A Candidate’s Manifesto

Guest essay by Scott Lively

“God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? “Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.” But what is the divine response to him? “I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.” In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice” Romans 11:2-5

In the times we live in, it has become commonplace for believers to substitute their own reasoning for the wisdom of God. But there is nothing new under the sun. This was the same in Elijah’s time. So in this election we have seen Christian voters across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, both Protestant and Catholic, deliberately cast their votes for Charlie Baker, a man whose hands drip with the blood of the innocent unborn babies and whose tongue rationalizes the promotion of sexual perversion to school-children. They have chosen to support what they believe is the “lesser evil” rather than trust God and stand on His truth.

But 19,192 voters (and counting) did not bow their knee to evil. And in that remnant there is great hope.

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin…” Zechariah 4:10
I want you to recognize what a great victory we have achieved in this campaign. Consider the facts objectively:

A Missionary Pastor with an inner-city church that seats just 45, mostly street-people, ran a part-time campaign, serving as his own campaign manager, with only 20 campaign volunteers (only about half of whom dedicated more than 40 hours to the effort), and a budget of just over $25,000. To a population of over 6 million people he put out just 35,000 pieces of literature, 300 bumper stickers, 400 yard signs, and for media advertising had only one 30-second radio spot for five days on two local Springfield radio stations plus a 2×3″ print ad in one edition of a regional newspaper in the Pioneer Valley.

Deliberately (by the prompting of the Holy Spirit) limiting his campaign activities only to those public appearances and media interviews to which he was invited (not trying to win the seat in his own strength but staying out of the way to let God pull the strings), he (by conservative accounts) handily won the two major debates in which he appeared, shocked the hosts, audience and fellow panelists in every forum with his boldness and candor, and preached the unvarnished Gospel of Jesus Christ in nearly all of the 30 or so public events in which he appeared.

He sought no endorsements but was nevertheless endorsed by the eminent Dr. Alan Keyes, and by the Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition. He intentionally limited his fundraising to two direct mail letters (to a combined total of just 7,000 people), and a non-manipulative request for financial support in his 25-or-so email blasts, which, incidentally went to a list of just 1700 people, most of whom live outside of Massachusetts, including probably 200 or more who live outside the United States and were thus ineligible to donate.

He conducted no polls (and in fact urged his supporters not to answer polls), refused to engage in negative campaigning (except to criticize the other candidates for pandering, and for supporting abortion and sodomy), and answered every media question forthrightly, without equivocation or double-talk. (Being repeatedly praised — both on and off the air – by even the most liberal journalists and interviewers for his honesty and eloquence — all glory to God.)

Breaking the most fundamental “rules” of campaigning he candidly admitted he had virtually no chance of winning and frequently stated he did not really want to be Governor but only to bring Biblical values back into the political process and to inspire other believers to follow his example.

And in the end, despite a two-party political context in which the three independent candidates (a liberal, a moderate and a conservative – himself) collectively got less than 5% of the vote, the pastor came in 4th in a 5-way race, getting nearly 20,000 votes at a cost of only about $1.30 per vote while the two major party candidates spent over $3.50 per vote (not counting the millions spent by political action committees which probably bumps that up to $5-7 or more per vote), and while the two other independent candidates spent roughly $27 and $80 per vote respectively.*

[*According to the MA Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) as of Oct 31st, Pastor Lively spent about $25,000 compared to nearly 1.5 million by McCormick, nearly 2 million spent by Falchuck, about 3.5 million spent by Coakley and about 4 million spent by Baker.]

So, looking at the big picture, to have interjected authentic Biblical values and plain-spoken conservative principles and policies (articulately and unapologetically), into the most politically-correct, most un-churched electorate in America, on live, unedited television (and radio) to hundreds of thousands if not millions of viewers is — in a word — PRICELESS!

We have scored a HUGE VICTORY and all those who prayed, donated or volunteered have a share in that blessing. God, of course, gets the glory!

