Kay Hagan

A couple of days ago, I'd have said "Kay who?" But then she crossed Elizabeth Dole's religious-tolerance line and now I know.

Kay Hagan is running for Senate in North Carolina. She's a Democrat, and that alone in this crucial election is reason to support her - a Democratic majority in both houses, big enough to force cloture. But here's another good reason to support her: her opponent, Elizabeth Dole, is appealing to voters' religious bigotry. She's claiming that the fact that Hagan talks to atheists is reason to defeat her. Note that well: Dole doesn't claim Hagan is an atheist, but that she talks to them.

This is the statement from Dole's Campaign Communications Director (the whole press release is here):

"Kay Hagan does not represent the values of this state; she is a Trojan Horse for a long list of wacky left-wing outside groups bent on policies that would horrify most North Carolinians if they knew about it," McLagan said. "This latest revelation of support from anti-religion activists will not sit well with the 90% of state residents who identify with a specific religious faith."

And these are the "wacky left-wing outside groups:"

Wendy Kaminer and her husband Woody, who are board members of the Secular Coalition for America and the Secular Student Alliance, and advisors to American Atheists' Godless Americans Political Action Committee. Wendy Kaminer is also a feminist, former board member of the ACLU and author of books like Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism and Perils of Piety.

Now, I don't know about you, but even though I don't live in North Carolina, I don't want to see Elizabeth Dole and her bigotry towards those who don't share her religion back in the Senate. So I've donated to Kay Hagan. Why don't you, too?

If you want to, you can donate directly to her campaign, of course, or you can do it through Act Blue.

Hat tip to Hemant at Friendly Atheist; head over to his site for more details - and read the letter that siamang sent to the Dole campaign while you're there.

ps: Although single-issue voting is problematic, a quick look at On the Issues will show a lot of reasons to want Dole defeated. This is just a spark to get me, a non-North Carolinian, to pick this particular race to donate to.