Jan Brewer speaks in code to the social conservative warriors of the religious right

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The editors of the Arizona Daily Star in a post-debate editorial opinion wrote Brewer stumbled, mumbled – and won't debate again:

Brewer spoke about the need for "righteous" tax reform – whatever that means – and sought to portray herself as Arizona's savior after Gov. Janet Napolitano left office to become U.S. secretary of Homeland Security. Brewer found a state in crisis, she said, and, "There but for the grace of God I arrived."

Jan Brewer was speaking in code to the social conservative warriors of the religious right (when she is not speaking in tongues in some unintelligble language).

Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly explains:

THIS WEEK IN GOD…. First up from the God Machine this week is a good example of the larger dynamic among political conservatives this year, with competing contingents split between secular economic issues and religious culture-war issues. For much of the right, the emphasis on issues like taxes and health care should remain the focus, especially in the midterm elections, but as we saw last week, self-proclaimed moralists also have a religious war in mind.

It's leading some Republican officials to shape campaign messages built around notions of "righteousness."

The head of the Hawaii Republican Party is calling GOP Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona the only "righteous" gubernatorial candidate while urging pastors to bar Democrat Mufi Hannemann from campaigning in their churches.

In an undated e-mail that came to light Sunday in three Hawaii political blogs, Jonah Kaauwai also wrote that a vote for Hannemann or Democrat Neil Abercrombie is "succumbing to fear and advancing unrighteousness."

The e-mail frequently cites Bible verses and uses other religious language to allege that Hannemann deceptively wants to visit church services to boost his support in the Sept. 18 Democratic primary.

"Duke will win because the church has been behind him the entire time operating in the POWER and the AUTHORITY of the NAME OF JESUS!" stated Kaauwai's lengthy e-mail. [emphasis in the original]

Kaauwai added that Hannemann does not deserve voters' support because he's shown "no signs" of being "controlled by the Holy Spirit." He also described the Republican candidate's campaign as "Christ's opportunity."

Just to be clear, the letter wasn't written by some odd televangelist, but rather, the head of a statewide Republican Party — who apparently believes in some kind of evangelical religious test for public office.

If the GOP's right-wing base takes on a more moralistic crusade, these kinds of religio-political messages will likely become more common. It's something to look out for in the coming months.