(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Christian Right's 19 County 2024 Election Strategy [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-05-11 There is a sophisticated effort by the Christian Right to target 19 counties in swing states with an aim to increase the evangelical vote, particularly among racial and ethnic minorities. It is led by important theocratic activists, most of whom are not exactly household names, not even to those who think of themselves as political professionals. I have just published a story about this stealthy campaign that I invite and encourage you to check out. The Christian Right is the best organized faction in American politics, and we are fortunate to have this window on part of their strategy and some of their tactics this year. Here are a few excerpts: The campaign has two main elements. One is led by Apostle Lance Wallnau, whose campaign is branded as The Courage Tour, while the other is led by a Trumpian think tank, the America First Policy Institute and its political action arm, America Policy Works. The latter’s project has disappeared from public view and may have gone stealth... Wallnau, a strategist and the public face of the revolutionary movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation [NAR], is best known for his advocacy of the 7 Mountain Mandate, which is the idea that Christians are called to conquer seven “mountains” of society to achieve religious and political dominion: government, family, religion, arts & entertainment, media, education, and business. Wallnau says he’s engaged in “the battle for the mountain of government.” To that end, he also says “there are 3,143 counties in the United States and the Lord showed us that 19 are going to determine the future of America.” Wallnau is taking his branded Courage Tour to seven states: He has been to Georgia and Arizona. Next up are Michigan and Wisconsin. Pennsylvania, Nevada and North Carolina are TBA. The America First Policy Instute has nine, overlapping states and targeted counties. Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin comprise AFPI’s “Tier 1” states. Florida, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina comprise “Tier 2.” The general criteria for selection of these counties are that they’re suburban with a population of 400,000 or more, and where the margin to win the state is less than 2%. The Tier 1 Counties Georgia: Cobb, Fulton, and Gwinnett Counties (Atlanta Metro Area) Wisconsin: Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties (Milwaukee Metro Area) Nevada: Clark County (Las Vegas) Pennsylvania: Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties (Philadelphia Metro Area), and Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) The Tier 2 Counties Florida: Miami-Dade, Pinellas (Tampa Bay area), and Duval (Jacksonville) Counties Ohio: Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) North Carolina: Wake (Raleigh) and Guilford (Greensboro) Counties Michigan: Macomb and Oakland Counties (Detroit Metro Area), and Kent County (Grand Rapids) In Arizona, Vida Church (a Latinx church in Mesa) is the headquarters for targeting specific precincts in Maricopa County. General Wallnau further proclaimed that to carry out this stealth political ground game, they have “special intelligence apps” including As One America, which contains the name, address and phone number of Christian neighbors “who are not showing up to vote or who are not registered.” He then showed a map with big red arrows pointing to precincts “within striking distance” from Vida Church to the precincts that are “where the devil’s got a stronghold that God wants to break up.” The app was developed by Superfeed Technologies, which has also designed apps for such clients as America First Works, Turning Point Action, and the Arizona Republican Party. As interesting as the strategic and tactical aspects of this story are, it is important not to lose sight that these folks understand themselves as engaged in an ultimate religious war. Wallnau said God told him that the reason some states are electoral battle grounds is because they are “spiritual battle ground states”—where “my people aren’t praying strong in the spirit. And if we don’t have apostles and prophets in the territory, then demons control the territory and the minds of people are under the influence of devils.” “The Left is loaded with demons,” Wallnau has warned. “I don’t think it’s people anymore; I think you’re dealing with demons talking through people.” This is consistent with the recent escalation in the rhetoric of religious war going on across much of the NAR-influenced religious and political world. It has become de rigueur to cast religious, political, and gender differences as demonic. There is much, much more. Read the whole story here. Follow me on Twitter here. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/5/11/2240191/-The-Christian-Right-s-19-County-2024-Election-Strategy?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/