Olsson’s Books and Records, David Kuo on Tempting Faith: An Inside Account of Political Seduction

On Thursday evening, October 19, WIP interns had a choice between attending book-and-author talks at two bookstores. Both lectures involved the November elections (less than a month away at that time) and the political role of religious voters. At Olsson’s Books and Records, located on 19th Street, N.W., David Kuo signed copies and spoke about his new book Tempting Faith: An Inside Account of Political Seduction. The Bush administration was upset about Tempting Faith, written by a former White House insider. Kuo documented ways in which Republicans publicly courted the “religious right” while disparaging this constituency privately. “For most White House staff, evangelical leaders were people to be tolerated rather than truly welcomed. No group was more eye-rolling about Christians than the public affairs shop. They knew ‘the nuts,’ as they called them, “were politically invaluable, but that was the extent of their usefulness. Sadly, the political affairs folks complained most often and most loudly about how boorish many politically involved Christians were.” Of the two talks, this one was more heavily attended by WIP interns.

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