A Dirty Trick Against Huckabee?

Just in time for the caucuses, the specter of political dirty tricks has descended on Iowa's snow white corn fields.

In recent days, at least two evangelical pastors who are personally supporting Mike Huckabee received anonymous mailings warning that their churches risk sanction by the Internal Revenue Service if they become too involved in politics. The pastors said that the letters, one of which is notable for exaggerated punctuation and a spelling mistake, appeared aimed at preventing church leaders from encouraging congregants to turn out on caucus night.

"The intention is to try to get us to back down," said Kevin Hollinger, the pastor of Algona's First Baptist Church and a letter recipient. Like dozens of other evangelical leaders in Iowa, Hollinger has personally endorsed Huckabee, a fellow Baptist pastor, while encouraging his church membership to participate in the caucuses. In Iowa, polls show that Huckabee has a significant advantage among evangelical voters over his closest competitor, Mitt Romney, a Mormon who has courted the support of evangelical leaders across the country with more mixed success.

Under federal rules, churches and other tax exempt organizations are barred from explicitly supporting or opposing a candidate. Church leaders, however, can still encourage congregants to participate in elections or caucuses, and they may discuss general political issues, like abortion and marriage, from the pulpit. Leaders can also endorse candidates in their capacity as private citizens.

One of the anonymous mailings includes a seven-year-old news article about a church that lost its tax-exempt status after paying for a newspaper ad that criticized former President Bill Clinton. Another mailing warns church leaders against "campaigning" for a candidate, before announcing in capital letters: "IT WILL LAND YOU IN THE SLAMMER!" The letter, which is signed by "Concerned Christian," then suggests that churches should avoid even more anodyne political involvement. "With Sen. Grassley holding hearings on exactly this issue in Washington DC, we can't be to careful!!!!" it states, with a notable misspelling. Hollinger said the letters were addressed to him, with no return address and a Des Moines postmark.

The letters became a topic of discussion on a Wednesday morning conference call with Iowa pastors that was organized by the U.S. Pastor Council and several Christian leaders who have personally endorsed Huckabee. "It's literature kind of indicating that churches better not be involved in politics," said another letter recipient and Huckabee endorser, Pastor Terry Amann, of the Walnut Creek Community Church in Windsor Heights. The call included about 50 leaders, including bestselling Christian author Tim LaHaye, who also supports Huckabee.

Rick Scarborough, another Huckabee supporter and prominent evangelical leader who heads the organization Vision America, told those on the call that the letters should further motivate pastors to get their congregants to the caucuses. "My response to that would be for all of you men to make ten phone calls before you go to bed tonight," Scarborough said on the call. "Tell your people that you have been listening to legal opinion and you can be involved." Throughout the course of the 30-minute call, which included the advice of an attorney, no specific candidates were mentioned.

In recent weeks, David Welch, the Pastor Council's director, has been traveling through Iowa to educate religious leaders about their legal rights to motivate evangelicals to attend the caucuses. He has provided churches with phone scripts and a automated phone calling service so pastors can encourage their members to turn out Thursday night. "God's word directs us in Exodus 18:21 to choose for rulers 'just men who will rule in the fear of God,'" reads one sample script. "We do that here by attending our precinct caucuses and bringing our faith and values with us."

In Algona, a town of about 5,500, Mike Rusch has taken that message to heart. A Huckabee supporter and church elder, he has been talking to his neighbors about the importance of attending the caucus, even though he is a registered independent who has never before participated in the event. "We will be making sure that our friends and neighbors have a ride so they can get there," Rusch said.

He said he is more interested in getting people to the caucus than in bending their ears about supporting Huckabee. "Rural Iowa, or rural Minnesota, in some ways, it's sort of timeless," he said of politicking in Algona. "It's still a lot of small-town elbow rubbing. It's not organized. It takes place over a piece of pie."