Dobson may back McCain because "he seems to understand the Muslim threat"

Summary: Revealing his "moral dilemma" about the 2008 presidential campaign, Focus on the Family's James Dobson said that while "neither of the candidates is consistent with my views," Sen. John McCain "comes closer to what I believe" than Sen. Barack Obama, adding that McCain "seems to understand the Muslim threat."

In his July 21 podcast, Focus on the Family founder and chairman James Dobson revealed his "moral dilemma" about the 2008 presidential campaign. Though he has repeatedly criticized presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain -- once claiming that McCain "has at times sounded like a member of the other party" -- Dobson said he has become "very concerned" about McCain's presumed opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, whom he called "more liberal and more extreme than most Democrats in the Senate." Dobson further said that while "neither of the candidates is consistent with my views," McCain "seems to understand the Muslim threat."

From Dobson's July 21 podcast, which featured guest Albert Mohler, radio host and president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and was released through Dobson's "cultural action organization," Focus on the Family Action:

MOHLER: I have to tell you, I find Barack Obama to be a very attractive person, a very attractive candidate. I would want to vote for him. But the closer I look at his positions, the more alarmed I become. He is the candidate who bills himself as a candidate of change, and in an odd way he is, just not the kind of change that I think most Americans now understand. So, Doctor, when I look at this, I have to say we're looking at the most liberal candidate, I think, to gain a party nomination probably in the history of this country. And on so many of the issues, far beyond even where a Bill Clinton was. That's what I think most Americans don't understand. Many evangelicals don't understand, particularly younger evangelicals. This is a man who has staked out his positions for the last 20 years in a way that is markedly beyond where most Americans believe he is.

DOBSON: I think he's more liberal and more extreme than most Democrats in the Senate.

[...]

DOBSON: That, and the fact that I'm so very concerned about Senator Obama and what he believes and stands for, as well as the need to rethink some of my views regarding Senator McCain, and that thinking has taken place and continues to do so. This is been the most difficult moral dilemma for me. It's why you haven't heard me say much about it, because I have struggled on this issue. And there's some concerns here that matter to me more than my own life, and neither of the candidates is consistent with my views in that regard. But Senator McCain is certainly closer to them than Senator Obama by a wide margin, and there's no doubt about -- at least no doubt in my mind -- about whose policies will result in more babies being killed or who will do the greatest damage to the institution of marriage and the family. I'm convinced that Senator McCain comes closer to what I believe.

So, I am not endorsing Senator McCain today. I don't even know who his vice presidential candidate will be. You know, he could very well choose a pro-abortion candidate, and it would not be unlike him to do that because he seems to enjoy frustrating conservatives on occasions. But as of this moment, I have to take into account the fact that Senator John McCain has voted pro-life consistently, and that's a fact. That he says he favors marriage between a man and a woman; I believe that. He opposes homosexual adoption. He favors smaller government and lower taxes, and he seems to understand the Muslim threat, which matters a lot to me. I'm very concerned about that. Therefore -- therefore -- I have considered the fact that elections always involved imperfect candidates. There are no perfect human beings, and you always have to choose between two flawed individuals. That's the way we're all made. So, it comes down to this, and I never thought I would hear myself saying this, but it's where I am -- that while I am not endorsing Senator John McCain, the possibility is there that I might, and that's all I can say at this time.

—M.B.