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| photo credit from a "Baying for Blood" post. |
Big time hat tip to Sorensen at Bluestem Prairie, this link, for breaking the story, and then posting enough story detail that I need not try to add further current Franson v. Nelson factoids. However, who is this Borgendale fellow - his priorities and biases? Easiest approach, he is who he has been, and who is that:
Start with a twist of Reed-Bachmann-Limmer, this link for the quote (links in original omitted); a few other names also in the mix:
September 1st, 2011 by The American Independent
The Minnesota Faith and Freedom Coalition (MFFC) is lending its voice to the battle over a constitutional amendment limiting marriage between a man and a woman in Minnesota. The group, founded by former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed, has already gotten GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and state Sen. Warren Limmer involved in their efforts on the ground in Minnesota. The group’s staffers have a long history of activism, especially around the issue of same-sex marriage.
MFFC is part of Reed’s national Faith and Freedom Coalition. He describes his group, which backs state and local affiliates around the country, as evolving, a “21st Century version of the Christian Coalition on steroids, married with MoveOn.org, with a sprinkling of the NRA.”
[...] Since its inception, the group has quickly staffed itself with Republican and conservative leaders. It’s also started organizing Christian conservatives and making friends with tea party groups in the state.
FFC hosted a roundtable of 30 conservative activists in April 2010 that included Michele Bachmann and Sen. Limmer.
A few months later, in August 2010, the group’s registration was accepted by the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office.
Some of the staff of MFFC have a great deal of political experience, others very little.
Terrie Myers is a classically trained artist. She helped organize pastors and tea partiers in 2010 to get out the vote and attended an October 2010 meeting of the Southwest Metro Tea Party to give a presentation. Myers was a small donor to Emmer ($50) and a slightly larger donor to Bachmann ($500). She’s an organizer for the group.
Carol Schulstad, MFFC’s president, introduced Bachmann at a Faith and Freedom Coalition event in June in Washington, D.C.
“She has been fearless to stop President Obama’s left-wing lies that are destroying America, and she remains fearless in her critics as her critics in the left-wing media attempt to assassinate her character,” she said. “Now, besides fearless, I must make a mention that as she is defending our faith and our freedom and her constituents and the cause for the conservatives of America, she is also serving her husband, her five children and her 23 foster children.”
[,,,] Schulstad was a candidate running against Rep. Betty McCollum in 1998 under the Minnesota Taxpayer Party. Schulstad garnered 2 percent of the vote.
But perhaps the most active of the MFFC officers is Gary Borgendale, the group’s vice president and a longtime proponent of an anti-gay marriage amendment in Minnesota. Borgendale was Local Ministry Director for KKMS, a conservative Christian radio station. Before that, Borgendale was the executive director and lobbyist for Minnesota for Marriage, a group that pushed for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on the ballot in 2012.
Borgendale was an alternate delegate for John McCain at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul. He says he backed McCain because of his opposition to same-sex marriage.
Before his support for McCain, Borgendale was the chair of Minnesotans for Huckabee and conducted outreach to home-schooling families. He’s also listed as a precinct chair with the Senate District 51 Republicans.
In 2005, Borgendale organized the “Minnesota Pastors’ Summit,” an event that made headlines recently for its connection to Michele Bachmann. Her husband, Marcus Bachmann, gave a presentation called “The Truth About the Homosexual Agenda.”
The theme of the 2005 summit was “Equipping Churches to Engage Culture,” and also included controversial author David Barton and Colby May of American Center for Law and Justice, a legal outfit created by Pat Robertson.
“As pastors, you are on the forefront of this cultural conflict. Activist judges, political leaders and secular media are trying to dictate faith’s role in society. However, we can reverse that trend through a unified commitment to biblical principles in our communities,”Borgendale said. [...]
Beyond marriage, Borgendale has been outspoken against the LGBT community. In a July 2007 interview with KKMS (where he would later become an employee), he said, “The homosexual agenda issue is not going away by any means.” He added, “There’s an effort to put this in the public school settings even down to kindergarten. The agenda being pushed whether it be the business community the public schools or even the church.”
He said that same-sex marriage would lead to polygamy and pedophilia.
“It is a slippery slope because polygamy is now very high on the radar screen. You have what is this show ‘Big Love,’ there was this polygamy rally,” he said. [...]
