Alan Grayson

New Grayson Ad Hits Opponent On Women's Issues, Eschews Taliban Comparison (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | October 6, 2010, 4:49PM

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)

Here's that new ad Alan Grayson was talking about on CNN last night.

As promised, the spot steers clear of comparing his Republican opponent Daniel Webster to the Taliban, but it does focus on the same issues his previous "Taliban Dan" segment addressed.

The ad notes the following Webster positions:

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Alan Grayson

Grayson Acknowledges 'Taliban Dan' Moniker May Have Gone Too Far (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | October 6, 2010, 12:24PM

On CNN last night, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) acknowledged that his use of the nickname "Taliban Dan" to describe his Republican opponent Daniel Webster may have gone too far. But he defended the thrust of the ad, which depicts Webster as a Christian extremist.

"I know you disagree with your opponent, and -- and certainly you disagree with his views," said host Anderson Cooper. "But calling him Taliban Dan, I mean, it's equivalent to somebody -- calling somebody a Nazi or, you know, a Maoist. I mean, why go down that road?"

"Well, in a way, you're right," Grayson admitted. "We let that ad run and die a natural death. Now we're running an entirely different ad on the same point, because people need to know Dan Webster's record."

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Institute for Basic Life Principles

Inside The Institute For Basic Life Principles -- The Organization That Inspired 'Taliban Dan' Ad

Brian Beutler | October 4, 2010, 8:40AM

Republican congressional candidate Daniel Webster

"Wives, submit yourself to your own husband."

Those words, spoken by Tea Party backed Republican Daniel Webster, were spliced into a September campaign ad called "Taliban Dan," produced by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), who is in danger of losing his conservative-leaning Congressional seat.

The problem for Grayson was that those words were taken out of context. Speaking before a gathering of a fundamentalist group called the Institute for Basic Life Principles, Webster said "[First] write a journal, second, find a verse. I have a verse for my wife. I have verses for my wife. Don't pick the ones that say she should submit to me. That's in the Bible. But pick the ones that you're supposed to do. So instead "love your wife, even as Christ loved the church he gave himself for" as opposed to 'wives, submit yourself to your own husband.' She can pray that if she wants to."

Webster's been with IBLP in its various forms for decades. After he released the full footage of his remarks, many critics indicted Grayson for dissembling. It appeared, after all, as if Webster had repudiated female submissiveness to husbands. So Grayson took his lumps. And the underlying claims in the ad -- including that Webster opposes all abortion, even in cases of rape -- went largely unaddressed.

However, the distorted remarks notwithstanding, a former member of IBLP told TPMDC last week that Grayson has every right to compare the organization's mores -- and Daniel Webster's as well -- to those of the Taliban.

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FL-08

Webster: Wives Should Submit Themselves To Their Husbands -- If They Want To (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | September 28, 2010, 11:03AM

Republican congressional candidate Daniel Webster

This weekend Alan Grayson went live with a striking ad, bringing to light his opponent Daniel Webster's extreme religious views. The ad, called "Taliban Dan," highlights Webster's positions on divorce (against) and abortion (not even in cases of rape), but it also spliced in footage of Webster telling an audience "wives submit yourselves to your own husband," and "submit to me."

The Webster campaign points out that the remarks are taken out of context. Webster actually said husbands and wives should dedicate Bible verses to one another. Men should use them to reinforce their commitment to their wives. Women should use them to submit themselves to their husbands... if they want to.

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Alan Grayson

Grayson Ad Hits "Taliban Dan Webster" For Demanding Submissiveness From Women (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | September 27, 2010, 9:40AM

Republican congressional candidate Daniel Webster

A tough new ad by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) has his Republican opponent Daniel Webster on the defense just weeks before the election. The segment focuses on Webster's extremely conservative religious views, and concludes by calling him "Taliban Dan Webster."

"Religious fanatics try to take away our freedom: In Afghanistan, In Iran, and right here in Central Florida," the narrator begins.

Though reporters and partisans argue about dubbing a Congressional candidate a member of the Taliban, perhaps the most damning portion of the ad comes from multiple pieces of footage Grayson has unearthed of Webster referencing and endorsing parts of the bible that instruct women to be submissive to their husbands.

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Christine O'Donnell

Mock All You Want, Republicans And Conservatives Take Witchcraft Seriously

Brian Beutler | September 22, 2010, 2:23PM

Not since we all learned that Rand Paul forced a blindfolded classmate to kneel in a stream and pray to the Aqua Buddha -- and possibly not since the revelation that Louisiana Governer Bobby Jindal had participated in an exorcism -- have political junkies been as overjoyed as they were when they saw footage of Christine O'Donnell admitting that she'd "dabbled into witchcraft" in her younger and more vulnerable years.

The admission made headlines precisely because, like exorcism and marijuana-worship, it's pretty far out there. But unlike marijuana-worship, it actually offered a glimpse into a real phenomenon in right wing politics and religion: fear of witchcraft and Satanic ritual.

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Alan Grayson

Grayson Opponent Supports Indefinite Occupation In Afghanistan (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | September 17, 2010, 4:45PM

Republican congressional candidate Daniel Webster

Florida Republican congressional hopeful Daniel Webster has a 2003-era view of American wars. A source sends over video footage of a Webster campaign event where he advocates that U.S. troops stay in Afghanistan indefinitely at the military's discretion, and use it to create a series of democracies in the Muslim world.

"Our national interest is this: We need a beachhead in the Middle East, that is a democratic beachhead, not a party but a form of government," Webster told voters. "And to me, if we have a democracy in several countries there, it become a beachhead. It also protects us because once that beachhead is established it can move further and further and hopefully free up the people of the middle east."

Webster was asked specifically how long he believed U.S. forces should remain in Afghanistan. He says that's none of voters' business. "However long we stay is a military decision that should not be shared with the public," Webster insisted, to a round of applause.

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Marco Rubio

Rubio Appears With Far Right Evangelical, Revisionist Historian

Brian Beutler | September 17, 2010, 11:16AM

Marco Rubio (R), candidate for US Senate in Florida

Republican Senate hopeful Marco Rubio is getting a little help on the campaign trail from a questionable customer.

At an event Wednesday near Orlando, Rubio was introduced to a crowd of 200 by evangelical David Barton, whose claims to fame include orchestrating the push to change Texas textbook standards to paint the far right in a positive light and helping to develop the radical Texas constitution.

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Alan Grayson

Grayson's Opponent Boasts Support From Far Right Texas Conservative

Brian Beutler | August 31, 2010, 9:00AM

Republican congressional candidate Daniel Webster

Alan Grayson's GOP opponent Daniel Webster has a thorn in his side. Listed in his official voter guide as a top supporter is a right wing activist named David Barton, who has already come under scrutiny for addressing two white supremacist organizations.

Barton claimed in both circumstances that he was unaware of the group's white supremacist ties. But that doesn't mean he's not possessed of extreme views of his own. From 1998 to 2006, he served as vice-chair of the Texas Republican party, which is notorious for having one of the most zealously conservative platforms in the country.

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