Re: Unfortunate news
Subject: Re: Unfortunate news
From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
Date: 10/8/10, 21:23
To: "Antonio M. Elias" <antoniomelias@gmail.com>

That's a shame, if not particularly surprising. People of that mentality will probably best be won over through attacks on Forbes' integrity, as they clearly aren't voting on their own interests or even the Constitution but rather something more intangible. Though LeGrow can't win them over on the basis of spirituality, he can at least be perceived (rightfully) as more ethical than the opposition, and I'm already finding quite a bit that can be used. Let me know if you've thought about the idea of launching a question a day at Forbes.

On Fri, Oct 8, 2010 at 6:45 PM, Antonio M. Elias <antoniomelias@gmail.com> wrote:
Barrett,

Apparently our friend Rev. Manley in Chesapeake has had a change of heart.  What I told you and you quoted me quoting him saying "we need to get this man elected" is (was?) completely true - those are the words he used with Wynne.  But I just got off the phone with him and he said "while I support the Democrats, I don't think Wynne is the right one".  I pressed him on whether he thought Wynne was a good, moral person, and he confirmed that he did think that, but just could not acknowledge good without God.

It's disappointing to say the least.  We will continue to reach out to people of all faiths, and if anything this just reinforces how much the support of you and the skeptic community means to us.  If both sides abandoned us then it would just confirm that atheists have no place in politics.  I don't think that's true and I thank you again for your support.

This is all off the record - I just wanted to make sure that you did not use my quote specifying that minister's support in any future articles.  It was accurate at the time of the Huffington Post and Daily Kos articles, so I don't see any need to take those down.

Also - this does seem to be an isolated incident.  Christian Democrats from across the district remain allied with us as they agree to vote on the issues - not on personal beliefs.

Let me know if either of you have any questions.

Again, I can't thank you enough for being there for us,

-Antonio



--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302