Some hardcore anti-abortion voters hope to boost Donald Trump and the Republican Party in November by getting Blacks and Catholics not to vote for Democrats.
The Constitution Party is running a presidential ticket headed by notorious anti-abortion activist Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue. That group grabbed national headlines in the late 1980s and early 1990s for its staged protests at abortion clinics where protesters hoped to get arrested in acts of civil disobedience.
Terry rallied conservative Christians to his cause by comparing the anti-abortion mission to the nonviolent protests of the Civil Rights Movement. Terry was arrested 49 times and spent more than a year in various federal, state and local prisons.
This little-known political party traces its history to 1992 when Howard Phillips ran for president as the candidate of the U.S. Taxpayers Party. In 1999, the group changed its name to the Constitution Party.
In 2016, the Constitution Party garnered about 200,000 votes nationwide — out of 130 million ballots cast. The stated goal of the party is to “limit the federal government to its delegated, enumerated, Constitutional functions.”
Terry’s running mate is Stephen Broden, founder and senior pastor of Fair Park Bible Fellowship in Dallas. Broden has ties to the Tea Party movement and was founder of the National Black Pro-life Coalition.
In 2012, Terry ran for president in the Democratic Party primary against Barack Obama and beat him in 12 counties in Oklahoma. Terry also ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Congress in 1998.
This year, the Constitution Party doesn’t want to win the election; its leaders want to act as spoilers to Democrats on the ballot.
The theme of the Constitution Party’s campaign is: “Defend Children, Defeat the Democrat Nominee, Destroy the Democrat Party!”
This is the stated strategy: “To defeat and destroy the Democrat Party, we only need to free a small portion of Catholics and Blacks from the deception and malice of the Democrat Party.”
None of the Constitution Party’s publicity refers to the Democratic Party by its proper name but instead always uses the partisan slur “Democrat Party.”
Randall Terry and Stephen Broden
The goal of the campaign is not to draw votes away from the Republican Party but to siphon votes from Democratic candidates. The first question in the Q-and-A section of its website is, “Won’t this campaign hurt Trump?”
The answer: “NO! We do not even ask for your vote.”
The website goes on to say the real mission is to “destroy” the Democratic Party. That could happen by moving Catholic and Black voters and by defeating Democratic nominees in swing states.
The ultimate motivation for all this is to end abortion access across America.
“The Democrats are running on ‘abortion rights,’” the website explains. “We can show America how perverse and evil their agenda is. Many women scheduled to kill a baby will see these ads and change their minds. We will save babies with these ads.”
Those ads, to be shown on national TV, will be graphic and show images of fetuses.
The rationale: “When Americans see what abortion is, Americans will end abortion. Images are the most powerful weapon we have, like showing Jews in concentration camps to fight antisemitism, or showing (Emmett) Till’s body, or Black men hung by the KKK to fight racism and segregation.”
Another question poses: “Do you think these ads will change the liberals’ minds to not vote for Biden or the Democrat nominee?” The answer: “No. But that is not our goal. We are targeting Catholics, evangelicals and Black voters in these ads.”
Getting the Constitution Party on the ballot in at least 10 states unlocks the ability to run TV ads nationwide.
Screencap of a Constitution Party political ad for TV.
Another portion of the website declares: “Friend, you can see, these ads do not hurt Trump! Telling Catholic and Black voters it is a sin to vote for Biden does not hurt Trump! Exposing and rebuking Biden and the Democrats will clearly help Trump and the Republicans!”
It adds: “This is why Republican voters and donors have given us tens of thousands of dollars — and keep giving! They understand our strategy! They know these ads will save babies’ lives and could cause the Democrat nominee to lose Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — and lose the election!
Only July 9, the Constitution Party secured a place on the ballot in North Carolina, where they will run not only a presidential ticket but also candidates for governor and lieutenant governor.
According to the group’s website, the Constitution Party already has ballot access in 12 other states: Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, South Carolina, Mississippi and Florida.
The site boasts that with access to TV markets across the nation, the Constitution Party will make liberal elites squirm: “Imagine this: for $11,000, we can run a 30 second ad on The View. Picture Whoopi Goldberg watching our ad with Pastor Broden saying that ‘abortion is Black genocide,’ and that ‘Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are doing the killing for the KKK, lynching Black babies in the womb.’ These ads will create a holy firestorm.”
The sample ads shown on the party’s website are indeed graphic, showing mangled fetuses and bloody body parts. One ad shows President Joe Biden morphing into Satan.
The site implores: “We need your sacrificial help if you want to wake up America with these ads so please give now to get these ads on TV!”