Scott Tibbs
blog post
September 5^th, 2004

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Mitch Daniels irritates Hoosier conservatives with meeting

Mr. Daniels:

I received an electronic mail stating that you "met for more than an hour with about 30 gay Indianapolis area residents at the Northeastside Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, which was founded by gay and lesbian members", according to the September 7 Indianapolis Star.

Since you are running for governor, I expect you to meet with various constituency groups, including homosexuals. However, as a Christian, I think it inappropriate for you to do so in a "church" founded by homosexuals. The Bible is clear in its condemnation of sexual intimacy between people of the same gender and a "church" that openly supports a sinful lifestyle is in direct rebellion against the Word of God.

One of the strongest bases of support for the Republican Party (and consequently one of the strongest bases of support for your campaign) is Christian conservatives. Meeting in a church that supports homosexuality undermines this support. Furthermore, Indiana is a socially conservative state, where a Democrat State Representative from Bloomington (arguably the most liberal community in the state) co-sponsored an amendment to the Indiana Constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

I support your candidacy for Governor and I continue to do so. But I implore you to consider the beliefs of your socially conservative constituents in decisions made by your campaign.

Scott Tibbs
Bloomington, Indiana

Hoosier conservatives continue to express dissapointment with Mitch Daniels decision to meet with homosexuals at a church founded by homosexuals.

While I expect a candidate for Governor to be willing to meet with any group that wants to discuss state issues, I think Daniels' choice of meeting places is unfortunate, as I explained in my letter to the Daniels campaign.

The Republican candidate's complaints about Democratic "dirty tricks" on this issue are silly. (Democrats allegedly sent an e-mail invitation to this meeting to pro-family leaders across Indiana.) What the Dems allegedly did may not have been totally honest, but it is not a "dirty trick" to shine the light on the campaign decisions made by the other party's candidate. The Dems actually did conservatives a favor with this email, alerting conservatives to a questionable decision by the Daniels campaign and giving them the opportunity to express their opinion to Daniels.