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Candidate Mike McGraw Mixed Religion and Politics

July 30, 2006 at 12:59 pm · Filed under All Articles, House campaigns

mike mcgraw democrat faith religion

The tagline at Mike McGraw’s web site explains why many progressive Democrats are troubled by his campaign. Although McGraw is running as a Democrat, his politics look mighty similar to the agenda of the Religious Right. Tops on his agenda as a member of the House of Representatives are faith and family. The full tagline: “Mike McGraw stands for faith, family and fiscal responsibility”. McGraw says that he believes “there is an important role for government to unite us in the pursuit of decency.”

Whether you’re a secular liberal or a conservative who believes in small government, you ought to be concerned seeing this kind of language coming out of a candidate for Congress. The Constitution of the United States of America explicitly forbids the government from meddling in matters of religion. A good number of Georgia’s Democratic members of the House of Representatives have joined the Republicans in voting in favor of the Religious Right’s agenda, including items such as giving the bosses of federally-funded programs the right to fire employees for nothing more than belonging to a religion that they don’t like.

I’d also like to know what business Mike McGraw believes the government has setting standards for our private beliefs about morality - or, as he likes to call it, “decency”? Does he plan to support the creation of a White House Office for the Enforcement of Decency?

Let me remind the Democrats in Georgia’s 3rd congressional district that there was another government that did something of this sort - they were called the Taliban. Your Republican incumbent, Lynn Westmoreland, is a terrible representative. However, if you want to win the hearts and minds of Democratic voters, you need to nominate someone who actually represents the values of the Democratic Party, not just another Republican-Lite right winger like Mike McGrath.

We believe in liberty. We believe in supporting the Bill of Rights. We believe that the government should not try to use its power to control our family lives, our religious beliefs, and our private morality.

Mike McGrath fails the test. He does not merit Democratic support in his campaign for Congress.

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Alice Martin said,

August 10, 2006 @ 1:08 pm

Have we really reached the point in American politics where any person who has a personal faith and runs for office, dare not mention the word faith?

You appear to be as narrow-minded as the Religious Right you condemn. (By the way, his name is Mike McGraw, not McGrath. But if you’re going to continue to denounce him, call him McGrath.) Mike’s decency, honesty, and sense of service are informed by his faith, but in no way does he ascribe to the Religious Right agenda. There are many people of faith who strongly defend the principle of the separation of church and state, for the good of the church and the state. Mike is one of them. Our country has a strong history of being led by people of faith who have never tried to impose their personal beliefs on others. To label anyone for whom a personal faith is important as being part of the Religious Right is just plain WRONG!

You obviously don’t know Mike. He got into this race because he, like many of us, is fed up with the mismanagement and malfeasance of office perpetrated by this administration, which has been led by the Religious Right agenda. He knows that he can do a better job than that of his honorable opponent. There is no way he is going to go the same route.

I suggest that you get more information about what a candidate stands for before you denounce him/her, wholesale, for mentioning the word faith in his
campaign website or literature.

Contrary to your pronouncement, Mike has the support of Democrats all over this district. We, like Mike, have HAD ENOUGH!

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Judy Brouillette said,

August 13, 2006 @ 10:11 am

I think that by “the pursuit of decency” Mike meant that our country used to have ethical standards by which we interacted with the world at large, as well as with our own citizens. Such things as torture, illegal arrest and imprisonment, and breaking treaties at will were not condoned by our government in the not-too-distant past. Not only were they against our laws and international law, but they were also morally indefensible.

Whether one considers himself secular or religious, there are still standards and positions of honor, and they must be adhered to in order to maintain the respect of the rest of the world. Our actions have cost us our position of leadership in the world and have caused us to lose our valuable allies, because they no longer trust or respect us. For these reasons, the pursuit of decency is important to every country which occupies a position of leadership in the world.

As to mentioning faith, since a candidate’s personal faith is a matter of interest to a great many people, I see no harm in mentioning it. Faith must be combined with a strong desire to keep politics and religion firmly separated, however; if this is not the case, any mention of faith borders on being unconstitutional and is repugnant to a great many other people.

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J.T. Patton said,

August 16, 2006 @ 7:22 am

I like what McGraw has to say. He spoke out stongly and promptly against Westmoreland’s attack on the Voters Rights Act. It would be great if a candidate could campaign without waving the flag, thumping the bible, and showing us his or her children’s photos. That’s one thing that is really attractive about Ralph Nader. Unfortunately, those candidates rarely get the votes, at least here in Georgia.

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Suissie said,

August 27, 2006 @ 8:23 am

I have been an active member of the Democratic Party for over 25 years. I am a Progressive Democrat and I have absolutely no trouble with Mike McGraw and his campaign platform. In fact, the more I know of him, the better I like him. I challenge the writer of the above unsigned post to bring to this blog the “masses” of progressive Dems he has referred to. Let’s hear from them…My guess is that we won’t. Elected officials should be aligned with the general attitudes and standards of his constituency, regardless of their party preference. This is what is known as representation, and it is for the General Public, at large. I believe Mike McGraw would make an excellent Representative of the 3rd Congressional District.
Jane McCoy

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Jim said,

October 30, 2006 @ 8:51 pm

If you only knew Mike, you would know he absolutely believes in separation of church and state. The fact is he is a man about hope and faith in the decency of people in and out of religion.

Like many Dems, Mike went to the Republicans when they started spouting Middle Class values. And like most Republicans, he now realizes that the party with value is and always was the Democrats.

Bill Clinton knew it. Sam Nunn knew it. They were never liberals except in the truest sense; they believed in free thinking and social responsibility. Mike is a fiscal conservative, but on every other issue, he has a heart and represents middle class values.

He can’t be bought because he could have sold out long ago to corporate interests. He has proven himself in his many years of volunteer work in the Special Olympics and yes, he is a Christian, and if that disqualifies you for the Dems now, then I guess we Dems will never get elected again.

If people know who Westmoreland is (an AFLAC and Bush puppet/rubber stamp-according to his FEC filings) and they know who Mike is (easy to do-just visit his website and there are many links to his positions and video of the man) then you will vote for and support Mike in any way you can!

http://www.mikemcgrawforcongress.html

Jim-A lifelong Dem Since the ’60s

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