Dear Friend,

The 2016 election season is well under way with all the drama that comes with presidential politics.  Likewise our Georgia General Assembly is quickly moving to finish this session as political leaders position and prepare for the May general primary election.  In the world of politics we are indeed in the harvest season, and the Constitution Party of Georgia (CP-Ga) is hard at work in the field building a separate, unique, and distinct political party from the grassroots up!

In This Update

• Party Building:  Fundraising and Membership
• Do Christianity and Politics Mix?
• Political Capital
• Ballot Access in Georgia
• Upcoming Events
• SoS Elections Division Data Breach
• Legislative Update
• Commentary

Unlike reform groups like the Democratic Pro-Life Caucus or the Republican Assembly, the CP-Ga works to help build a multifaceted network of like-minded supporters and organizations to achieve specific political ends.  The past three decades are littered with honest efforts of like-minded patriots who – either as elected officials or party officials – have attempted to change the GOP from within. Most party reform movements are focused only on changing stated policy or personnel of the two major parties.  But lasting political change must include building a political infrastructure and culture that promotes the basic principles of Christian civil government.   That change is best promoted through a distinct political party with a multi-generational vision to build at the local level. True spiritual revival in our communities provides the soil in which the CP-Ga can thrive.  The party’s expansion will be paced with the growth of a constituency that will vote for representatives who have the courage to implement these principles of Christian civil government.  This will not only ensure that efforts are focused toward credible, competitive campaigns but it helps the CP-Ga resist the political temptation to expand our voter base by compromising our principles. 

Last month the party picked up 269 new supporters and three new recruiters.  Our social media efforts have been crucial to raising the party’s profile and adding to the party’s list of prospective supporters, volunteers, and donors.  To give you some perspective in the last quarter our email list grew 139% but our Twitter followers grew over 3000%.  Matthew Propes, our volunteer Twitter Social Media Captain, has been the force behind such explosive growth.  Our motto of  “Honor God, Defend the Family, Preserve the Republic” is resonating with voters who embrace all three and are motivated to act — privately and publicly.  We are targeting Christian voters who are actively living out obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, who understand that 2 Timothy 3:16-17 applies to every part of our lives including politics, and who have an appreciation for the Christian foundation of our nation’s history.  

Currently all of the party’s elected officials around the country are serving in local offices.  By keeping the CP-Ga focused on local party building and political action where ballot access and incumbent recalls are achievable, we are concentrating on winning hearts and minds, building our base of support, and winning small battles over the next four years.  Franklin Graham challenged Christians to walk away from compromised political parties and start working locally to raise up elected officials who will not be ashamed to honor God in their official capacity.  My friend Rick Jore, former Constitution Party Montana State Representative who was term-limited out of office in 2008, is an example of the kind of leadership the CP-Ga is building.  After watching the video below where I introduced Jore then he gave a presentation I think you’ll agree he’s the kind of representative we want serving in our municipal and state governments.

Like our founders are you willing to pledge your lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to fight for our communities?  Then join us!  Sign up to support and work for the CP-Ga today! If you’re outside Georgia we’ll help you get plugged in to your state’s efforts.

With a vision of victory,

Ricardo Davis
State Chairman

In This Update

• Party Building:  Fundraising and Membership
• Do Christianity and Politics Mix?
• Political Capital
• Ballot Access in Georgia
• Upcoming Events
• SoS Elections Division Data Breach
• Legislative Update
• Commentary

Party Building:  Fundraising and Membership

The 2016 election cycle is around the corner and the CP-Ga is preparing to expand its grassroots base to focus on training activists, electing local candidates and competing in select state legislative races.  For the CP-Ga to start 2016 strong we need every supporter receiving this email to do one or more of the following:

1. If you are not currently a member or your membership has lapsed, please become a member today!  To check your status sign in (click here for help) or call 404-994-3586.
2. If you have a business then consider a year-end donation of funds or in-kind services.  Call Ricardo Davis at (404) 620-2440 today!
3. If you are a current member or do not meet conditions 1 or 3 for party membership but want to help the CP-Ga achieve its goals then give a donation today!  Note that under current state law donations for party building purposes are not limited; cumulative donations under $100 a year are not reported to the state.

In the state of Georgia voters do not register by political party, so party membership requirements are set by each party.  By the way Georgia has open primary elections – a member of a political party may vote in any primary they chose.  And voting in a party’s primary does not make the voter a member of that political party.

Your support helps advance the cause of Christ’s righteousness in our civil government for the good of all people.  It helps fund the party’s communications and outreach efforts.  It is your vote in support of those principles you believe in and want to see established in your community.

Do Christianity and Politics Mix?

Gary DeMar 

There’s a scene at the end of the film The Martian where Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) lays out what is inevitable in space travel. It’s a lesson that can and should be applied to every area of life:

“At some point, everything’s gonna go south on you… Everything’s going to go south and you’re going to say, this is it. This is how I end. Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work. That’s all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem… and you solve the next one… and then the next. And if you solve enough problems, you get to come home. All right, questions?”

A number of readers of the material published by American Vision often ask why we spend so much time on eschatology. Matt Damon’s brief speech is one reason why. Of course, it’s much more comforting to Christians if there is a “rescue in a rapture” than to die with no Earthly or Martianly hope.

Let’s get a few preliminaries out of the way concerning Christians and politics. First, there is no doubt that there are few differences between the two major parties. With both Houses of Congress owned by the Republicans, one would think that the claimed differences would have come out and the GOP would have fought for the principles they claim separate them from the Democrats.

This leads to the second observation. Many Christians believe their vote doesn’t make much difference even when their guy wins because their votes are overwhelmed by the GOP establishment majority that dilutes the effectiveness of the constitutionalists.

Third, they are tired of sending people to Congress who promise one thing and then break that promise and offer political excuses for the votes they make. This happened in my district in Georgia. Rep. Barry Loudermilk voted for the 2000-page Omnibus Appropriations Bill even though it continued to fund Planned Parenthood to the tune of $500 million. There’s so much pork in the Omnibus Bill that a devout Muslim wouldn’t touch the paper it’s printed on.

Here’s how a letter-to-the-editor writer praised Loudermilk’s vote:

“But you can’t beat something with nothing, so our delegation used the only currency they had [to get specific issues related to Georgia passed]: their votes for or against the Omnibus Appropriations Bill. Thankfully, Representative Loudermilk and the Georgia Delegation put their districts and state’s interests first, and harmful provisions were defeated as a direct result of their efforts.”¹

This means that the 300+ million people in the other 49 states (along with Georgia) get saddled with the multi-billion-dollar Appropriations Bill because the Georgia Delegation wanted something specific to Georgia taken out that Alabama had put in. Instead of voting for specific issues in separate bills, they are put into an Omnibus Appropriations Bill.

Loudermilk voted for the bill because “the new House Speaker” had “pledged to bring up for votes the other issues that Loudermilk wanted to see addressed in the bill,” issues that everyone knew Obama would veto.

Disillusionment sets in. But we don’t give up. We look for a better candidate. We raise up a more informed generation of Christian statesmen.

Continue reading…