A Little Dose Of Politics

I admit to being a news junkie in general and a political junkie in particular - have been for a long time. I guess I may have inherited the “political gene” from both sides of the family. Both of my grandfathers were staunch Roosevelt “New Dealers” and were active in local politics in southern West Virginia in the mid 20th century. Caudle Adkins Sr. was involved in Lincoln County politics and was awarded with a political patronage position as a supervisor for the Works Projects Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression. His mother in law (from a rare Republican family in neighboring Wayne County) referred to him as “That Democrat”. Maternal grandfather Jerry Stidham was an official with the United Mine Workers of America labor union and was very active in Logan County political scene. He was elected to three terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates. In fact, when I was only three months old, he took me to the floor of the House chamber in Charleston and introduced that august body to his first grandchild.

As a young man, my ambition was to one day serve as Governor of West Virginia. Didn’t happen. Considering the fate of some of the state’s former chief executives that’s probably a good thing. I don’t think I would have enjoyed prison life, or driving a cab in Chicago. The gene was strong enough, however, to lead me to seek elected office (non partisan of course) on three occasions. My political career consisted of an unsuccessful race for Ashland, KY City Commissioner, and two tries for a seat on the Board of Education – missed on the first attempt, successful on the second.

My time on the school board was personally fulfilling and I felt that I made a positive contribution to my community. I believed then as I do now, that it is important for Christians to be informed citizens and involved in their government – on the local, state, and national levels. I was preparing to run for a second four year term on the board when the Spirit of God spoke to me while listening to a message at a Promise Keepers pastors conference in Atlanta in February 1996. It wasn’t in an audible voice – of course. It was much louder than that! “I didn’t call you into public service”, he said. “I called you into ministry.” It was that simple. My “political career” was over.

While my ministry responsibilities take more and more of my time each year, I still try to keep up on what is going on in the political scene. Now my involvement has changed from a more active participant to merely an interested observer. Biblical principles often intersect with current events and political issues and require the man of God to speak to those things, but he must take care to keep personal opinions to himself. Even though I have my own strong opinions on many things political, I am careful to keep partisan politics out of the pulpit. Tony Evans once said, “Almighty God does not ride on the backs of donkeys or elephants.” God has called me, and other pastors to a greater calling, and our focus must be on lifting up Jesus. Paul the Apostle expressed this philosophy when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (NKJV)
That truth, however does not keep me from being personally interested in political goings on of all types - especially presidential races. The 2008 presidential election is still a year and two months away and I am already beginning to suffer from “presidential race information fatigue”. Good grief! There have already been more than six nationally televised debates which have included front runners, second tier candidates and wannabes with no chance at all of getting elected. I am far from impressed with any of the so called front runners in either party. Hillary is typically “Clintonian” in her “any way the wind blows” political correctness. Obama is a fresh face who seems to be a charismatic sort of fellow, but his naivete, especially on national security issues is frightening. Edwards, the former North Carolina Senator comes off as plastic and phony, while trying to evoke a “Kennedyesque” image.

On the other side, Rudy Guliani showed great leadership leading New York through the trauma of 9-11, but his personal life is a shambles and he is pretty weak on a number of moral issues – including abortion. Multi millionaire Mitt Romney is a fresh face also, but his slick packaging and past flip flops on important issues leaves me cold. I admire John McCain for his military career and his sacrifice as a Viet Nam POW for over five years. But he was one of the Senators implicated in the “Keating Seven” scandal a few years ago, and his unpopular support of the President’s Iraq policy and amnesty for illegal immigrants has caused his popularity to fade quickly.

Some of the other candidates seem to be solid fellows. A few of the wannabes might be perceived as “nut jobs” . Most of them don’t have a snowball’s chance at being elected, due primarily to the fact that they just haven’t been able to raise the multiple millions of dollars it takes just to get ready for the primaries! Actor and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson says he will announce formally his candidacy on September 6th. He has created a buzz earlier in the summer with his unannounced candidacy. He has a recognizable face due to the fact that he has appeared in many movie roles, and has been a regular on NBC’ “Law and Order”. Conservatives seem to like him, but his terms in the U.S. Senate were somewhat nondescript. USA Today reports in its August 31 issue that “he has only raised $3.5 million of the $5 million he projected that would be needed” to finance his campaign.

I personally like Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor and Governor of Arkansas. He is likable and well informed and addresses issues I feel are important. He has moved up in the polls in Iowa in the past few weeks but he has a couple of “problems”. Newsweek magazine’s latest issue says that he is probably “too nice” to have a chance at being elected (especially against Mrs. Clinton) but his biggest problem is that he only has about a million dollars in his war chest. Gee. Only a million dollars…

The task of competing for the privilege of occupying the Oval Office is becoming a full time fund raising job. The average person (or the one who doesn’t have a lot of generous friends) need not apply.