Peter Waldron, a staffer involved in Michele Bachmann’s faith outreach, has compared Texas Governor Rick Perry to Old Testament King Saul and Bachmann to King David. On his Facebook page the day after Bachmann’s straw poll victory in Iowa on Saturday, Waldron wrote, “From afar and in prayer I see a Saul and David scenario between Perry and Bachmann. One looks everything like a king while the other is anointed.” Waldron later told his followers that Bachmann “fights with the anointing of God upon her.”
The visibility of veteran GOP political organizer Waldron has risen a good bit since The Atlantic broke a story yesterday about Waldron’s 2006 detention in Uganda on allegations of illegal gun possession. According to an upcoming movie about Waldron’s life, President George W. Bush called Ugandan President Yowari Museveni to secure Waldron’s release after 37 days in prison. In a video interview conducted by Hermann and Sharron Bailey, Waldron said that Museveni and wife Janet maintain a “death squad” used to “bring opponents in line.” Waldron also says that Mrs. Museveni is an evangelical Christian and that he considers the Musevenis friends, even now.
Waldron has a lengthy resume which includes work on campaigns for George H.W. Bush, Gary Bauer, Alan Keyes, and John McCain but now includes work for Bachmann. Specifically, the campaign acknowledged that Waldron helped deliver the Iowa straw poll win last weekend. About Waldron, Alice Stewart, Bachmann’s press secretary said, ”Michele’s faith is an important part of her life and Peter did a tremendous job with our faith outreach in Iowa. We are fortunate to have him on our team and look forward to having him expanding his efforts in several states,” according to The Atlantic’s Garance Franke-Ruta.
Apparently the next state is South Carolina. In a comment on his Facebook page, Waldron said he would soon be in Columbia and cover the state. Evangelicals in South Carolina will have a tough choice between Perry, who recently hosted a prayer meeting in Houston where over 30,000 evangelicals attended, and Bachmann, who has made her faith a central part of her campaign. The distinction offered by Waldron is that Perry looks the part of a Old Testament leader but Bachmann has God’s approval, as did King David.
In the Old Testament, Saul was the first King of Israel and but had a bad end because he fell out of God’s favor. To replace Saul, God placed His blessing on King David. Here is the Waldron comment in full:
The three-part video interview of Waldron on the Herman and Sharron Bailey Show talking about his time in prison in Uganda is up at YouTube. As of this morning, Waldron’s websites, Peterewaldron.com (Google cache here) and Theultimatepricemovie.com (Google cache) have been taken down. Waldron’s current project, “Christians Restoring America’s Greatness,” can be viewed here.
