Hard-Hitting New Ad Paints Louisiana GOPer Jindal As Anti-Protestant
Woah, this is one hard-hitting spot. The Louisiana Democratic Party has just launched a new attack ad and Web site attacking Republican Congressman Bobby Jindal, and the ad has to be seen to be appreciated in all its vicious glory.
The ad — which is intended to damage Jindal among the white Protestants who comprise the Louisiana GOP base in advance of this fall's gubernatorial race — slams Jindal as anti-Protestant over several articles Jindal wrote for a right-wing Catholic journal in the mid-1990's, a few years after he converted from Hinduism to Catholicism. Take a look:
In the articles, Jindal, who's way ahead in the polls right now, directed some of his ire not only at non-Christians but also at Protestants, whom he apparently considered to be heretics from the true Christianity.
"He has referred to Protestant religions as scandalous, depraved, selfish and heretical," the narrator tells us. "In this article, Bobby Jindal doubts the morals and questions the beliefs of Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Pentecostals and other Protestant religions."
Louisiana's white Catholics are often a key swing vote, while white Protestants tend to vote heavily Republican. Will this effort to drive a wedge between Jindal and the Louisiana GOP base work?
Me like.
August 21, 2007 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not sure I like. Did Jindal actually smear protestant faiths? What does the underlying document say?
I can get this sort of breathless cut-and-paste work from political wire or dailykos or mydd or...well, quite a few places, actually. What I want from TPM is actual reportage and perspective from a viewpoint that is progressive but not in the tank for/against specific candidates.
I'm not worried about being fair to Bobby Jindal. No doubt he has well-paid PR flaks who worry about that. I just expect and want more from TPM.
August 21, 2007 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
The leading Dem candidate, State Senator Walter Boasso, is also a Catholic.
August 21, 2007 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
While it's too optimistic to say cracks are appearing in the Evangelical/Catholic Christianist coalition, the Huckabee/Brownback spat and this ad illustrate the fact that the coalition is comprised of fundamentalists with fundamental different claims about divine truth.
Any ads run by Dems that appeal to racism should be condemned, but holding Jindal to account for his hard-right, pre-Vatican II anti-Protestantism (he converted from Hinduism to Catholicism in college) is fair game, IMO.
August 21, 2007 1:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you go to jindalonreligion.com (as the ad says), you get tiny excerpts from the pieces that he wrote for something called "New Oxford Review". However, to get to the parts that are supposedly so bad, you have to pony up a $1.50 or subscribe.
That being said, if politicians are going to use religion as part of their image, then anything said politician has written about other religions seems to be fair play, in my opinion.
Edited for splling.
August 21, 2007 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, but presumably not an anti-Protestant Catholic. Or at least not vociferously so like Jindal.
August 21, 2007 1:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
J. McCutchen
Karl Rove landed on his feet
No it won't work. Just look at Ho House Vitter's numbers. For those crackers tt's about God, Gays, IslamoFascists, Mexicans and Blacks not Prots/Catholics any more
I grew up there
August 21, 2007 1:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I couldn't agree more. These sort of cheap shots are what need to go. This sort of ad reminds me of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, light on facts, with plenty of convenient interpretation. I'm not familiar with Jindal, and while I'm pretty sure I wouldn't agree with him politically, I don't want to see our side using the same filth.
TPM, I really wish there'd been more information presented in this posting. Just a brief look at the article summaries suggest the jindalonreligion.com site is hugely misleading. For example, here's the (free) summary of one of the Jindal articles:
http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did=1296-jindal
The Reformers who left the Catholic Church rejected, to varying degrees, five beliefs which continue to be upheld by the Catholic Church. The Church claims that these points are found in Scripture, and they have been consistently and clearly taught throughout the Church's history. I will support the Church's claims here.
(1) SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION: Is sold scriptura (the Bible alone) a sufficient basis for the modern Christian to understand God's will?
The Bible does not contain either the claim that it is comprehensive or a listing of its contents, but does describe how it should be used. Scripture and Tradition, not the Bible alone, transmit God's revelation. Tradition is reflected in the Church's authority to interpret Scripture.
[emphasis mine] I'm not about to pay for these articles, but that summary doesn't seem to suggest the author's about to start attacking protestants. Out of context, I'm sure, some of these statements sound pretty bad. Judging from these opening statements though, it seems his writing is far less controversial.
If we're going to cry out against these slimy tactics when the GOP uses them to slam our candidates, we have to do the same when our side steps over the line. That's what makes us better :)
August 21, 2007 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seanh, the text you copied reflects the official theology of the Catholic Church, much of it devised (or re-emphasized) by Cardinal Ratzinger on behalf of Pope John Paul II. Needless to say, that particular Cardinal is now Pope Benedict XVI. One can disagree (I do), but it's not unreasonable for a religious convert think and write about the "truth claim" of his new sect.
As to the context in which Jindal used the phrase "utterly depraved," I'm sure the LDP would have provided the whole quote if it were really as bad as all that.
I read one of the articles linked from the LDP page, a personal account of Jindal's own conversion from hinduism to christianity, and found it heartfelt and thoughtful.
This article is in fact the essence of swift-boating: the dissemination of a personal attack without checking for accuracy. The author does not endorse the LDP attack. But merely passing it along with a horse-race comment or two is all the author of the LDP's scurrilous oppo job could want.
August 21, 2007 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
If the quotes taken in context mean what they are alledged to mean it is a perfectly fair attack. Eric, could you post the context or do we have to go pay to find out?
August 21, 2007 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
duplicate deleted.
August 21, 2007 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
If we're going to cry out against these slimy tactics when the GOP uses them to slam our candidates, we have to do the same when our side steps over the line. That's what makes us better :)
It's also one of the things that makes us losers. Yeah, lets play nice. And get our asses kicked.
I'm so sick of these phony religious nuts pandering to their "bretheren." If there's even a shread of truth to the Dem charges, pound the bastard into the ground with it.
August 21, 2007 8:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
this is the kind of ad that smacks of desperation. It's a political Hail Mary pass.
It's the same as right-wingers combing through dusty Hillary college rants, desperately looking for an affirmation of communism. Would anyone on this board take this kind of attack seriously? Why would LA Protestants be any different? If anything, this ad is going to push Jindal's numbers up.
August 21, 2007 9:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I suspect you're right.
Every religion claims it is the one true faith.
So do atheists and even us heretics.
Best, Terry
August 22, 2007 6:07 AM | Reply | Permalink