AMY GOODMAN: You’re listening to Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman. Democracy Now! is Pacifica Radio’s daily national grassroots election show.

Just following up on the comment about Phil Gramm, the senator from Texas, in Harper’s Index last week, the rank of Phil Gramm among senators who missed the largest number of floor votes last year, he is number one.

Also, an interesting piece in The Wall Street Journal today: Dole campaign has paid over $1 million to firm that uses telemarketing to criticize opponents. And it’s a piece out of Springfield, Illinois, where an operation called Campaign Tel Ltd. has hundreds of employees who make calls to people, residents of different primary states, pretending that they’re doing national marketing research. In fact, they’re working for Bob Dole, and they’re putting out misinformation and negative information about other candidates. A telephone script that’s highlighted says, “I’m calling with a special message from Iowa’s farm families. Iowa’s Farm Bureau has adopted a resolution that opposes the flat tax, like the one offered by candidate Steve Forbes. Under the Forbes flat tax, Iowa’s farmers would pay an average of $5,000 more in taxes.” Some of the people that were interviewed for this piece say that they often say they’re from the Farm Bureau. And when the candidate, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, issued his denial that he was making any phone calls, when Forbes complained in the Iowa caucuses, in fact, The State Journal-Register of Springfield issued some of these campaign phone scripts, and they said things like, “Usually, we do stuff for Dole. He’s our major client.” That’s the company that does this work. Again, he’s spending a million dollars to put out false information or negative information about other candidates, but he denies he’s doing it — a piece in The Wall Street Journal today.

Well, we’re going to stick with Texas for a little while, and then we’re going to Florida, and we’re going to be talking about what President Clinton is doing this morning, signing the Helms-Burton bill, which tightens the stranglehold on Cuba. We’re going to be talking with New York Congressmember Charles Rangel, and we’re going to be speaking with a Florida resident to find out how Cuban Americans are responding to President Clinton’s signing of the bill. But right now, sticking with Texas, we’re joined by Cecile Richards, daughter of former Texas Governor Ann Richards, who lost in 1994 to George Bush Jr. Cecile heads up a group called the Texas Freedom Network, which tracks right-wing activity in the state and organizes opposition to Christian Coalition dominance in local politics and school boards. She’s based in Austin, Texas.

Thanks for joining us, Cecile Richards.

CECILE RICHARDS: Sure. Thanks for having me.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, why don’t you tell us what your group is doing?

CECILE RICHARDS: Well, we started a year ago, sort of in the wake of the ’94 elections here in Texas, to try to provide a sort of mainstream alternative to the far right in Texas, and particularly the religious right. And what we did is organize community and religious leaders around the state of Texas in order to be more involved in public policy issues and speaking out about how other people of faith feel about what the Christian Coalition is doing.

AMY GOODMAN: What specifically are they doing at the school board level?

CECILE RICHARDS: Well, they have, nationally, have targeted the public education system to take it over, both at the state level in Texas, at the State Board of Education, and also local school boards. I went to a training in Atlanta last year sponsored by the national Christian Coalition on how to have religious extremists take over school boards locally. And they are — in my mind, they’re really using our children as pawns in this political movement to try to push their political agenda into the public schools.

AMY GOODMAN: You know, just yesterday, we were talking to guests in Tennessee and also in Mississippi. And in Tennessee, they’re going through this whole battle about bringing creationism back into the schools —

CECILE RICHARDS: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: — and banning the teaching of evolution. Is that happening in Texas?

CECILE RICHARDS: Well, it’s happening not at the state level, but sort of more on a school-district-by-school-district level, and on their attempts to introduce creationist texts as alternatives, as they say, teach all the theories of creation and evolution. I think that that’s just the tip of the iceberg. And frankly, that’s what gets the most news coverage. But it’s the more insidious kind of censorship of textbooks and materials and the kind of intolerance I think they bring to the agenda that is what really worries us in Texas.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about some specific cases?

CECILE RICHARDS: Well, I think we have several school boards that were either taken over by the religious right or have had members elected. And the difficulty is they are so bent on creating hysteria about the public education system and, I think, making people very fearful of it and really obsessing on a few sort of hot-button issues, that it makes it very difficult for school districts, who are already pretty much overwhelmed by their responsibilities, to get anything done. And I think that’s the real danger. I mean, I think that truly their mission is not just to get their agenda in the schools, but it’s to really dismantle public education as we know it in this country.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, often when people think of Christian Coalition candidates or advocates, you pretty much know what their position is. But the way they run, what we’ve seen around the country, is as stealth candidates. Why do they do that? How do you identify them?

CECILE RICHARDS: Well, I mean, Ralph Reed himself has really — was the mastermind of the stealth candidacy back in California. And although he doesn’t talk about it much, it’s clearly a part of what they do. And the reason they — I think the reason they don’t acknowledge their affiliation with groups like the Christian Coalition or the Eagle Forum or American Family, or all the groups that we see here in Texas, is because what we have shown, in the state of Texas, at least, is that when voters know about folks’ politics, and they know, regardless of their political party, they don’t like to elect people, particularly the school board, who are extreme in their views. And I think they have — just like Pat Buchanan, I think they have a very small margin they can work in, and beyond that, they have no appeal.

AMY GOODMAN: The American Family Association, the Eagle Forum, Concerned Women of America, can you talk a little more about these groups? I mean, certainly our listeners around the country, I think they’ve heard about Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum. But exactly what are they doing these days?

CECILE RICHARDS: Well, it’s really fascinating. I feel like I’ve had less than a one-year crash course in what the far right is doing in the country. And, I mean, a year ago, I couldn’t have told you who Beverly LaHaye or the Concerned Women for America was. But, in fact, they’re the largest women’s organization in the country, with a $10 million annual budget. And they are extremely focused on public education and implementing things that they are concerned about. Like most of these groups, most of their agenda focuses on gays, on abortion, on other issues, I think, that they find they can move their membership and raise money on. Same with American Family Association, which is very active here in Texas, the Eagle Forum. I think the thing — the other disturbing trend we’re seeing, and I think this is really a characteristic of the far right nationally, is that they have become much more focused on electoral politics, and, frankly, much more sophisticated. Most of the groups I just mentioned are actively fielding candidates now for either the state House, the State Board of Education or local school board races in the state.

AMY GOODMAN: I was just looking at an issue of Out magazine that does a piece on Austin, Texas, and on a fledgling gay paper there called the Texas Triangle and how the Christian right has been pressuring local mainstream businesses to withdraw their support from the paper. Do you know about this case?

CECILE RICHARDS: Oh, absolutely. In fact, I sort of got both feet into it immediately, because what happened was, essentially, the American Family Association decided that they would try to put the Texas Triangle out of business, which is — and the Triangle is a pretty mainstream newspaper that is in the gay community. And they started reading out over the radio, over the Christian radio, the names of all businesses that advertise in the Triangle, and encouraging their people not only to not shop there, but to harass these businesses, picket them. And it was, you know, all done in the name of — supposedly, of Christianity. And so, we got involved as a community, because it seemed it was very important that the gay community not be the only ones that had to fight this fight, and so brought together clergy, brought together other organizations that were not, you know, focused on gay issues particularly, to say, “This is outrageous. We can’t let any group in our city or our state be maligned and attacked by the far right and not stand up.” And we actually organized what was called a buy-in, where we sent out a list, a “please patronize” list, to all of our folks and did a press conference and really encouraged people to actively go and shop at these businesses to counteract the boycott. And the result, I think, of the boycott was a total disaster, both in public relations terms and also in their effort to get the magazine put out of business.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Cecile Richards, who is the head of the Texas Freedom Network, which tracks right-wing activity in the state and organizes opposition to Christian Coalition dominance in local politics. Every Tuesday here on Democracy Now! is right-wing watch, and we will continue to do this kind of work. What about the governor of your state, who beat your mother, Ann Richards, Governor George Bush? How does he fit into the Christian Coalition picture?

CECILE RICHARDS: Well, I think, frankly, he’s a pretty moderate governor. And I think he is in the position that other moderate Republicans are, which is in a very uncomfortable place, when we see that this — the religious right or the far right, and certainly in the state of Texas, is the most influential lobbying group within the party. They’ve taken over the state Republican Party. It makes it very difficult for people who are trying to reach consensus, bipartisan consensus, on public policy issues. I don’t know the man personally, but I would assume he is concerned about, you know, this position that they put him in. And I think that’s a concern nationally, is that, I mean, I think you’re going to see more and more bad decisions being made by people who wouldn’t normally do — you know, make bad public policy, because this is the loudest and most influential group within the Republican Party.

AMY GOODMAN: What about the National Rifle Association? Does it play any role, have any relationship with the Christian Coalition?

CECILE RICHARDS: You know, I don’t know, in terms of their organizations, how — what they share with each other. They have not — you know, that’s not a group that we’ve dealt with very much, although I did find it sort of interesting that the Christian Coalition just sent out their scorecard for voters for the election, and one of the issues they asked all of the school board and State Board of Education candidates is how they felt about gun control, which you sort of wonder what that’s related to in terms of public education. So I would say that in terms of their orientation on the Second Amendment and on gun control, they probably share a lot of the same views as the National Rifle Association. I, frankly, think they’re much more effective in Texas, though, than the NRA.

AMY GOODMAN: You know, speaking about guns and murder, last year, when we were doing a hundred days of Congress, covering Congress for the 104th Congress’ first 100 days, we were following Dick Armey in the House after his comment about “Barney Fag — I mean, Barney Frank.” That’s how he said it.

CECILE RICHARDS: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: And we were looking at his record. He has never supported gay or lesbian civil rights in the Congress. And we were looking back to his district in Texas and to all of Texas. There was a very interesting piece last year in Vanity Fair documenting the trail of brutal gay murders, murders of gay men. Now, all murder is brutal, but it wasn’t just that they were knifed one or two times, but they were knifed more than a hundred times, and it was clearly tremendously, you know, related to the hate of gays and lesbians in the state. What about the issue of gay murders? And what has the Christian Coalition said about it, since so many of them have been unsolved?

CECILE RICHARDS: Well, you know, they — you know, what they say about it is always one of those questions. It depends on if you talk to Ralph Reed or Pat Robertson, you know? And I think that the Christian Coalition has done a very good job of masking the real hateful rhetoric that is used on The 700 Club and on some of their direct mail appeals, because they have Ralph Reed then go and be the sort of — the reasonable front. I’m sickened by what I see in the state of Texas in terms of their attitude towards gay people, and their obsession, frankly, with what people do in their private lives. I’m, frankly, at a loss to figure out groups that ostensibly are — their purpose is to set out about, you know, sort of bringing good Christian values to this country, and then all I see them do is malign people who are doing them no harm. And that includes American Family and the other groups, too. We’ve had a real fight, and some ministers in Houston have really taken the lead on trying to expose how the hateful rhetoric of people like Pat Robertson leads to hateful activity, whether it’s murder or harassment. And I just think it’s unconscionable for a group that claims they are about good Christian values.

AMY GOODMAN: We were just talking to Geraldine Sam, who is running for Congress in the 9th District in Texas, and she was saying how she has no access to the newspapers there. How does the mainstream press in Texas deal with the Texas Freedom Network, put out — do they put out your information? Do they cover your events, your strategies?

CECILE RICHARDS: Well, I have to say I’m pretty pleased. And one of the reasons we started a year ago was that I think folks were so sick of reading about the Christian Coalition and other groups, and there was nothing on the other side. And so, I think that one of the things we try to do is fill a void there and make sure that whenever one of these religious or far-right groups is covered, that there is a response and there’s an alternative. So, I actually feel — I feel like, at least in this last year, that there’s a growing understanding of two things: one, by the press, that there is an alternative, and, second, that what we’re dealing with is not a religious issue. This is a political movement that we’re dealing with. And I think that’s been — it’s taken some time to educate them, but the Christian Coalition has nothing to do with religion or Christianity. It is an electorally oriented political national movement that has just conveniently or intentionally, I think, misused religious terms to really mask what they’re doing. And I think that the press has got to take more of a role in understanding that and educating the rest of people in this country.

