Ohio Restoration Project

I was first turned on to The Ohio Restoration Project when a friend sent me a NYTimes article on the group. (Hat tip, Marina)

Christian conservative leaders from scores of Ohio's fastest growing churches are mounting a campaign to win control of local government posts and Republican organizations, starting with the 2006 governor's race.

In a manifesto that is being circulated among church leaders and on the Internet, the group, which is called the Ohio Restoration Project, is planning to mobilize 2,000 evangelical, Baptist, Pentecostal and Roman Catholic leaders in a network of so-called Patriot Pastors to register half a million new voters, enlist activists, train candidates and endorse conservative causes in the next year.

The initial goal is to elect Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, a conservative Republican, governor in 2006. The group hopes to build grass-roots organizations in Ohio's 88 counties and take control of local Republican organizations.

"The establishment of the Ohio Republican Party is out of touch with its base," said Russell Johnson, the pastor of the Fairfield Christian Church and the principal organizer of the project. "It acts as if it lives in Boston, Mass."

“Acts as if it lives in Boston, Mass?” We should be so lucky. Mass’s unemployment rate is a full percentage point below Ohio’s, and the combined state and local tax burden has increased every year over the last ten years of Republican control. But enough of that...

According to the group’s web site, their complaints are old hat to those on the radical right: Teaching evolution; defining marriage; universities as “arteries of spiritual toxic waste;” the right to choose; HIV and sexually transmitted diseases; and, secularists hijacking “our culture.” According to ORP, their priorities, and by extension God’s priorities I would guess, are as follows:

1. Economic Restoration ”…overhauling our corporate tax structure”
   
2. Medical Reform "Tort reform that limits noneconomic [sic] damages to $ 250,000.”
   
3. Educational Choice “My child, My taxes…to the school of our choice.”
   
4. Tax Reform "...are there tax breaks for corporations and companies that invest in the community available?

Then comes the sanctity of marriage and "life" issues. I'm no Biblical scholar by any means, but I sure don't remember God or Jesus ever talking about corporate tax rates. ORP's objectives over the next '05-'06 election cycle cannot be ignored by Democrats and progressives. ORP wants to:

• ...see 2,000 Ohio Patriot Pastors who understand the sacred trust of this moment in history and who are mobilized to make a difference.


• Provide 100,000 new e-mail supporters who serve as E-Prayer Intercessors.


• Provide 200,000 new addresses of supporters to our Ohio pro-family forums


• Register 300,000 new “Values Voters” through “Stewardship of our Citizenship” Sundays between March 2005 and October 2006

This group looks as if they will be leading the "values" vote in the next cycle. Dems and progressives need to keep a close eye on this organization as well as their member churches. They have already come out in favor of Ken Blackwell. And I have no doubts that they will reach their goal of registering another 300,000 so-called "values voters." To compete, Dems and progressives need to register at least as many people and more importantly, GET THEM TO THE POLLS.

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UPDATE: Blogger has screwed up my links. The main one is http://ohiorestorationproject.com. From there you can find all of the ORP links referenced above.