After receiving support and encouragement from potential presidential candidates like Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, and Mike Pence, Ralph Reed’s new group is now courting voters by running radio ads to defeat vulnerable Democratic incumbents. Here are some of the Republican candidates that the Faith and Freedom Coalition say have “a big belief in faith and freedom,” and are hoping to elect to the US House:
- Iowa’s Brad Zaun, who is challenging Leonard Boswell, “had to be told by West Des Moines police in 2001 to stay away from a former girlfriend who had accused him of harassing her, a police report shows. The woman called police in the early morning hours in April 2001 to complain that a former boyfriend, identified as Zaun, had gone to her home and had pounded on her windows. ‘Brad yelled from outside calling her slut and other names,’ the police report states.”
- Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee was accused by his ex-wife of “harassment, intimidation and physical abuse.” Divorce records show that DesJarlais was accused of “dry firing a gun outside the Plaintiff’s locked bedroom door, admission of suicidal ideation, holding a gun in his mouth for three hours, an incident of physical intimidation at the hospital; and previous threatening behavior ... i.e. shoving, tripping, pushing down, etc.” Following the divorce, the police were called on DesJarlais for harassing his ex-wife.
- Allen West, the tea party sensation challenging Ron Klein in Florida, is closely tied to the Outlaws motorcycle gang, which is involved in criminal activity such as drug dealing and lists convicted murderers on its website as members. Members of the Outlaws are even present at his campaign stop, where they have been accused of intimidating Democratic trackers. West himself called on his campaign supporters to make his opponent “scared to come out of his house,” and was forced to leave the military after he “threatened to kill a police officer, then fired a 9mm next to his head to make the threat credible.”
- Pennsylvania’s Lou Barletta promised to make the city of Hazelton “the toughest place on illegal immigrants in America” by passing draconian laws to stop illegal immigrants from receiving housing or employment. While the Mayor became an all-star to the anti-immigrant movement, his city “has the highest unemployment rate of any city in Pennsylvania.”
Reed is running cookie-cutter ads to help their favored candidates:
It's us vs them. Big government vs a big belief in faith and freedom. Scott DesJarlais vs Lincoln Davis. Davis is a 'Them,' like Obama, like Pelosi. He voted for their Stimulus Plan that wasted our money, for taxpayer funded bailouts of Wall Street, for taxpayer funded abortion. DesJarlais is one of us. He says faith in God and the freedom to become all we want to be made America great. We must choose an ‘us.’ Someone who gets it, will protect our freedom and defend our faith. Please vote faith, vote freedom, vote DesJarlais. Because it’s us vs. them.