He said that he also opposes any relationship recognition for same-sex couples including civil unions and domestic partnership benefits.
[...] “For my family and my children, I had to get involved,” he told a small crowd in St. Cloud. “One person can make a difference. If God is calling you, be involved. Answer the call.”
Also in the MFFC is John Henderson, who joined the group after a long career in business management.
[...] Henderson explained MFFC’s mission in Minnesota. “Build chapters throughout the state. Recruit members and make certain that the conservative, social-minded individuals fully understand the issues at hand,” he said.
“Our goal is to influence public policy and enact legislation that strengthens families, promotes time-honored values, protects the dignity of life and marriage, lowers the tax burden on small business and families, and requires government to tighten its belt and live within its means.”
[Italics and bolding added.]
Had enough? Of course not. Pastor Borgendale has written of a GOP God-given mission, one some might think small and partisan, but one large, to Borgendale:
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Gary Borgendale of St. Paul, Minnesota
Dear world wide believers in Christ:
Peace and joy from a fellow laborer in Minnesota, USA, Gary Borgendale.
Over a year ago, God impressed upon me the importance of prayer for the Republican National Convention. I did not understand what all this meant, but I initiated a call to prayer leaders and pastor leaders in St. Paul.
The 2008 Republican Convention will be here next week, running from September 1 – 4 at the Excel Center in St. Paul (www.gopconvention2008.com). For four days the world will be viewing St. Paul. The United States presidential conventions are second only to the Olympics for media coverage, surpassing even the NFL’s Super Bowl. Yes,the city chosen is St. Paul, named after the Apostle Paul, the great leader of the early church and whom God choose to minister to the Gentiles.
The GOP Prayer Team was formed consisting of prayer ministries leaders (Steve Loopstra, Sandra Roesner and Char Herzog) and pastors in St. Paul (Mike Smith, Bob Battle, and Cher Moua). The Prayer Team is not under the RNC, but believe it is our Christian responsibly to pray for major events held in our city.
We chose the following Bible verses to represent our efforts:
"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth." 1 Timothy 2: 1-4
This is our mission of the GOP Prayer Team
We desire to honor God and exalt the name of Jesus Christ by praying and serving in a non-partisan way for all aspects of the 2008 Republican National Convention, for the welfare of our nation, peace, protection and positive economic impact of our communities and guidance and wisdom in the political process.
God has put His people in ALL the right places; from political leaders, facility leaders and security personnel. Estimates are that 45, 000 people will be here for the event, plus 10-50,000 protesters. I believe America is on the verges of judgment. God cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the nearly 50 million babies that have been aborted nor with the continued efforts to remove Christianity from the public square. We are in a greater spiritual battle than a political battle. We have been praying and fasting for the Democratic convention this week, praying for the lost and the safety and security of the city. God has impressed upon me the need for our spiritual brothers and sisters from around the world to pray for us in Minnesota - to stand in the gap. Will you do this for us?
We have been praying for 6 areas:
Police and Security
Media
McCain Campaign
Protesters
Delegates & alternates
Workers & volunteersWe have great expectations that 1000’s will be led to the Lord.
Please let me know if you would be willing to pray for us. Please forward this to other leaders around the world.
Thank you for your willingness to partner with us as we serve Christ.
God Bless
Gary Borgendale
GOP Prayer Team Leader
612-598-9101
Web site: http://www.prayertransformation.com/RNC%20prayer.html
Posted by Brian Francis Hume at Thursday, August 28, 2008
Yeah, large to Borgendale, but not large enough for that last linked site to be maintained beyond placeholder status. The guess being prayer can only transform so far, then tedium must set in to the point of, "Oh, well ...". Actually, you think about it, that prayertransdformation .com site could have been used re the Franson fox hunt. Not so, so moving on -
Day after May Day, 2013; self promotion as well as promoting prayer, Strib reporting va an informative photo montage.
Next, what's a Borgendale "Oh Lord" retro report without --- fanfare please - Rick Santorum?
Strib again, here, March 19, 2012:
WASHINGTON - Minnesota Republican voters might have helped resuscitate Rick Santorum's presidential campaign, but the state's big GOP donors largely ignored the former Pennsylvania senator in favor of front-runner Mitt Romney.
