Scott Morgan, GOP candidate for Kansas Secretary of State, announced on his Facebook page that he had been endorsed by the MainStream Coalition's political action committee, MainPAC. In addition, he would be attending the 2014 MainPAC Candidate Rally this afternoon at the Shawnee Civic Centre.
For those unfamiliar with the Mainstream Coalition, it is a far-left group that was founded in Johnson County during the 1990s. But don't just take my word for it when I say it's a far-left group. Consider this letter from Craig Templeton, who was president of the Douglas County chapter of the Mainstream Coalition in 1998:
November 11, 1998
Mr. John Watkins
Dear John:
At the Tuesday meeting, you encouraged us to write, call or fax you if we have anything we felt should be discussed. Tuesday night at the Holidome, you asked me about my involvement with the Mainstream Coalition. You became rather distracted and I didn't get the chance to respond to your question, so I ask your indulgence here for a moment.
A group of local women had approached me and asked if I could help with their effort to organize a local "Mainstream" group. They explained that they wanted to form this group to provide an open discourse to educate people about issues of the day. They further wanted a community balance and wanted me to provide a conservative perspective. I savor any opportunity to preach to the unsaved! I thought this was my big chance!
I was wrong.
The group turned out to be heavily weighted to the left--too many Democrats for my taste. I also then heard the group's founder, Bob Meneilly, speak at KU. It was clear I was making a mistake. Kevin Groenhagan [sic] of the Lawrence Business Ledger was at the same speech and spoke to me afterward about disturbing investigative research he had done on the organization. I invited him to drop by my office where he shared a raft of research he had put together on the Mainstream.
My last official act with that organization was to make a motion to disband the Douglas County group. The motion carried and to my knowledge the organization gasped its last breath. I am actually proud to say that the only official act I took with the organization resulted in its complete collapse in Douglas County. I guess I sort of thought you'd be supportive of such action on my part. I wish I'd had the chance to clarify this for you Tuesday night.
Thank you for your interest in my work for the community.
Sincerely,
Craig Templeton
cc: Kevin Groenhagan [sic], Lawrence Business Ledger
Members of the Douglas County Republican Central Committee
Members of the Douglas County Republican Central Committee had good reason to be concerned about Templeton's involvement with the Mainstream Coalition. The group's political action committee had just mailed out 67,000 postcards of behalf of Dennis Moore, the Democrat who successfully defeated U.S. Rep. Vince Snowbarger, a Republican, in the campaign for the the 3rd District. However, Templeton was running to chair the Douglas County Republican Party as a moderate alternative to Jim Mullins, who had just finished one term as chair and narrowly defeated Templeton for a second term. Obviously, Templeton had a little explaining to do, and part of that explaining entailed saying that he made a mistake because the Mainstream Coalition was "heavily weighted to the left--too many Democrats for my taste." Templeton's perception of the group's Democratic Party bias was accurate, albeit a bit belated.
In fact, the Mainstream Coalition became a member organization of The Interfaith Alliance (TIA) during the 1990s. Meneilly served on that organization's board of directors. TIA was started in 1994 with $25,000 seed money from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which, of course, exists mainly to recruit and raise money for Democratic congressional candidates.
Jill Hanauer's served as TIA's executive director until 1997. As a student at the University of Colorado, Hanauer called in the American Civil Liberties Union to help her stop that school's football coach, Bill McCartney, from leading his team in a moment of silence before games. McCartney would later found Promise Keepers. After college, Hanauer raised more than $3 million for the Democratic National Committee and then joined the National Abortion Action League in 1990. She had also worked for liberal Democrats such as Tom Harkin, Gary Hart, and Patricia Schroeder.
Hanauer's anti-Christian and pro-abortion positions are also evident in the Mainstream Coalition. For example, in the October 1997 issue of Messenger, the official newsletter of the Mainstream Coalition, Meneilly attacked the Promise Keepers for using religion to promote political agendas. "[The Promise Keepers] claim only to be religious, but driving men to Washington (of all places) is an attempt to make more of a political statement than a religious witness!" Meneilly wrote. Of course, Meneilly failed to mention that the headquarters of his TIA was, and continues to be, located in (of all places) Washington, D.C.
Incidentally, the "raft of research" Templeton wrote about in his letter eventually became a 1999 report entitled "The Mainstream Coalition Exposed." You can download the report here.
Some might look at the dates of everything mentioned above and wonder if perhaps the Mainstream Coalition has become less of a left-wing extremist group during the past 15 years or so. Unfortunately, it remains as rabidly pro-abortion and anti-Christian as ever. Consider a letter to the editor that Michele Burger, the Mainstream Coalition's president, wrote to several Kansas newspapers after Gov, Sam Brownback proclaimed December 8, 2012 as "National Day of Restoration":
Gov. Sam Brownback proclaimed Dec. 8 as a “Day of Restoration,” exhorting all Kansans to “repent” and pray to a “Holy God.” This official proclamation by our sitting governor cannot go unchallenged, as our great constitutional republic is built on the foundation that religion and government should be separate.
Some say that people who object to government displays of religious texts, symbols and proclamations shouldn’t take “offense” so easily. This has nothing to do with taking offense; it’s about a clear understanding of the fundamental dangers to our constitutional republic when religion and government are mixed. Our history is replete with examples of what happens when government and religion are not kept separate.
Our society is and always has been pluralistic, and our founders made clear that respect for all religions, and no religion, would be the law of the land. If our founders could read Brownback’s religious proclamation, I am certain they would hang their heads in shame.
Would the Founders really hang their heads in shame? Consider that on September 25, 1789, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on President George Washington to issue a proclamation designating a national day of prayer and thanksgiving. The Senate agreed to the resolution the next day. Washington issued that proclamation on October 3: “Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me ‘to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.’”
Interestingly, the House of Representatives passed the prayer and thanksgiving resolution on the very same day that they sent 12 amendments to President Washington to be transmitted to the states for ratification. Those amendments included what became the First Amendment. That would be the same First Amendment that Burger claimed laid the “foundation that religion and government should be separate,” and, hence, should have prohibited Brownback from issuing his proclamation.
Craig Templeton eventually learned that the Mainstream Coalition was heavily weight to the left and was dominated by Democrats. As of this writing, Morgan has about 12 hours to realize the same thing and cancel his appearance at the MainPAC Candidate Rally and reject the group's endorsement. Failure to do so would only add to the growing perception that he is far too liberal to be a Republican candidate for any office in the state of Kansas.
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