Bush campaign stands by church memo

WASHINGTON - The Bush campaign on Friday defended a memo in which it sought to mobilize church members in support of the president's re-election bid through efforts such as providing church directories to the campaign, arranging for pastors to hold voter registration drives, and talking to various religious groups about the campaign.

Some religious organizations have criticized the document as inappropriate and perhaps having the potential to cause churches to jeopardize their tax-exempt status by becoming involved in partisan politics.

Campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said the document, distributed to campaign staff, was well within the law.

"People of faith have a right to take part in the political process, and we're reaching out to every supporter of President Bush to become involved in the campaign," Stanzel said.

One section of the document lists 22 "coalition coordinator" duties and lays out a timeline for various activities targeting religious voters. By July 31, for example, the coordinator is to:

Send your church directory to your state Bush-Cheney '04 headquarters or give to a BC04 field representative.

Identify another conservative church in your community who we can organize for Bush.

Recruit 5 people in your church to help with the voter registration project.

Talk to your pastor about holding a citizenship Sunday and voter registration drive.

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