Arlington Group

Millions of us were committed to President Bush and voted for him because of his commitment to sanctity of life and his support for marriage between one man and one woman. When the Administration adopts a defeatist attitude on an issue that is at the top of our agenda it becomes impossible for us to unite our movement on an issue such as Social Security privatization"
-- Letter to President Bush's Senior Political Advisor, Karl Rove signed by 47 members of the Arlington Group, 1/18/2005. 1

The Arlington Group unites the major players of nearly every major Christian right organization1. It is "a loose coalition of religious-right leaders," 2 formed to be the voice of the Christian right in Washington, D.C. It has proved to be a powerful political force in the time since its inception, unifying the various elements of the Christian right in one voice. During the 2004 presidential campaign, a representative from the Bush White House participated in each of the Arlington Group's weekly teleconferences. 3

Background / Policy Interests / Members

Background

According to Arlington Group member Paul Weyrich, the group was initially convened by Rev. Don Wildmon of the American Family Association. Weyrich describes the Arlington Group's meetings as being attended "by invitation only. Participants must represent something larger than themselves. The Chairman, with the assistance of the fulltime staff, sets the agenda. But any member can have a matter considered by the group. The meetings are not secret but they are off the record."4

Because of the unofficial, secretive nature of the group's activities, it is somewhat difficult to pin down precisely who is participating in the group. Although we were only able to identify 53 members, the New York Times writes that there are 61 organizations that participate in the Arlington Group, which gives the group access to a total combined membership of 60 million people.5 The group provides the religious right with a setting for collaboration and strategizing, allowing them to present a united front. Given the group's success in galvanizing their organizations around the issue of gay marriage, and their immediate response to Sandra Day O'Connor's resignation, it is likely that the Arlington Group will only become more active in the future.

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Policy Interests

The Arlington Group-

Vehemently opposes same-sex marriage: The Arlington Group has been described as "a conservative Christian alliance formed -to oppose same-sex marriage". 6 In February and March of 2004, the group launched a $2 million newspaper ad campaign to thank President Bush for endorsing the Federal Marriage Amendment. 7

The Arlington Group was at the helm of an effort to make clear to President Bush that if he did not support the Federal Marriage Amendment, they would not stand behind him on policies important to him. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and Arlington Group member implies that without the support of the 60 million people who belong to organizations led by members of the Arlington Group, "Are the votes there for privatizing Social Security?"8

Throws its weight behind President Bush's judicial nominees: The Arlington Group launched a large-scale and ultimately successful campaign to get President Bush's nominees to the Supreme Court confirmed. According to Time Magazine, "much of the direction for the anti-filibuster campaign has come from the Arlington Group, that includes Scarborough, James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Richard Land of the Southern Baptists." 9

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Members

Below is the most complete list of Arlington Group members publicly available 10

James Dobson
Focus on the Family founder, former President and current Board Chairman of Focus on the Family. 11 He is unofficially referred to as the Arlington Group's "National Chair".

Shannon Royce
Focus on the Family Executive Director. Formerly worked for the Southern Baptist Convention. 12

Paul M. Weyrich, Free Congress Foundation
Founding President of the Heritage Foundation. Former President and current Chairman and CEO of Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, a right-wing think tank founded by beer magnate Joseph Coors. 13

Tony Perkins, Family Research Council

Gary Bauer, American Values Committee

Rev. William Owens, President, Coalition of African-American Pastors

Sandy Rios, Concerned Women for America14

Alan E. Sears, Alliance Defense Fund

Dr. Bill Maier, Focus on the Family

Byron Voorheis, III, Michigan Chairman, Social Conservatives Bush-Cheney O4'

Rod Parsley, Center for Moral Clarity

Rick Scarborough, Founder and President, Vision America
The organization is dedicated to "empowering the 'shepherds' to lead their 'flocks' back into being salt in our nation." 15

Rev. Ted Haggard, President, National Association of Evangelicals

Jerry Falwell, Moral Majority

Louis P. Shelton, Traditional Values Coalition

William J. Bennett, Empower America 16

Donald E. Wildmon, American Family Association

Rich Bott, Bott Radio Network

Stephen M. Crampton, Chief Counsel, American Family Association Center for Law and Policy