AMY GOODMAN: Today is Super Tuesday. Of course, you’ve got the primary in Texas. And Larry Bensky, our national affairs correspondent, was just telling us about the caucuses that are also held today throughout the state of Texas, where the Christian Coalition, because so few people come out, actually dominate. Can you talk about what happens at these caucuses?

CECILE RICHARDS: Well, I think it’s who can — determines who controls the party, not only the — and who will go to the national convention. The Christian Coalition has spent an incredible amount of money and time this year in trying to get all of their members to both run for precinct chair, which is, you know, the first line of defense there, and also to introduce several resolutions that they’ve sent out across the state of Texas, most of which I think your listeners would find pretty, pretty repulsive. And I think it’s true. You know, it’s the way they took over the Republican Party. And it’s really an organizational question. And they are very, very focused on it. They’ve held training sessions all over the state of Texas in order to get people to run for precinct chair and take over the precinct at that level. And I think it’s interesting. I think folks think of the Christian Coalition as being strictly affiliated with the Republican Party, but it’s clear, in this, in ’96 cycle, they are making a concerted effort to have the same type of influence in the Democratic Party.

AMY GOODMAN: The defeat of Phil Gramm and his pulling out, has this been a blow for the Christian Coalition in Texas?

CECILE RICHARDS: No, I don’t really think so. I mean, it’s a blow for us, actually, after I heard that he had missed more votes than anyone else. I was thinking, “God, I don’t know what we’ll do when he’s actually there to vote.” But — hello?

AMY GOODMAN: Hello? Yes, we’re talking to Cecile Richards. She’s head of the Texas Freedom Network. And we’re just finishing up the discussion. Are you still there, Cecile?

CECILE RICHARDS: Sorry about that. I lost you. Well, in any case, you were just asking about Phil Gramm. I think that their sights are set on — you know, the beauty of their organization is that they can almost claim victory for anything. And I don’t think they had really invested that much in Gramm’s candidacy. And I think as soon as they saw that Pam Buchanan was not going to go anywhere, they cut and run on him and, you know, started sidling up to Bob Dole. And —

AMY GOODMAN: In fact, do you think he is following through on all of the issues that are important to them? I mean, at these family and God rallies, he holds — 

CECILE RICHARDS: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: — up his 100% rating for the Christian Coalition.

CECILE RICHARDS: Right, makes you wonder what it means to be moderate anymore. I think that, you know, the thing that disturbs me — or, I guess my belief about politics is that people in elective office are only as good as those people that are supporting them outside and advocating and allowing them to do the right thing. And I think the frightening thing about a Bob Dole candidacy is not that whatever his personal beliefs are going to be are really going to be outweighed by the influence of the Christian Coalition and other religious right organizations. And I think that’s —

AMY GOODMAN: Cecile, are you going to be following in your mother’s footsteps? Are you going to be running for governor?

CECILE RICHARDS: I’ve seen it. I’ve seen too much up close, to be honest. I think it’s — I’m having a great time doing what I’m doing. But thanks for the question, anyway.

AMY GOODMAN: The number people can contact the Texas Freedom Network to find out how you’re organizing, or if they want to be involved in Texas?

CECILE RICHARDS: Sure, yeah, we had a lot of calls from around the country, and we’d be happy to talk to you. It’s 512-322-0545, and that’s Austin, Texas.

AMY GOODMAN: And that’s 512-322-0545. I want to thank you very much for joining us.

CECILE RICHARDS: Sure. Thanks for calling.

AMY GOODMAN: Cecile Richards, thanks, from the Texas Freedom Network. You’re listening to Democracy Now! Up next, we take a look at Cuba and the Helms-Burton Act. We’ll be joined by New York Congressmember Charles Rangel.