Make Straight the Way of the Lord
“A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.'” Isaiah 40:3

As always, revival will come in response to the prayers and repentance of His people. Wouldn’t it be just like the Lord to surprise the church by bringing revival into the culture through the political realm? The place that so many Christians believe wrongly is outside the scope of their responsibility and authority as His agents?

We have a remnant of nearly 20,000 people who have proved by their vote that they trust God, not their own human reasoning, to heal our land. We have a core of trustworthy men and women with whom to work to restore the commonwealth.

Today I changed my affiliation from un-enrolled to Republican. Starting today my role in Massachusetts (in addition to serving as pastor) will be to help the Christian conservatives take the GOP back from the RINOs. After the first of the year I will make myself available as a motivator and organizer to help create a state-wide grassroots network of conservative activists. This was what I did in Oregon in the late 80s and early 90s as Communications Director for the Oregon Citizens Alliance, the most extensive political network of Christian activists I’ve ever seen. Pat Robertson came to Oregon to examine our organizational model before he created the Christian Coalition. I was the #2 man in OCA for several years and want to offer that experience to the conservative movement here.

I will likely run for another office in 2016 as part of this effort. The next time I will run to win.

The Favor of God
On a personal note, I want to say how much I have enjoyed campaigning. Indeed, “enjoyed” is far too small a word for it. I have experienced a profound sense of satisfaction and fulfillment on the campaign trail. I can’t remember feeling so completely in tune with the Lord and so confident of being in His perfect will as when I was in the debates and the other public speaking events and media interviews. I have the sense that everything I have ever done in my life — every diverse experience and training — was to prepare me for this ministry field.

And I have felt God’s favor in and through it. As you may know, I am being sued for “Crimes Against Humanity” by a Marxist law firm trying to take away my First Amendment rights and destroy me the way the LGBT bullies try to destroy anyone who gets in their way — from Anita Bryant in the 1970s to Phil Robertson in 2013. It’s the classic Saul Alinsky strategy of malicious slander and character assassination. And in the middle of the campaign the largest homosexual activist organization in the world, the so-called Human Rights Campaign piled on, naming me the Global LGBT Movement’s Public Enemy #1.

Yet, after a couple of Brownshirt-style attacks at venues early in the year (the worst being at Harvard Law School) the LGBT street activists faded away. Since we qualified for the ballot in the mid summer, there has been no disruption or harassment of any of my campaign activities. Not even when I intentionally went to Northampton (called by some the lesbian capital of the world) to do street outreach in the city center.

I believe my faithfulness in stepping out into the political arena to preach the gospel has spiritually broken the back of the anti-Lively coalition and demolished its campaign of defamation. The public has seen me in the debates and other venues and know I am a sincere and kind-hearted Christian man, whether or not they agree with my views. They will never again believe the vicious LGBT lies trying to paint me as a genocidal monster. The Lord has vindicated me in an entirely unique way.

The Way Forward
Ill be keeping the Committee to Elect Scott Lively alive and using it to lay the groundwork for the next election. I’ll be building a mailing list and doing regular fundraising to cover travel and office expenses through 2015. Grassroots organizing takes a lot of time, so we need to start early in the new year.

There is a maximum of $500 per person you can give in 2014. If you haven’t maxed out, and you want to support my plan for 2015, please give today.
Donate online here: http://www.livelyforgovernor.com/donate.htm To make a donation by mail follow the instructions here: http://www.livelyforgovernor.com/donate.htm and send your check to CTE Scott Lively, PO Box 4335, Springfield, MA 01101

Many thanks for your continued prayer and support, God bless you and yours,

Dr. Scott Lively

Copyright © 2014 Committee to Elect Scott Lively, All rights reserved.
Thank you for your continuing support for my campaign for Governor of Massachusetts

Our mailing address is:
Committee to Elect Scott Lively
PO Box 4335
Springfield, MA 01101

Used by permission