Phil Burress, Citizens for Community Values

Janet Folger, Faith2Action

Stuart Epperson, Salem Communications Corporation

Kenneth Hutchenson, Mayday for Marriage

Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Chairman, High Impact Leadership Coalition

Alan Chambers, President, Exodus International

Dick Bott, Sr., Bott Radio Network

Carl D. Herbster, Advance USA

Keith Wiebe, American Assoc. of Christian School

Leo Godzich, Nat'l Assoc. of Marriage Enhancement

Ron Crews, Massachusetts Coalition for Marriage

Samuel Casey, Christian Legal Society

Colin A. Hanna, Let Freedom Ring, Inc.

Gary Glenn, American Family Association of Michigan

Randy Thomas, Exodus International

Kelly Shackleford, Free Market Foundation

Dr. S. Dale Burroughs, Biblical Heritage Institute

Clint Cline, Design 4

Larry Cirignano, Catholicvote.org

C. Preston Noell, Tradition, Family, Property

Warren Kelley, President, National Center for Freedom & Renewal

Rev. Derek A. McCoy, Vice President, High Impact Leadership Coaliton

Dan Panetti, National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families

Kristian M. Mineau, President, Massachusetts Family Institute

John Stemberger, Chairman, Florida Family Policy Council, Inc.

Al Laws, Jr., WIN Family Services, Inc.

Diane Gramley, American Family Assoc. of Pennsylvania

Matthew D. Staver, President, Liberty Counsel

Mark Benz, Men for Nations

Robert E. Reccord, President, North American Mission Board

Richard D. Land, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Frank Wright, Ph.D., President, National Religious Broadcasters

J. Kenneth Blackwell, American Center for Civic Character

Bishop Keith Butler, Protestant Preacher
"presides over Protestant churches all over the U.S.A. and abroad. His own parish in Detroit, MI has some 16,000 members" 17

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Citations

1 Alan Cooperman, Opponents Of Gay Marriage Divided; At Issue Is Scope Of an Amendment, Washington Post, A01, November 29, 2003.

2 Daniel Eisenberg et al., "The Posse in the Pulpit," Time Magazine, May 23, 2005

3Alan Cooperman, Evangelical Groups Plan Aggressive Drive for Nominee; Campaign Seeks Solid Conservative, The Washington Post, A06, July 4, 2005.

4 http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/weyrich/041203

5 Russell Shorto, "What's Their Real Problem With Gay Marriage? It's the Gay Part,"
The New York Times, June 19, 2005, Section 6.

6 Elisabeth Bumiller and David D. Kirkpatrick, As Official Washington Takes a Holiday, Combatants on Both Sides Carry On, The New York Times, Section A; Column 1. July 5, 2005.

7 Alan Cooperman, Gay Marriage as 'the New Abortion,' Debate Becomes Polarizing as Both Sides Become Better Organized, Spend Millions, The Washington Post, July 26, 2004.

8 The Washington Times, January 26, 2005.

9 Daniel Eisenberg et al., "The Posse in the Pulpit," Time Magazine, May 23, 2005.

10 Information on members and their affiliations were gathered from a letter to Karl Rove signed by 47 members of the Arlington Group, 1/18/2005 unless otherwise noted; ag_to_bush_re_mpa.pdf

1 Alan Cooperman, "Opponents of Gay Marriage Divided," Washington Post, November 29, 2003, A01; Eisenberg; http://www.ccv.org/CCV_Perspective-20050128.htm http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/weyrich/041203

12 Paul Weirich, founding member of the Arlington Group, in a column written for the Renew America 12/3/2004 http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/weyrich/041203

13 Cooperman

14 Cooperman

15 From the Vision America website, http://www.visionamerica.us/site/PageServer?pagename=WhoWeAreLanding

16 Cooperman

17 Paul Weirich, founding member of the Arlington Group, in a column written for the Renew America 12/3/2004 http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/weyrich/041203