WAUKEE, IOWA – You know a candidate is having an interesting day on the trail when he starts out in an evangelical megachurch, testifying to his faith, and ends up in a college-town coffee shop being yelled at by a professor of Queer Studies. For Rick Perry, that was Sunday in Iowa.
The Point of Grace Church is an increasingly important stop for presidential hopefuls trying to appeal to evangelicals. Pastor Jeff Mullen is running for state senate, and he was a leader in the successful effort to remove Iowa state supreme court justices who legalized gay marriage. Michele Bachmann has visited the 2,000-member congregation, and Newt Gingrich has appeared at a Mullen fundraiser. On Sunday morning, Perry stopped by.
A service at Point of Grace will open up any sleepy visitor’s eyes. It begins with a dark stage and Mullen’s voice: “Ah-one, ah-two, ah-one, two, three — ” At that moment, a 12-piece band and five backup singers swing into “Again I Say Rejoice,” a Christian R&B tune, with Pastor Mullen singing lead. The rocking service includes a lot of music — no hymnbook necessary, since the lyrics are all on a jumbo screen — and Christmas-themed videos.
A relaxed and folksy Perry — clearly feeling at home — told the crowd how he felt “a hole in my heart” as a young man in 1977, saying such a spiritual need “can only be filled by the Lord Jesus Christ.” But the more pressing point of Perry’s talk was to encourage evangelicals to become engaged in politics.
“There are those who say people of faith, you stay out of the public arena,” Perry said. “But here’s the fact: Our laws, and the things that we are engaged in as a country are going to be impacted by somebody’s values, and the question is going to be, whose values? I happen to think that people of faith biblically are charged to go and be engaged in that debate.”
After the service, Perry’s big SUV headed north toward Ames, home of Iowa State University, where a crowd packed the Cafe Diem coffee shop on Main Street. That could be read as evidence of a Perry boomlet — he has now climbed back into double-digit support in Iowa, although he’s still fourth in the GOP race — or the fact that on this Sunday Perry was the only game in town. His Ames event was filled with supporters, curious townfolk and reporters who didn’t have anything else to cover.
Perry gave a routine speech on the deficit, health care, jobs. It was only after he finished that electricity ran through the crowd.
“Why are you marginalizing people in this country?” a man yelled at Perry. “Why are you demonizing gay and lesbian people?”
A second man began to yell. “Why do you hate gay people so much?” With that, Perry supporters started to drown out the protesters as Perry, who did not respond to the yelling, moved toward the exit.
The protesters were angry at a new Perry ad in which he says he is proud to be a Christian and adds, “You don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.”
“The implication was that if you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, you’re not a real American,” says Warren Blumenfeld, an Iowa State professor who was the first to yell at Perry. “He is promoting mono-culturalism in the most offensive way possible.” Blumenfeld, who teaches an Introduction to Queer Studies course at the university, also confronted Marcus Bachmann, husband of GOP candidate Michele Bachmann, at the Ames straw poll back in August.
Perry can probably expect similar encounters in the future; all it takes to make a scene is a protester, a camera and a YouTube account. And Perry’s ad will make him a particular target.
On the other side, Pastor Mullen’s parishioners will be organizing like never before. In a conversation Monday, Mullen — who has not endorsed any candidate in the race — almost perfectly echoed Perry’s admonition on evangelicals’ becoming active in politics. “Someone will be elected, and their values will determine a lot of our future,” Mullen said. “So we should be engaged.”
Some observers have suggested this year might see a truce in the culture wars as concerns about the economy overwhelm other issues. On the campaign trail in Iowa, at least, that’s not the case.
Byron York, The Examiner’s chief political correspondent, can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears on Tuesday and Friday, and his stories and blogposts appear on ExaminerPolitics.com.
