Uncategorized • June 24th, 2008

The Christian candidate?

by Greg Batiansila

“I’ve never been invited to meet with a Democratic presidential candidate. So I was surprised when I received an invitation a couple of weeks ago to join “a small group of religious leaders, academics and faith-based organizations” to meet with Senator Barack Obama in Chicago on June 11. Since I am opposed to the leftist political stands of the Democratic Party and of Obama specifically, I didn’t really want to attend…”

So the blog post from Stephen Strang began. In it, the founder of a massive Christian communications company and the editor of Charisma magazine relates his interaction with the Democratic nominee for President. Strang discusses his reservations about Obama, explains the probing question he asked the junior Senator about abortion and gives a rough idea (it was an off the record meeting) of Obama’s response.

Strang concluded: “I returned from the meeting very concerned. Here is a liberal—Obama–reaching out to the Christian community at a time the conservative–Sen. John McCain–seems to be distancing himself from the so-called “Christian Right.” I think McCain has a lot of work to do to get the support of the Christian community. Obama seemed to have the support of at least half of the 43 leaders who attended the Chicago meeting. And in my opinion, he “made points” with the rest. The tone of the meeting was respectful and generally upbeat.”

If McCain thinks that the Christian Right are going to blindly follow a party, he’s going to be embarrassed this November.

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Uncategorized • May 2nd, 2008

The Crisis of Crises

by Greg Batiansila

One of the best methods of public affairs - and something you’ll see overwhelmingly in an election year - is inundation. If you inundate the media and populace with a thought or idea, even if everyone furiously tries to wipe away your inundation, there’s bound to be some residue.

Case in point: the mortgage crisis. It’s a crisis, right? Based on the inundation of reports you’ve seen, heard and read, the mortgage industry is facing a crisis that is applying blunt-force trauma to the economy. Sooo. What’s the foreclosure rate? According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, it’s at 2.04 percent of all outstanding loans.

Granted, the number is higher than the previous quarter. But if 98% of loans are not in foreclosure, is there a foreclosure crisis? In an election year - and with some really great public affairs saying all the right things - there sure is.

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