Posted under Election 2012 & Pro-Life
Randall Terry, of Operation Rescue fame, is going to challenge Obama in the Democrat primary. I have already encouraged a primary challenge to Obama from the left. Who knew he would get one from the right?
I have mixed feelings about this. I am generally sympathetic to the idea of hopelessly quixotic candidates challenging incumbents in primaries, but Randall Terry is a very flawed individual and candidate. Whatever one may think of Operation Rescue and it’s tactics, Terry’s personal life, including a highly public and messy divorce, does not exemplify Christian behavior to say the least. Terry clearly intends this campaign as a way to force commercials depicting aborted fetuses onto the airwaves. He even plans to run a commercial during the 2012 Super Bowl. One side of me thinks that if aborted fetuses are so disturbing to look at then why are we allowing it, but the other side of me says these adds do more harm than good and violate the basic rules of decorum. (The graphic adds don’t change pro-aborts minds and they alienate a lot of people on the fence.)
At any rate, here is Mr. Terry’s campaign website.
Catholic Trotskyist on 01 Feb 2011 at 10:25 am #
I think a pro-life progressive should challenge Obama. US House members Marcy Kaptur and Daniel Lipinski could be possibilities. That way Obama would get a primary challenge from the Left, but the Abortion issue could still be debated within the Democratic Party. The anti-Obama pro-abort Left would have to choose whether they care most about “abortion rights” or about foreign and economic policy and other issues, when they vote in that primary. but there are a lot more leftish pro-life people than most people think, and these could move toward the Democratic Party, at least for the primary.
Kirt Higdon on 01 Feb 2011 at 1:45 pm #
Randall Terry’s personal flaws will obscure and even be used to discredit the prolife message. I met the man briefly on a couple of occasions during the time of Operation Rescue’s biggest efforts, but I can’t say I really have any insight into his character. In retrospect, I’m not sure the OR movement could have succeeded under any leadership. The civil disobedience of the civil rights movement succeeded because it was backed by both the establishment and the majority of popular opinion. Gandhi succeeded because the British wanted out of India anyway and were abandoning all of their colonies. OR patterned itself on these movements but failed because it did not have the right external conditions.
RedPhillips on 01 Feb 2011 at 5:30 pm #
Kirt, I have never met Terry as far as I can remember. But I have heard Flip Benham (who replaced Terry) speak. He is a fantastic speaker. It was part political speech and part sermon. You wanted to respond to an alter call when it was over. Benham has always been more friendly to the Constitution Party. Terry is invested in the strategy of challenging in primaries. While controversial for his stands, I don’t think Benham has the personal baggage that Terry has.
RedPhillips on 01 Feb 2011 at 5:32 pm #
CT, I think a pro-life, anti-war, populist challenger to Obama would have more potential. Someone who is pro-Union, anti-free trade, etc. but not beholden to the various vice lobbies. Someone like James Traficant but without the baggage.
Pro-Life Dem on 05 Apr 2011 at 9:13 pm #
As a pro-life Democrat, concerned a DINO by some and a moderate by others, i would love to see a pro-life Democrat in the national elections give Obama a run for his money, not sure Terry is the right one, but i love the debate and the fact that their are many of us pro-life democrats that would support a pro-life candidate
hell on 26 Apr 2011 at 8:40 am #
One question- why the heck is he running as a Democrat?
Ebony on 16 Jun 2011 at 4:24 pm #
My name is Ebony, one of Randall’s “children”. He has thrown his “first” set of children to the wayside. He is hateful and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. If you dare to go against him he will hold no punches. He calls my little sister a prostitution whore and her children don’t even know him- they live in poverty and he lives in one million dollar home after another. He is trying to manipulate my little brother Jamiel into public silence so that he can go forward with this election nonsense because he knows what skeletons are waiting to fall out of that closet. People follow him blindly and with good intentions in their heart while he takes their money and lives a life of hipocracy. Someone needs to be able to stop him. Call him on his crap. I’m not afraid and I truly feel like whereas he may have began his journey 30 years ago with the best intentions, he is in a horrible place in his life and if the media stopped paying attention to him, he would crumble completely. He is an attention seeker and will stoop to the most insane levels to get it.
jon bork on 10 Feb 2012 at 9:42 pm #
Ebony, you may want to show documentation that indeed you are one of Randall’s children, otherwise you may be seen as somebody non related with an agenda to push or just on a smear mission.