The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a poll from Anzalone Liszt Research that shows Democratic nominee Parker Griffith 8 points ahead of Republican Wayne Parker in the AL-05 race. The entire text of the release is below.

This poll was taken Oct. 12 to 14, mostly before the flap emerged yesterday about a recording from a forum last month where Griffith is heard saying, “I think America’s greatest enemy is America and its materialism. And I think that we have nothing to fear from radical Islam. We have nothing to fear from any other religion if we are strong on our own beliefs. I don’t fear radical Islam.”

Today’s Huntsville Times has Griffith on the record about that Colbert-Lauderdale Baptist Association meeting on Sept. 15:

Griffith said he was surprised that his comments had caught the NRCC’s attention a month after they were issued. He said the forum was about faith and family, and his remarks about Islam were completely from a religious slant.

“I don’t think anyone in the room misunderstood what I was saying,” Griffith said. “I was in a room full of Baptist ministers, and we were talking about religion, not matters of national security. The point I was making was that if we are strong in our Christian beliefs, that is stronger than any Islamic threat.

“I don’t know how this got so taken out of context. It’s just a baseless negative attack.”

You can hear the comment here at Redstate.com, but there is not enough audio to add any context. Redstate.com says that Griffith “was asked about radical Islam and its threat to the United States.” You can see the planned questions in this agenda from the forum that was provided the Parlor by the state GOP. Question 12 is “Who do you think is America’s greatest enemy and why?” Question 13 is “Do you think we have any terrorist threats in North Alabama?”

David Carpenter, a Baptist minister from Florence, was the moderator of the event, and “said he was ‘shocked by the misuse of the quote from that event.’”

According to the Times article:

“I sat right between Wayne Parker and Dr. Griffith during the program and thought both did an excellent job discussing issues of faith and their views,” Carpenter said. “The response that is being used against Parker Griffith was part of his comment in a longer discussion of whether radical Islam was a threat to our Christian faith.

“I was there when he said these quotes and can tell you that they have been taken out of context, and it is unfortunate that anyone would misrepresent the truth in this way.”

I am told that Rush Limbaugh hit on this issue today. If Griffith has thrown a hanging curveball here, the question is whether the Republicans have a slugger at the plate who can muscle it out of the park, or if it will be a swing-and-a-miss. The Huntsville Hospital issue from Griffith’s past does not appear to be the game-changer that Republicans hoped it would be. This poll released today suggests that the hospital issue is not the hanging curveball that the Parker campaign hoped it would be, or that Parker was not the batter to knock it out. Will Parker have a good level swing, connect solidly on this one, and drive in the go-ahead run? Or is his campaign still looking for the game-changer?

Here is the text of today’s release from the DCCC on the Anzalone Liszt poll:

Continue reading “AL-05: New Poll, New Flap”