A GCM pastor, Tim Rude of Walnut Creek Community Church in Des Moines, has been on the CNN news site based on anti-Catholic statements he made in regards to the upcoming straw poll. The following statements seem to be telling us that Walnut Creek leaders may be trying to get people to vote for Huckabee, as a pastor.

Statement 1: "XXXX church is trying to gain 1000 votes of people who were not planning on going to the Iowa Straw Poll from our efforts alone. Would you join us in accomplishing this goal?"

Statement 2: "And I am sure that you are aware that our entire Walnut Creek leadership staff, to my knowledge, is supporting Mike Huckabee.
On July 20, we drove up to Ames and spoke with pastors XXX and XXX about our position and were well received. However, it sounds like you are the men we need to communicate with about our advocacy."

The main issue at hand however are the anti Catholic statement he made about being a "recovering Catholic" and questioning the judgment of Catholics.

Remember though, that he did apologize. I am sure he never intended for his email to go public.

Here's a few links for the scandal.


This link includes the original email:
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/07/catholic_v_protestant_in_iowa_1.php

Here's a blog on ABC news that refers to it:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2007/07/anti-catholic-b.html

Here's another blog that refers to it:
http://dealwhudson.typepad.com/deal_w_hudson/2007/08/brownback-campa.html

Here's the CNN article:

August 1, 2007
Rude e-mail causes battle in Iowa

Brownback demanded an apology from former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback demanded an apology from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Wednesday for an e-mail sent to religious leaders in Iowa as part of what Brownback called an “effort to demoralize his supporters.”

Rev. Tim Rude, a volunteer for Huckabee’s campaign, sent an e-mail to evangelicals in Iowa, trying to persuade them to choose Huckabee over Brownback. Rude, a self-proclaimed “recovering Catholic,” criticized Brownback for converting to Catholicism and said that’s all he needs to “know about his discernment” to choose Huckabee over him.

Huckabee said he had nothing to do with Rude’s letter. “We are glad that Rev. Rude issued an apology and clarification for his comments. They were not authorized by, disseminated by, approved by, or condoned by the campaign,” Huckabee said in a statement.

But Brownback’s campaign still slammed Huckabee for not directly apologizing for the letter.

“Why is Governor Huckabee hesitating to denounce the anti-Catholic comments from his supporter, Pastor Tim Rude? It is hard to imagine that Governor Huckabee thinks Pastor Tim Rude’s prejudiced tactics are acceptable,” Brownback spokesman John Rankin said.

Brownback and Huckabee are two of the candidates planning to participate in Iowa’s straw poll in less than two weeks.

–CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich