Randy Brinson
R. Randolph Brinson is an American gastroenterologist and conservative political activist, and with his wife is founder of Redeem the Vote, a get out the vote organization centered around evangelicals. Redeem the Vote is believed to have a mailing list comprising 71 million e-mail addresses.
Biography
Brinson grew up in Jacksonville, Florida.[1]
Brinson graduated with a B.S. from Valdosta State College and an M.D. from the Medical College of Georgia, with his residency completed at the University of Florida and the Medical College of Georgia. From 1987-1989 he was staff gastroenterologist at Maxwell Air Force Base, after which he entered private practice in Montgomery, Alabama.
He served as a health care policy advisor to Fob James, Governor of Alabama, and helped found the Christian music radio network WAY-FM.
Activism
Brinson was known as an advocate of the Bible Literacy Project, a program designed for public schools to expand historical and cultural understanding of the Bible while withstanding separation of church and state challenges. Although Redeem the Vote successfully lobbied for bills supporting the program to be introduced in various state legislatures, they often faced opposition from other right-wing organizations such as the Eagle Forum, because the program was alleged to encourage "critical thinking" about the Bible. It was also seen by some as a means for Democrats to appeal to more moderate evangelical voters. Brinson himself declared, "This has the potential to break the Republican coalition."[1]
In 2003, Brinson founded Redeem the Vote, explicitly modeled on MTV's Rock the Vote program. RTV's first major activism was publicity for the Mel Gibson film The Passion of the Christ.[1] By partnering with media consultants for the film, RTV managed to collect some 12 million e-mail addresses; and a video message from actor Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in the film, reached 60 million people.[2] By the close of the 2004 Presidential election, RTV had registered over 78,000 voters, more than all the other Christian right groups combined.[1]
At a crucial planning meeting held after the election at the Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C., in which Christian right leaders decided to target Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, an influential moderate Republican, Brinson recommended against "punishing" Specter, feeling it would split the movement. Soon after, Brinson was invited to meet with advisers to several prominent Democrats including new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Meanwhile, as Bush's second term progressed, more evangelicals became disillusioned for a variety of reasons. Brinson called Bush's outreach efforts "pandering" and suggested the GOP was only interested in them for money or votes.[1]
More recently, during the 2008 Republican nomination campaign, Brinson's group partnered with the Mike Huckabee campaign. Brinson says the James Dobson wing of evangelicals has a "narrow focus". Huckabee had been an RTV national chairman in 2004, and the Huckabee campaign showed the most interest when a Redeem the Vote list manager, Webcasting TV, pitched their services. As an example of their prowess, the campaign got over 414,000 Iowa voters signed up as a result of the Brinson-controlled list, which is four times the expected participation in the Iowa caucuses.[2]
Personal life
He married Pamela Bennett of Valdosta and they have three grown children.
References
- ^ a b c d e Amy Sullivan. "When Would Jesus Bolt? Meet Randy Brinson, the advance guard of evangelicals leaving the GOP". Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
- ^ a b Chris Cillizza And Shailagh Murray (December 2 2007). "The Man Who Helped Start Huckabee's Roll". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
- Randy Brinson Bio at Redeem the Vote