Evangelists blitz Ohio in bid to win the nation for Mitt Romney
- The Times
- October 29, 2012
The 70-year-old grandfather says his aim is to "save the babies of America". So far he has covered 22530km, visited 2500 churches and spent $US1.3 million ($1.25m) in the effort.
"I see myself as a latter-day Wilberforce," Burress says, referring to the British anti-slavery campaigner.
"What he did to free the slaves, we're doing to free the babies."
Burress is the head of an Ohio group inspired by the evangelist Billy Graham.
Although churches do not endorse specific candidates, he tells priests their congregations must vote for the man in the right place on the "three non-negotiables" - opposing abortion, same-sex marriage and homosexual rights. "Romney is acceptable, Obama is not," he says.
Evangelical priests have become the unlikeliest weapon in Mitt Romney's battle to become the US's first Mormon president. They are traditionally suspicious of Mormons and many, including Graham, have described the religion as a cult.
So crucial is their support that a fortnight ago Romney made a pilgrimage to Graham's mountain retreat, after which the 94-year-old evangelist removed the "cult" description from his website.
With just nine days to go and national polls showing Romney ahead by less than 1 per cent, winning over the evangelicals could make all the difference.
While President Barack Obama appeals to suburban women, minorities and the young to forge a majority, Republicans believe social conservatives could be the driving force for a surge in swing states such as Ohio, Iowa and Virginia, where they form up to 30 per cent of the electorate.
Nowhere is it more critical than in Ohio, which has picked every president since 1960, prompting the saying: "As Ohio goes, so goes the nation."
The latest polls put Obama up to 4 per cent ahead in Ohio, where one in eight jobs depends on the car industry that he saved from bankruptcy with a bailout that Romney opposed.
Even Republicans concede that Obama has a superior grassroots operation. Team Obama has 131 offices in Ohio, more than three times as many as Romney.
Enter the evangelists. The bus tour was conceived by a pastor named JC Church, who says it came to him in a vision.
"I was in church praying about the issues we face and thinking of the vastness of 17,000 churches in Ohio and 350,000 in the US, and the power base that represents, and I thought: why can't we harness that?"
Burress has painted on the side of his motor home the slogan "Awake 88", referring to Ohio's 88 electoral districts.
He has as detailed a knowledge of the state's electoral map as any campaign strategist.
Although Ohio's cities are expected to be won by Obama, Burress believes the rural areas will be enough for a statewide Romney victory. Preachers in evangelical churches across Ohio were expected to call overnight for the faithful to vote for a Mormon candidate.
"There is a great awakening," says Church. Burress agrees: "We couldn't get anyone excited last time but this time people are angry and scared."
Burress and Church admit they never imagined they would be helping a Mormon get elected. Despite serious theological differences, Burress says Romney's positions on abortion and gay marriage are what matter: "I wouldn't vote for Romney to be my priest or pastor but we're not voting (on) that. He holds my values, if not my faith."
Not all evangelists are convinced. Samuel Wynn, a North Carolina Methodist, was horrified when Graham removed the description of Mormonism as a cult. "My question to Billy Graham is, what's more important for the kingdom of God: politics or the message of Jesus Christ?" he says.
The leading figure behind Romney's bid for the evangelical vote is Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. Reed told The Sunday Times he had built up a file of 17.1 million conservatives in 12 swing states who failed to vote in 2008 because they were unenthusiastic about John McCain.
"We're dropping 20 million pieces of mail, making 22 million phone calls, distributing 30 million voter guides, knocking on one million doors and sending out 17 million text messages to evangelical voters on their cellphones urging them to vote and vote early," he said.
"It's all about expanding the pie," says Gary Marks, the group's executive director. "The Obama organisation is formidable and will do their job but we are out there and the question is which pie grows larger."
The latest polls show up to 80 per cent of evangelical voters will back Romney. "We may not share his theology but we do share his conservative agenda," says Marks. "For the first time in history, we have a Republican ticket without a Protestant (Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan, is a Catholic).
"Yet it's my belief that ticket will get more Protestant and evangelical votes than any Republican candidate in history."
Although Romney enjoys a narrow lead in national polls, the presidency will be determined in a handful of swing states where Obama holds the upper hand.
Senator Rob Portman, who chairs Romney's campaign in Ohio, admits to feeling the pressure. "If we don't win Ohio, it's tough to see us winning the election nationally."
THE SUNDAY TIMES
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