Gary Bauer

Bauer has been a vociferous advocate of an aggressive war on terror, supporting neoconservative-led advocacy campaigns and using outlets like the Weekly Standard and Human Events to attack war critics and press for expanding the anti-terror campaign. In a March 2005 interview with the Providence Journal, Bauer argued that "Islamofascism" was poised to change Western civilization. He said: "There is a need for Western civilization to confront this evil. The things they demand of us would require us to change who we are. ... No politician is going to be able to ignore it. And no one is going to be able to say I will react to it as long as I can get France to go along." In an April 2007 article for the Weekly Standard , Bauer compared today's "anti-war left" to that of the 1960s, arguing that in both cases the "ugly aggression by the so-called peace movement" ultimately plays into the hands of those supporting war. He wrote: "Clearly, while the country may be suffering a loss of confidence in how the war is being managed, that concern is not translating into an alignment with the activist anti-war crowd, for whom victory is never an option. In the weeks and months ahead, as the anti-war Left continues to step up public protests of the war (CODEPINK has planned dozens more protests and 'occupations'), they may find that the only sparks they create are in the hearts of Americans who long to see dynamic defenders of the home of the brave and the land of the free" (Weekly Standard, April 25, 2007).

In 1997, Bauer joined a passel of neoconservative figures in Washington to create the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), an influential pressure group founded by Kristol and Robert Kagan whose various sign-on letters and statements uncannily forecast—or influenced—the foreign policy course adopted by George W. Bush in the wake of 9/11. PNAC's founding statement of principles, issued in June 1997 and including the signatures of a stellar cast of hardline Republicans and neoconservatives, argued that although a "Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today ... it is necessary if the United States is to build on the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our greatness in the next." Bauer also serves on the Board of Advisers of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a neoconservative outfit founded by former New York Times correspondent Clifford May shortly after 9/11 that claims to be "dedicated exclusively to promoting pluralism, defending democratic values, and fighting the ideologies that drive terrorism."

In 2002, Bauer teamed up with Rabbi Daniel Lapin of the conservative Jewish organization Toward Tradition to create the American Alliance of Jews and Christians (AAJC), the aim of which is "to unite Christians in support of Israel and work with American Jews and Christians on behalf of traditional values," according to the organization. Said a July 10, 2002 press release announcing the group: "A unique synthesis of Jewish authenticity and Christian grassroots muscle, the group will draw on Mr. Bauer's Washington experience and influence in the Christian community, including the 100,000 conservative Christians who receive his daily e-mail. The AAJC's Board of Advisers will include Dr. James Dobson, Charles Colson, Rev. Jerry Falwell, Rev. Pat Robertson, Pastor Rick Scarborough, as well as Rabbi Barry Freundel, Rabbi David Novak, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, Michael Medved, John Uhlmann" (Toward Tradition press release, July 10, 2002).

Bauer has also led a number of right-wing organizations that focus on domestic politics and issues of supposed moral decay. He is the former head of the Family Research Council (FRC), helped found in 1981 the Council for National Policy along with a group of former members of the John Birch Society, and now heads American Values, an organization that says it is "deeply committed to defending life, traditional marriage, and equipping our children with the values necessary to stand against liberal education and cultural forces." According to its website, "The culture of death continues to be promoted in our media, courts, and legislatures. Millions of unborn children have been killed over the last 30 years as a result of our country's selfishness justified under the euphemisms of choice and privacy. Advances in science have brought about new challenges for those working to protect life. Embryonic stem cell research and cloning advocates borrow from the pro-abortion playbook by trying to confuse the public about the supposed benefits and dangerous realities of their research."

