Jillian Rayfield February 18, 2011, 8:58 AM

Gov. Haley Barbour may be trying to woo potential New Hampshire supporters with free food, co-sponsoring an upcoming “dinner and a date night” with a conservative think tank Cornerstone in New Hampshire this month.

The dinner will be followed by a screening of “The Genesis Code,” a movie about the relationship between creationism and evolution, that features Fred Thompson in a small role.

Mike Dennehy, a New Hampshire strategist and spokesman for the film’s producers, says that Barbour is only paying for the dinner part of the evening, and has no connection to the screening itself. “He’s sponsoring the date night dinner, which is just prior to the screening,” Dennehy told TPM.

The invitation itself is more ambiguous, declaring:

Cornerstone in conjunction with Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is inviting you and your loved one to join us for a FREE dinner at The Puritan on Saturday, February 26th at 7pm. Then, join us immediately following dinner at the Cinemagic Theater in Hooksett to see the movie critics are raving about, The Genesis Code - at a discounted rate!

Barbour will not be in attendance at either event.

Barbour’s office did not return TPM’s request for comment.

Kevin Smith, Executive Director for Cornerstone, told TPM that his organization and Barbour are splitting the cost of the evening, with Barbour sponsoring the dinner.

As for the film, he said that the it “explores the theories of creationism and also evolution,” but “rather than debunking either one of the theories, it actually is a movie that sets out to show how the two theories actually complement each other.”

The movie got some press last month when failed Nevada senatorial candidate Sharron Angle (R) attended the Iowa premiere of the film, at an event sponsored by the Iowa Christian Alliance Education Fund.

The official site provides the following synopsis:

Kerry Wells (Kelsey Sanders), a college journalist and committed Christian with an effervescent personality, has been assigned to do a story on Blake Truman (Logan Bartholomew) the college’s newest and very popular hockey superstar. As a relationship between them begins to develop Kerry finds that Blake, who hides behind a tough and independent façade, is actually struggling through a difficult personal crisis and that he bears the cross of a secret he has kept hidden for years. Blake rebuffs Kerry’s suggestion that prayer might help ease his burden; he is convinced that modern science completely disproves the Bible, especially the opening verses of Genesis. Kerry — who is herself suddenly confronted with a challenge to her faith on another front — sets out to prove that science and Genesis are not in conflict and her quest leads to a startling revelation. Could it be that what science teaches us about creation and the Story as told in Genesis are both true and in perfect accord!

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Here’s the official trailer:

Cornerstone, Haley Barbour, New Hampshire, The Genesis Code