David Kuo is an evangelical Christian and
card-carrying member of the religious right, who got a job in the White House in the
president’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He thought it was a
dream-come-true: a chance to work for a president whose vision about compassionate
conservatism would be matched with sweeping legislation to help the poor.
But Kuo says the so-called compassion
agenda has fallen short of its promise and he blames President Bush for that in his new
book.
As correspondent Lesley Stahl reports, he also says the White House was a place
that cynically used religion for political ends and that White House aides ridiculed the
very Christian leaders who helped bring Mr. Bush to office.
In his book, Kuo wrote that White House
staffers would roll their eyes at evangelicals, calling them "nuts" and
"goofy."
Asked if that was really the attitude, Kuo
tells Stahl, "Oh, absolutely. You name the important Christian leader and I have
heard them mocked by serious people in serious places."
Specifically, Kuo says people in the White
House political affairs office referred to Pat Robertson as "insane," Jerry
Falwell as "ridiculous," and that James Dobson "had to be controlled."
And President Bush, he writes, talked about his compassion agenda, but never really fought
for it.
"The President of the
What happened?
"The lobbyist didn’t follow
through," he claims.
"What about 9/11?" Stahl asks.
"All the priorities got turned about."
"I was there before 9/11. I know what happened before 9/11 … The trend before
9/11 was…president makes a big announcement and nothing happens," Kuo replies.
Kuo speaks as an insider. Even before he
became the number two guy in the White House faith-based office, he had a long resume in
the world of Christian conservatives.
Kuo says he took candidate Bush at his
word during the 2000 campaign.
At the time, Bush proposed for the first time that he would spend $8 billion dollars on
programs for the poor.
"I think it's one of the most
important political speeches given in the last generation. I really do," says Kuo.
"It laid out a whole new philosophy for Republicans."
After the election, to much fanfare,
President Bush created the office of faith-based initiatives to increase funds to
religious charities.
But Kuo says there were problems right off
the bat. For one, he says the office dropped very quickly down the list of priorities.
Asked how much money finally went to them,
Kuo says laughing, “Oh, in the first two years, first two years I think $60
million.”
"When you hold it up to a promise of $8 billion, I don't know how good I am at math,
but I know that's less than one percent of a promise," says Kuo.
Part of the problem, he says, was indifference from "the base," the religious
right. He took 60 Minutes to a convention of evangelical groups – his
old stomping ground - and walked around the display booths, looking for any reference to
the poor.
"You’ve got homosexuality in
your kid’s school, and you’ve got human cloning, and partial birth abortion and
divorce and stem cell," Kuo remarked. "Not a mention of the poor."
"This message that has been sent out
to Christians for a long time now: that Jesus came primarily for a political agenda, and
recently primarily a right-wing political agenda - as if this culture war is a war for
God. And it’s not a war for God, it’s a war for politics. And that’s a huge
difference," says Kuo.
"A way to talk about faith without
having people in the mainstream media identify it as faith," he explains.
As in this speech, delivered by President
Bush, which Kuo didn’t write: "There’s power, wonder-working power in the
good and idealism and faith of the American people."
If "wonder working power" sailed
over your head, most evangelicals recognize it from a famous hymn.
"God and politics had become very
much fused together into a sort of a single entity. Where, in a way, politics was the
fourth part of the trinity. God the father, God the son, God the holy spirit, God the
politician," says Kuo.
"You’re blowing the whistle on
you. You’re the one who did this," Stahl remarks.
"I say this as someone who has lived
it, not as someone who preaches it, as though I’m holier than thou. I am the least
holy among thou," he replies.
Kuo actually left politics for a while. But then he was summoned to
Kuo thought they’d talk for 15 or 20
minutes; instead he says they talked for hours and he admits he was "dazzled" by
Bush’s compassion.
But once in the White House, he says President Bush and his team let the compassion agenda
"languish."
"Well, they say they tried. They say
they wanted these programs. And this is the give and take of political life. And that
you’re being unfair," Stahl says.
"It all comes down to the fact that if the president wanted it, he would have gotten
it," Kuo replies.
The White House calls Kuo’s book
"ridiculous," and Kuo’s old boss, Jim Towey, who ran the faith based office
until this past June says Kuo is "naïve and simplistic."
