David Kuo | Free Press | October, 2006
David Kuo worked for many key figures in the Religious Right prior to joining the campaign of George W. Bush in 1998. After the election he joined the White House as the assistant director of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, where he worked until 2004. He is the author of Dot.Bomb: My Days and Nights at an Internet Goliath. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
A veteran of the Religious Right and former special assistant to President George Bush tells all, and reveals how the Bush Administration has manipulated people of faith.
Before the 2000 presidential campaign, David Kuo had written speeches for William Bennett, Ralph Reed, Bob Dole, and John Ashcroft, for whom he also served as a policy advisor. A lifelong evangelical Christian, he thought he had achieved a dream when he was invited to join the Bush Administration as a Special Assistant to the President, and eventually as Deputy Director of the Faith-Based Initiative, which George Bush had hailed as one of his “most important initiatives.” For nearly three years, he had a seat at the central nexus of political power and the Religious Right in America.
What he saw made him realize that his Christian values —and those of millions of Americans— were in danger of being corrupted by politics. Religious organizations were being manipulated cynically, for political purposes, and rewarded through financial shenanigans. Certain religious leaders were so hooked on politics that they were routinely canvassed by the White House to vet judicial appointments and horse-trade on policy positions, regardless of moral content. Tempting Faith is both a headline-making exposé and a heartfelt plea for religious leaders to take a hiatus from politics.
