Priebus in Iowa: Election a ‘fight between freedom and government’s insatiable appetite to grow’

Leaders of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and the chairman of the Republican National Committee used combative language to describe the GOP’s bid to defeat President Obama and put in place further restrictions on abortion and marriage during a social conservative event in Iowa over the weekend.

The three men spoke Saturday evening at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s 11th annual fall banquet in Des Moines. About 1,000 people turned out for the event at a cost of $55 a plate, and all major Republican presidential candidates spoke except for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Steve Scheffler

Steve Scheffler, president of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, described the event as “the beginning of the end of the socialist agenda that permeates Washington, D.C.” He is also a Republican National Committeeman.

“We are going to be soldiers marching into battle, and the great crowd tonight is indicative that we are alive and well and on the march,” he said.

And Reince Priebus, chairman of the RNC, said this is a “fight between freedom and government’s insatiable appetite to grow.”

“I’m here because I’m concerned about the future of this country,” he said. “I believe that we’re in a battle for freedom.”

Image has not been found. URL: http://media.iowaindependent.com/2010/03/reed-139x150.jpgRalph Reed (photo by Dave Davidson, TEApublican.com)

Ralph Reed, chairman of the national Faith and Freedom Coalition, said the group plans to distribute 40 million voting guides in evangelical and pro-family churches over the next year. There are also plans to compile a voter profile containing 27 million names, with each person being contacted seven to 12 times.

“Friends, we’re going to turn out the largest, most enthusiastic and the most dynamic pro-life, pro-family vote in the history of this country, and when we do America is going to be restored to greatness,” Reed said.

He said 55 to 60 percent of Republican caucusgoers in Iowa are evangelical Christians, and about 44 percent of all Republican primary voters identify as evangelical as well. The “pundits and pollsters continue to be confounded” by that, he said.

“We know sometimes we bring forward issues that others might prefer not to talk about, but we are compelled to do so,” Reed said. “Like the fact that every human being is made in the image of all-mighty God and that every life is sacred from conception to natural death and is worthy of our love and protection.”