The latest campaign finance reports show that Santorum has received less money from major donors in Minnesota than any of his Republican rivals, even as he cruised to an easy victory in the state's GOP caucuses last month.
Santorum backers say that what happened to him in Minnesota is a reflection of a nationwide grassroots campaign that has connected directly with newly energized social conservatives, [...]
"It reflects the broad nature of who he is appealing to," said Gary Borgendale, a Christian conservative leader who has championed Santorum's campaign in Minnesota. "It's a unique grassroots movement of social conservatives, fiscal conservatives and strong defense people."
In a GOP nominating contest that has revealed deep divisions between Romney's mainstream conservative appeal and Santorum's religiously tinged insurgency, the Minnesota fundraising totals confirm which side the donor class is on.
[italics added]
So, historically, God and Gays are the man's passions.
http://ffcoalition.com/
Ralph Reed has that website, and if you are truly bored you can follow the link. The point is to get "FFC" as an acronym into play, since there is this online "FFC in MN" each-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words Ralph Reed ego trip photo montage, [UPDATE this link] including among other pics one of the good pastor in a "Moe is the Stooge in the Middle" photo of one who has been constant (even if discrete) in whoring to the Jesus wing of things Republican (and guess the "Reed-with" image to follow on that linked website):
Gary Borgendale, the company you keep!
Now, back to the Franson
Sue and Brian Nelson into that mix, and lo, it is God, Gays, and Guns redux, ya betcha - deja vu all over again, so to speak (See Nelson family business Facebook page).
(Kiffmeyer's the only joke missing from what I found of the good pastor online. Reader commentary on any known Kiffmeyer-Borgendale tie-ins would be appreciated.)
HUCKSTER: Wrap-up time? Okay, the advertisement, Borgendale consulting, the good pastor's cash cow, apparently, with a "services" page stating in part:
Business to Consumer marketing intelligence is the driver behind our consulting, our success and our pricing.
What is your plan to beat the Democrats in 2014? We have everything the Republican candidate needs to target new constituents and party faithful.
[...] We will clearly define a consumer audience and deliver data for the candidate or issue to communicate directly to their target audiences voting concern.
[...]A Republican candidate needs to speak with the right message, through the right delivery channel. Micro-Targeting delivers results without having to blanket a district with the same message, which is called saturation marketing. Now your budget goes further and your results improve.
Best Pricing
This is the easy part . . . we have the lowest list prices in the industry!
The contact email is:
gary@borgendaleinsights.com
Do you suppose the Nelson family might have gotten some of that well targeted delivery channel good stuff, from Gary B., at one of "the lowest list prices in the industry!"
For free? Well. Anything's possible.
____________UPDATE____________
Curious myopia. Brodkorb's crying a river over Fitzsimmons being ambushed is interesting, juxtaposed to his dearth of attention to the ambush of Ms. Franson. All the animals on Animal Farm are unequal? Gary Gross earlier wrote, here, but seems equally tied up with other thoughts now, as with Brodkorb. Aplikowski wrote crying crocodile tears over earlier perceived persecution of poor Ms. Franson, for opening her mouth so that her foot would fit in, but now, no perceived persecution, just - politics? Is "All the News that's fit to Print" only somebody's slogan, or a reality, or what?
_________FURTHER UPDATE__________
Where is Norm, given this and this re Fitzsimmons' ambush, on Franson being "pilloried, reviled and attacked" for a "single vote" in support of industrial/agricultural hemp? Okay, sure, Fitzsimmons never got into any "don't feed the animals" briar patch, and as a worse sin did not narrowly approach losing a seat in an overwhelmingly "red" district last election, but still ...
___________FURTHER UPDATE____________
The for-a-price consultancy, photo here, and the Ralph Reed montage item photo here, do appear to be the same person; and the name is not like Jones or Johnson.
The man shows on the web a whole lot of stuff about being "called" for this and that, and responding. But then the ongoing selling of micro targeted election services, "right channel" and all; who called him to that? Or was it a wholly calculated volitional-secular personal decision making step to sell God-related organizational target marketing, something aside from any voice of insinuation from on high, "Go forth, use My name, make money?" Do you figure Ralph Reed was called?