, wars on health care and now, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has revived a popular one in his latest ad: war on religion.
In partnership with the Republican National Committee, the subject of Mitt Romney’s latest ad hits a nerve with religious voters – whose beliefs, he said, are under attack.
This morning, Romney’s campaign announced the release of “Be Not Afraid,” a 31-second clip attacking President Obama for forcing religious institutions to go against their beliefs.
Although Romney doesn’t mention it himself, it is assumed that the presumptive presidential nominee’s ad refers to the President’s healthcare plan – and some women’s health provisions in general, including the birth control mandate.
“Who shares your values?” the narrator of the ad asks. “President Obama used his healthcare plan to declare war on religion, forcing religious institutions to go against their faith.”
Using what was considered the strongest point of his international trip in July, the clip shows Romney quoting Pope John Paul II at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, Poland, saying “Be not afraid.”
The ad also touts the endorsement of Romney by Lech Walesa, a Polish politician, trade union organizer and human rights’ activist who’s also a staunch socially conservative Roman Catholic.
Obama’s “war on religion” began earlier this year, when the Health and Human Services Department mandated that contraceptives must be included in health insurance plans. Because some religious institutions opposed the mandate, Republicans found an effective line of attack against Obama.
Romney, however, chose to avoid using the “war on religion” attack against Obama, choosing to use indirect attacks like saying that the President has a “secular agenda.”
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9 Responses
Mary, I think you are completely wrong on every single one of those points. You appear to be so partisan and so blinded by your dislike for Obama that you are incapable of any independent thought. I pray for the future of this country.
What Observer means is that it has been understood from the very beginning of this country that a Republic operates on the virtues of the People. those virtues in this country have included hard work (welfare waivers, wild food stamp expansions), honesty (voter fraud is ok with him), and the knowledge that all men answer to a Higher Power to Whom they must answer to for their actions (HHS mandate, Hosanna Tabor case, canceling the National Day of Prayer, verbally reducing our country’s freedom of religion down to freedom of worship).
Further, Those who do not actually practice a religion(at least once a week) are not really in a place to tell those of us who do what our Faith and its requirements are.
An Observer– You asked what makes this ad wrong/incorrect/nutty. It’s all three of these things because it implies that Obama (and I’m not an Obama supporter) is hostile to religion and is attempting to tell people how they may worship or what they ought to believe. This is all a bunch of baloney. You make the claim that “Obama is fighting against is everything the country once stood for”. I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.
Does Romney have a Polish bank account too?
A great ad. I think that it is good for everyone to know who is on which team. Castro on Obama’s and Walesa on Romney’s. Quite the contrast, indeed.
Roy and Alex – what does the ad say that is incorrect? Really, it doesn’t go far enough because what Obama is fighting against is everything the country once stood for. And that phoney war on women thing? Yep, you got it right – all Republicans are rich white men, and we just don’t like women, children, poor people, minorities, or anyone else very much. If you truly think that way, please give up your bitterness and hate and try thinking clearly for once.
@natedogg: WRONG. It was a superpac ad, NOT an Obama ad. Conservatives are so pissed about the “war on women” that they’ve started wars on christmas, religion, sodas, shoes, clothes, and God knows what else
OK, I’ll bite. Why is it outrageous? Frankly, I think the Obam ad that implies that Romney was responsible for the guy’s wife dying of cancer is worse. Much worse.
This is one of the most outrageous ads I’ve ever seen. If people believe this it will certainly prove Lincoln wrong… maybe you CAN fool all of the people all of the time!