The right-wing American Values—motto: "Your voice to help protect life, marriage, family, faith, and freedom"—also takes a strong stand on Middle East peace issues, arguing on its website that it "believes America's relationship with Israel needs to be the cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. Achieving peace in the Middle East starts with ensuring the security of the Israeli state. While American Values is deeply committed to the achievement of a peace agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors, including the Palestinian Authority, peace cannot be achieved as long as terrorism persists against the Israeli people. Israel has attempted to appease the Palestinians, by moving out of the Gaza Strip, but the result has been more violence against Israel. The withdrawal from Gaza as well as the recent war in Lebanon prove that only a strong and viable Israel in concert with a powerful and resolute United States will achieve the peace this region wants and needs."

Despite his evangelical crusades, Bauer's personal behavior has been the subject of sharp criticism from his employees and political allies. He was accused of adultery by his 2000 presidential campaign staff, who "charged Bauer with ill-advised private meetings with a 27-year-old female campaign aide. In October, campaign manager Charles Jarvis and almost half the campaign staff left Bauer over the charges of impropriety" (Christianity Today, February 7, 2000).

When Bauer called his own press conference to combat the rumors of adultery, he refused to answer questions about which campaign he thought was spreading the rumors (although he had claimed a rival campaign was doing it), and whether or not any of his former colleagues had approached him about his seemingly inappropriate behavior with the female aide ("Bauer Denies Adultery Rumor," ABCNews.com, September 29, 1999).

According to the left-leaning People for the American Way, after Bauer dropped out of the 2000 presidential race, the board of the Family Research Council "quickly confirmed that [Bauer] would not be back—no surprise, as FRC had previously given Bauer a thinly veiled notice of expulsion when it released the results of a poll conducted among their staffers ... In addition, Bauer had reportedly angered James Dobson, founder and head of Focus on the Family, mentor to Bauer, and underwriter of much of the FRC, when he decided to run for president" (Right-Wing Watch Online, April 25, 2000).

When Bauer dropped out of the presidential race, he endorsed the campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), which drew criticism from conservative leaders. Reported People for the American Way: "On his 700 Club television show, Pat Robertson, who himself sought the GOP's presidential nomination in 1988, said, 'I don't think the Bauer thing makes one hill of difference. He didn't do anything anywhere all over the country ... I would think, frankly, that his political activity is pretty much over.'"

Despite his attempts to become a leading member of the religious right, and despite his strongly right-wing views, Bauer has been known for "scaring the hell out of the Republican establishment," as William Saletan put it in a 1998 Mother Jones article. "Bauer is leading his flock toward a moralist economic philosophy that often seems more Democratic than Republican. The China debate drew Bauer into an open alliance with liberals. He coordinated strategy with House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO), attended a Kennedy family dinner, staged a press conference with the AFL-CIO, and dined with Richard Gere after they shared the same stage at a rally" (Mother Jones, July/August 1998).

Government Service

Private Sector

Education

Gary Bauer, " Strange Bed-Fellows: The Anti-War Left May Wind Up Helping President Bush," Weekly Standard, April 25, 2007.

Philip H. Burch, Research in Political Economy: Reagan, Bush, and Right-Wing Politics, Supplement 1, Part A, (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1997) pp. 64, 113, 283.

"Rabbi Daniel Lapin and Gary Bauer Launch American Alliance of Jews and Christians," Toward Tradition press release, July 10, 2002, http://209.85.129.104/search?q=cache:qcm-OCLunEMJ:www.towardtradition.org/
pr_aajc.htm+American+Alliance+of+Jews+and+Christians&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=safari.

American Values, http://www.ouramericanvalues.org/.

American Values, General Position: Israel, http://www.amvalues.org/issues_natsec_israel.php.

Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, various pages, http://www.defenddemocracy.org/.

Tony Carnes, "Gary Bauer Can't Go Home Again," Christianity Today, February 7, 2000.

"Bauer Denies Adultery Rumor," ABCNews.com, ABC News Internet Ventures, September 29, 1999.

People for the American Way, "April: Gary Bauer, Vermont Civil Unions, and the Religious Right On the Air and On the Web," Right-Wing Watch Online, April 25, 2000.

William Saletan, "Gary Bauer's Moral Dilemma," Mother Jones, July/August 1998.

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