{"id":54,"date":"2010-08-11T16:44:32","date_gmt":"2010-08-11T16:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/religionandpubliclife\/2010\/08\/martha-dean-judeo-christian-for-ct-ag.html"},"modified":"2010-08-11T16:44:32","modified_gmt":"2010-08-11T16:44:32","slug":"martha-dean-judeo-christian-for-ct-ag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/religionandpubliclife\/2010\/08\/martha-dean-judeo-christian-for-ct-ag.html","title":{"rendered":"Martha Dean, Judeo-Christian for CT AG"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dean.jpg\"<\/span>We don’t do a lot of religion in electoral politics here in the Land of Steady Habits, so when it’s introduced into a race for public office those of us in the biz take note. Thus, I offer for your consideration Martha Dean, who yesterday beat out a moderate Republican and became the GOP candidate for state Attorney General. She went to Phillips Andover, Wellesley College, and the UConn Law School, where she made law review. She does regulatory law and is a big wheel in the local branch of the Federalist Society.<\/p>\n

Dean, who gave AG Richard Blumenthal a small run for his money in 2002, was the only Tea Partyish candidate who prevailed in the CT primary. Her views<\/a> are, well, on the idiosyncratic side. A native of “Live Free or Die” New Hampshire in the days when it was as rock-ribbed as they come, she thinks the Second Amendment is the most important item in the Bill of Rights, supports the right of anyone to own any firearm, and stirred up some controversy by advocating gun instruction in the public schools. She also opposes the death penalty, wants to open a discussion about decriminalizing drugs, and says she’ll defend Connecticut’s same-sex marriage law (though she doesn’t like it). Ditto for abortion. Color her pretty darn libertarian.<\/p>\n

Dean’s platform<\/a> is the Three F’s: Freedom, Faith, and Fortune–“pillars
\nof a prosperous and desirable State.” I’ll leave it to you investigate Freedom and Fortune for yourselves. The Faith pillar has to do with what “the Judeo-Christian values” teach, to wit: “tolerance for others, a
\nhigher duty owed to God’s law when it conflicts with the laws of government,
\nand the importance of private acts of compassion.” What will that mean for her conduct of the AG’s office? A striving “to demonstrate and encourage”<\/p>\n