Thread by @DavidPepper

👁 In the Room Where It Happened: What Issue 1 is all about for the far right

A 🧵 you’ll want to read:

On May 9, an event in Cincinnati generated some media attention because former VP Mike Pence came and spoke.

And that was how it was covered.

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fox19.com/2023/05/09/for…

But in hindsight, the importance of that event—a gala dinner—was far bigger than a brief speech by someone whose presidential race will go nowhere.

The far bigger story, which the press didn’t pick up on, was that it was at that gala that the group driving so much of…

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…Ohio’s descent into far-right extremism openly shared their plans.

But…there was one reporter there who DID pay attention to the entire meeting.

Because he was there to learn more about the gala’s host, Ohio’s Center for Christian Virtue (CCV), generally.

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And he had full access, paid close attention, and took detailed notes.

Perhaps because he is an international correspondent, not simply consumed with the presidential politics that occupies most Americans, he listened attentively to what others (beyond Pence) had to say.

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And he wrote a story about it all.

But since @basblokkernrc is a reporter for NRC, Holland’s paper of record, in Dutch, few here would have read the story.

When he called to get my perspective on it, he filled me in on all he’d heard, in the wide open.

And for the…

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…sake of transparency of an important political story, was willing to share his notes.

Here is what happened, per his notes:

“Ruth Edmonds, CCV-director of Christian Engagement, opened the event and told us…’God has plans for this bell weather state.’ Having children is…

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…replenishing the world with soldiers doing God’s work.”

Pence came next. “‘The radical left has descended on the Buckeye State,’ Mike Pence said, ‘collecting signatures.’”

Next appeared the leader of CCV, named Aaron Baer—a leading power broker in Ohio GOP politics:

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After an opening prayer, he told the crowd: “‘We got work to do. There is serious wickedness going on on our watch.’”

“He told the audience about the CCV-initiated school, Westside, and how he wants to get the State House to approve the Backpack Bill….

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…With that bill, vouchers would be provided to parents, in order to spend public, taxpayers’ money on CCV’s private Christian school….’There are now 34 children on Westside, torn from the clutches of the enemy’ — obviously Baer meant public education here.”

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“‘Everybody get your phone out. Go to . Scroll to yellow button to find your lawmaker. Fill in his or her name. Don’t worry about the address, we will do that for you.’ Then he said: ‘We got eight weeks to get this done. Our lawmakers don’t hear…’

10/backpackbill.com

“‘…often from their constituents. We did it last week in Columbus. We’re gonna flood their postboxes.’

[note: this bill passed]

“Then Baer talked about the special election on the constitutional amendment. The day after the gala, the State House would vote on a proposal..

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…to raise the necessary majority to 60 percent.”

“‘We look at the Speaker…’ Here a couple of boos were heard in the audience. ‘We will see tomorrow if he has some backbone or if he sells out.’

[note: the Speaker did sell out, supporting Issue 1 as it passed]

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“Baer then explained that six states have had abortion on the ballot since Roe v Wade was rescinded.

It is 6-0 for those who are pro abortion.

He said the pro-life vote had no chance because ‘outside groups’ were organizing votes to preserve the right to…

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….choose abortion in Ohio. The pro-choice vote would get the majority, but not a majority of 60 percent, Baer said.”

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“‘We have to stop it here. If we stop it here, it will be stopped everywhere. If not, we cannot stop it anywhere. We have to protect the women of Ohio. To protect the women of America.’”

Then he addressed organizing for the anticipated campaign:

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“‘As Center for Christian Virtue we’re gonna play an important role. We have the largest church network. We need to engage the church. It all starts with prayer. Every day at 8.15, we pray together in a Zoom conference.’

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“Baer tells of the plan to appoint 88 county captains to gather votes…’We’ve got 220 churches. The churches need to stop this. We see suffering of children in school. We see the suffering from abortion. We can’t allow this to happen.’”

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“Applause around the tables: ‘I’m excited about how God calls us if he needs us.’”

That’s the end of the notes.

BTW, both Secretary of State LaRose and Attorney General Yost were in attendance. They heard all this.

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Let’s go over that again:

1) Pence talks of the signature-gathering;

2) Baer admits they are losing everywhere;

3) Baer admits they will lose if the threshold is 50%, but thinks they’ll win if it’s 60%;

4) Baer says: “If we stop it here, it will be stopped everywhere.”

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5) Baer vocalizes the real drive for the voucher bills—get money and kids to CCV’s school and “tear” kids out of “the clutches of the enemy” (public schools).

Folks, this is their battle.

They know they are losing.

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They know they WILL lose if they don’t rig the rules.

They say it in the wide open.

Official like LaRose & Yost know.

Issue 1 is their plan to do execute on this in Ohio.

But it’s national: “We have to stop it here. If we stop it here, it will be stopped everywhere.”

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That’s why Dick Uhlein kicked in $4M from Illinois. That’s why these same folks kicked in $5M into TV yesterday for the final week.

This is a battle to subvert Ohio’s democracy, and it’s majority. With abortion as its main driver. But w obviously much broader consequences

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But it’s also part of a much bigger battle against core American rights, which a majority supports, vs. right-wing extremism locking in its views over the wishes of that majority.

They see it that way.

We need to see it that way.

And we need to fight back accordingly.

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Oh, and for those of you who read Dutch, here’s the link to Bas’s story about, as he put it to me, “the outsized influence of conservative religious groups on American politics.”

It was his final story before moving back to the Netherlands.

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nrc.nl/nieuws/2023/07…

But if you don’t read Dutch, my hope is that even notes from one gala motivate you to help defeat Issue 1 here & stop efforts like it elsewhere:

“If we stop it here, it will be stopped everywhere.” Indeed.

To learn how, follow my newsletter here:

ENDdavidpepper.substack.com/p/final-week-u…