"I think it's dangerous to take a
snapshot of a few months or even a year and draw conclusions," Towey says. "Ya
know, I can look you in the eye and say the president did what he could do."
Kuo says Towey and the White House were
embarrassed when the Washington Post ran an article in September 2002 saying they were
using the faith office to woo voters, even though the president had repeatedly pledged it
was not political.
The White House shot down the Washington
Post story, but now Kuo reveals it was all true, and what’s more – he’s the
one who thought up the idea.
"This is your idea to tie this
office, that was supposed to be non-partisan, you come up with this idea to tie it to the
campaign?" Stahl asks.
"Uh-huh," Kuo affirms. "I want this initiative to work."
"And you think if you can get it tied – hooked in with the political people,
that they’ll then come back and support you, is that the thinking?" Stahl asks.
"This is not rocket science or brain
surgery, this is a matter of survival," says Kuo.
He says he went to the White House political affairs office, then run by Ken Mehlman, and
offered to hold events at taxpayer expense for Republicans in tight races as a way of
energizing religious voters.
Kuo says Mehlman was "thrilled."
"He just whipped off a bunch a names
of particular races and said, 'We need to go there, there, there, there and there,'"
Kuo says.
Events in 20 key races, Kuo says, were eventually held. Jim Towey disputes that, though he
does confirm the meeting with Ken Mehlman. "But never, never was I going to go out
there and politicize this initiative," Towey tells Stahl.
Asked if Mehlman crossed the line in even
discussing it, Towey says "No."
"Did you cross over the line in discussing it with Ken Mehlman?" Stahl asks.
"When I came to the White House, I came with my eyes wide open. I knew there were
going to be political pressures from Republicans, from Democrats. And the reality is
President Bush gave me very clear marching orders not to politicize the initiative,"
Towey says.
Towey says he was evenhanded in running the events, organizing some at the request of
Democrats. But Kuo stands by his version.
Kuo believes they helped some Republicans
win elections, but that didn’t translate into more money for religious charities.
"David Kuo says that what the president delivered on the faith-based initiative was a
'whisper' of what he promised," Stahl tells Jim Towey.
But Towey says it's not true. "He has delivered on every single thing he
promised."
"But not the money," Stahl replies.
"But not every cent of it,"
Towey says. "He’s not king. He had to work with Congress. It’s naïve to
say, 'Oh, because the president asked for it and didn’t get it, that meant he
didn’t really want it.'"
And, Towey says the White House got more
money after Kuo left.
"Here’s the White House: they say 'Okay, we’ve added $740 million to these
programs. We signed an executive order ending discrimination against religious charities.'
I mean, they say that these are genuine accomplishments. And aren’t they?" Stahl
asks Kuo.
"I think, perhaps for any other
president, you know it's not bad. But when he continued to make a promise in the campaign
and over and over again: 'This is my signature domestic policy initiative,' and you look
at the numbers and you say, 'Well, it really doesn't match up with a man who says that,'
and he was supposed to be different," says Kuo.
"Are you being a little naïve?" Stahl asks. "In the sense that the
president operates in a political world where everything is compromise, where new
priorities had to bubble up because of 9/11. And how could he fight for these programs
when he had to worry about
"You know if naïve is believing in a
promise, I'll plead to that sort of naiveté," Kuo replies.
This has been gnawing at both him and his
wife since 2003, when he learned he had a malignant brain tumor, and left politics for
good. Now he has written his book, "Tempting Faith," published by a CBS sister
company.
"I have this burden on my heart that the name of God is just being destroyed in the
name of politics," Kuo says. "I felt like I had to write this."
"You’re calling for a fast. That’s your expression," Stahl remarks.
"Yes. I think that Christians, particularly evangelical Christians need to take a
step back. To have a fast from politics," he replies. "People are being
manipulated. Good well-meaning people are being told, ‘Send your money to this
Christian advocacy group or that.’ And that’s the answer. It’s just not the
answer. It’s not the answer."
Asked if he thinks the White House is
going to view his book as a betrayal and may go after him, Kuo says, “Of course they
will. I can hear the attacks, right? ‘Oh, he's really a liberal.’ or, ‘Oh,
maybe that brain tumor really messed up his head.’ Or, you know, ‘He's an
idealist.’"
"But you're okay with that?"
Stahl asks.
Says Kuo, "I'm fine with it."