Tom Minnery
September 2008
Dear Friend,
What if the Left takes over?
We’ve been examining that question around here for the past year, and with Election Day now just weeks away, the answer is as troubling as ever. If Barack Obama wins the White
House and liberals fortify their ranks in Congress, here are some headlines that you and I can expect to read:
Obama signs Freedom of Choice Act, invalidating all state and federal pro-life laws
Defense of Marriage Act repealed; gay lobby celebrates federal benefits and marriage rights
Largest tax increase in history to pay for new entitlements, foreign aid
‘Out’ in the barracks: Homosexuality hits the armed forces
It’s Hillary! Obama’s Supreme Court pick should sail through Senate
If reading that list gives you heartburn now, just imagine how you’ll feel if those headlines become reality. As an organization that champions virtue in public policy, we’ve pondered that eventuality. And that’s why we’re doing everything we can to alert values voters about where their candidates stand and what’s at stake this fall. Let me share with you what your support is allowing us to do in two ways—publicly and privately.
The public battle: Informing voters through the media
You may have noticed that the major news outlets have been citing Focus Action a lot lately. That’s not by accident. The media team here at Focus Action does a remarkable job of taking the work that we do and marketing it to the media in a way that captures their attention. That allows us to use their own megaphones to get our message out to far more people.
Two great examples of this are recent Focus Action radio broadcasts in which we addressed the presidential race. First, Dr. Dobson took the lead in exposing the truth behind the Obama speech in which the Illinois senator essentially mocked the authority of Scripture and twisted the plain meaning of the Constitution.
The marketing ingenuity of our Focus Action media team turned this into a major national story, with clips from our broadcast airing on ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS and every major cable news network. Media coverage was intense: The Associated Press’ coverage of the broadcast was the top story on The Drudge Report (TheDrudgeReport.com) for several hours, and by the end of the day there were more than 400 TV news reports and radio stories within the country’s top 20 markets alone. In addition, our message went out in 332 newspaper articles. The total potential audience of all that coverage was more than 100 million viewers, listeners and readers. The “earned media” value of this coverage (what it would have cost us to purchase the airtime and print space) was more than $2 million!
A second Focus Action broadcast also became a big story. For months, there has been significant discussion nationally about Dr. Dobson’s comments that were critical of John McCain.
Like many of you, I suspect, Dr. Dobson was not a fan of Sen. McCain during the primaries. In fact, he even said there was no way he could vote for McCain, even if the Arizona senator should win his party’s nomination.
Dr. Dobson Enthused about Palin Choice
Campaigns Shift as McCain Choice Alters the Race
. . . "We had a solid Republican and evangelical base," said Charlie Black,
a senior adviser to Mr. McCain. "But now it's going to be very intense."
James C. Dobson, the influential conservative Christian leader who said
in the primaries that he could never vote for Mr. McCain, said the selection of
Ms. Palin had won him over. If he went into the voting booth today, Mr. Dobson
told the talk radio host Dennis Prager on Friday, "I would pull that lever."
If Ms. Palin motivates evangelicals to rally behind the Republican ticket
as they did for Mr. Bush in 2004, it could prove significant is states like Iowa
and Ohio, where Republicans won by slim margins in 2004. . . .
As the general election choices became clear, however, Dr. Dobson felt compelled to re-evaluate his position and let his radio listeners know that he might vote for McCain. Once again, our media department put together a stellar plan for multiplying the impact of this broadcast, and the results were astounding. Another Associated Press story was quickly carried nationwide, and Dr. Dobson’s encouraging comments about McCain turned up everywhere from The New York Times and USA Today to Hannity & Colmes and CNN Headline News. The media strategy spawned more than 150 TV and radio stories that reached a total potential audience of more than 50 million—with an earned media value of more than half a million dollars.
Ultimately, there were four reasons for Dr. Dobson’s re-evaluation of McCain: 1) Sen. McCain’s powerful comments during the Saddleback Forum with Rick Warren, 2) The Republican Party platform, which is the strongest pro-life, pro-family platform in memory, 3) McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin and 4) The policy positions of Barack Obama. Even as I write, Dr. Dobson continues to get major media coverage on these points from The New York Times, Fox News and elsewhere.
The private battle: Targeting voters directly
As important as the mass media is, there’s no substitute for direct contact with individual citizens—letting them know where their candidates stand and encouraging citizens to take action. Your support for Focus Action is allowing us to do that in a big way in up to 16 states with key U.S. Senate and House races.
When a voter in one of these areas receives a mailer or an e-mail with a side-by-side comparison of the candidates, it doesn’t make a big, public splash like a TV ad. But dollar-for-dollar, it’s the most effective way to reach that voter and convince them to take action. We’re also making it easy for them to share the information with others by copying, printing or forwarding. And we’ll be using carefully targeted radio ads.
Finally, you may recall that earlier this year I told you about Tim Gill and his stealth, multimillion-dollar effort to take over state legislatures for his pro-homosexual agenda. His success in several states in 2006 has prompted us to launch a major research project that has uncovered—in advance this time—his targets for 2008. We’ll be putting that information to use by again using a two-pronged strategy—public and private—to let voters in those specific states know what he is doing.
I’ll hold off on more details or samples right now to avoid revealing too much information to our ideological opponents, but I’ll report back to you later on. You can keep abreast of the latest election news each week with me and Stuart Shepard via our new Focus Action Election Update video features.
Meanwhile, though, thank you for your sacrificial gifts that allow us to do this work on your behalf. Above all, please be in prayer for our work and for the nation.
Sincerely,Tom Minnery
Senior Vice President
Focus on the Family Action
P.S. You should be aware that contributions have been well below budget all summer, which has put us in a position where we may have to scale back some of the plans I’ve mentioned. Your gift now, however, can still help ensure that we are able to go full force with the full plan—right up to November 4.
You can make a difference! Support Focus on the Family Action™ today.
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