US News & World Report:
"Everyone knows he's conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for," Dobson said of Thompson. "[But] I don't think he's a Christian; at least that's my impression," Dobson added, saying that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party's conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.
Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Thompson, took issue with Dobson's characterization of the former Tennessee senator. "Thompson is indeed a Christian," he said. "He was baptized into the Church of Christ."
In a follow-up phone conversation, Focus on the Family spokesman Gary Schneeberger stood by Dobson's claim. He said that, while Dobson didn't believe Thompson to be a member of a non-Christian faith, Dobson nevertheless "has never known Thompson to be a committed Christian -- someone who talks openly about his faith."
"We use that word -- Christian -- to refer to people who are evangelical Christians," Schneeberger added. "Dr. Dobson wasn't expressing a personal opinion about his reaction to a Thompson candidacy; he was trying to 'read the tea leaves' about such a possibility."
OK, so if you're not evangelical, you're not a christian -- sorry catholics, you don't qualify.
Newt Gingrich never struck me as especially christian. I guess if you talk about it, that makes it so. Newt does buddy up to the religious right -- he confessed his hypocritical affair during his drive to impeach Bill Clinton on Dobson's Focus on the Family radio show.
But Gingrich is a prime example of how the republican party has made huge promises to 'values voters,' then did jack to follow up. Newt's always been a money republican -- the banker's boy, not the church's. Look at his tenure as Speaker of the House. Not a lot of discussion of abortion, gays, or evolution there.
In fact, if you look at his Contract with America, you don't see much that would concern the religious right -- does Jesus really have an opinion on term limits or a Balanced Budget Amendment? Gingrich is the typical republican leader who plays the religious right for chumps...
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