James Dobson said in February that he would not cast a presidential vote if John McCain, Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama were the presidential candidates.
However, he sent an e-mail alert this week that was titled “Dr. Dobson: ‘I Will Certainly Vote’.”
Dan Gilgoff provides the text of the alert on his Beliefnet blog.
Dr. James Dobson told Sean Hannity on Sunday night he is going to vote in the November election ? ending weeks of speculation that he would sit on the sidelines over his policy disagreements with the two major parties’ candidates for the White House.
On Hannity’s America on the Fox News Channel, Dr. Dobson told his longtime friend he definitely plans to cast a ballot this year.
“Let me just say that I will certainly vote, Sean,” he said. “I think we have a God-given responsibility to vote, and there are all of the candidates and the issues down the ballot that we have an obligation to weigh in on and let our voices be heard.”
With Colorado’s proposed ballots, it’s no surprise Dobson will want to weigh in on ballots like the proposed Colorado Human Life Amendment that would define personhood as a fertilized egg. What he didn’t say was whether he would vote for a presidential candidate.
Dobson’s recent statement isn’t drawing the same media attention that it did on Feb. 4. What he did say then included, “I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience.”
“I certainly can’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life.”
Ralph Nader has been added to the ballot since his comments.
Interestingly, the original website link to the Citizen Link about his February statements now contains an error and is no longer listed on the news archives.
Dobson also sent a statement to the Wall Street Journal criticizing McCain.
“… [McCain] reiterated his support for governmental intervention in the global warming debate, proposed shutting down Guantanamo, blamed the U.S military for torturing prisoners of war and promised to pander to our European allies before defending America’s interests around the world. These policies frustrated conservatives, whom McCain seems to have written off.”
Dobson has receivedalot of criticism for his February statement. He is particularly concerned with McCain’s pro-embryonic stem-cell stance.
As for John McCain, Dr. Dobson responded with a question of his own when Hannity said he had received assurances from the Arizona senator that he would keep the pro-life and pro-marriage planks in the GOP’s party platform.
“Did he give you a commitment about embryonic stem-cell research?” Dr. Dobson asked.
“We did not get that,” Hannity replied.
“But that’s an important one for me,” Dr. Dobson explained. “And you can’t really call yourself pro-life if you’re in favor of killing those babies.”
50 Percent of CT readers supported McCain in a CT poll released Tuesday, asking readers for whom they plan to vote. This compares to the 26 percent he received in a poll on March 3, when Mike Huckabee led with 31 percent. In the latest poll, he leads Obama (31 percent), Clinton (7 percent), and Ron Paul (4 percent).
