Of God & politics

In his campaign against the modern Democratic party platform, Hardy Billington doesn't rest. His convictions just won't let that happen.

Billington is a man guided by his faith and that faith tells him that the modern Democratic party isn't on Christianity's side. He felt it when Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992. That feeling was confirmed for him when the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in February 2004 that full marriage rights must be extended to same-sex couples.

Now the selection of judges is Billington's chief crusade, so U.S. Sen. Jim Talent's re-election is of utmost importance.

"Now I'm doing my best to help Sen. Talent, to do what I can to support him, because it would be best for Missouri if he were elected," Billington said Tuesday morning. That evening he was to drive a truck at a parade in his hometown, Poplar Bluff, Mo., with Talent signs all over it.

"He's very pro-life, that's very important to me. Another thing is that he's pro-marriage: he believes that a man should marry a woman."

That kind of political talk isn't the sort that will draw too much fire here in conservative Southeast Missouri. Nor will Billington's unrestrained belief that God should a part of politics.

It's a belief he avows so strongly that in this mid-term election year he released a self-published book about his faith and his politics for Southeast Missouri's conservative readers. In "The Election by Faith in '04," Billington recounts his outrage at the Massachusetts decision and the subsequent events that would lead President George W. Bush's campaign road through Poplar Bluff.

From beginning to end, Billington traces how he and his friends started a grassroots effort that brought Bush to Southeast Missouri on Labor Day 2004.

President Bush paid a visit to Poplar Bluff, Mo., in 2004, thanks in part to the efforts of resident Hardy Billington. (Submitted photo)

Billington loves his president, especially since his president shares Billington's own religious conviction.

In many ways Billington represents the face of today's Republican conservatives. The 54-year-old family man and owner of rental properties hates abortion, supports a federal amendment barring same-sex marriage, supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and rails against "liberal activist" judges.

His book carries the endorsement of several local and state party figures. Gov. Matt Blunt, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and Talent all contributed introductions to "The Election by Faith."

The book is heavily imprinted with Billington's religious convictions and how they apply to his politics. He discusses his faith and his prayers bluntly, and each chapter is prefaced with biblical scripture.

While politics is a cornerstone of "The Election by Faith," Billington said stumping for conservative political policies isn't the book's sole purpose. Even though he wanted the book out in time for the mid-term election, it's purpose is inspiration, not political stumping, Billington says.

"I'm not important," Billington said. "I'm just a common person in a town. And anybody that really feels strong about something can really accomplish what they feel strongly about, but they have to pray about it.

"People of faith can get together and accomplish things and change things for the state of Missouri and the United States."

On the surface Billington looks like a common person. He's not exceptionally tall or short, he's a bit shy, he dresses in sport coats, slacks and collared shirts.

But Emerson said he's a man of incredible energy and conviction. While Billington's message in "The Election by Faith" is one of religious inspiration, Emerson sees his story as an inspiration for anyone.

It's a tale of grassroots action by people in fly-over country showing they can do anything.

"You really get inspired by people like Hardy," said Emerson, who first met the man in 2004 when he asked if she could help arrange a presidential visit. "He had a made a decision and he was bound and determined to get this done, and he was relentless in his pursuit."

That decision, the one to try to bring Bush to Bluff, was reached one night over prayer, Billington says. Divine inspiration led Billington and his friend David Hahn, a local nondenominational preacher, through the whole process. In the end they obtained 10,000 signatures on a petition requesting Bush's presence in Poplar Bluff -- in a town of less than 20,000 people.

When Bush visited the town on Labor Day, media reports estimated crowds at around 30,000.

But it wasn't all easy going. There were points during the process at which Billington wanted to give up, especially early on.

"I began to tell my friends about it and what they told me was, 'He ain't coming. He ain't going to come to Poplar Bluff,'" Billington said. "After so long I began to wonder -- maybe I wasn't as sure about that. So what I did was, I asked God to do something important."

Something important was for a local billboard owner to allow Hardy to use his billboard for free. For Billington, it was a sign from God. He put up a message to Bush: "We support President Bush and the Men and Women that are fighting for Our Country, and we invite President Bush to visit Poplar Bluff, Mo."

Signs from God, the power of prayer, small miracles. Billington saw them all in the events that cumulated in Bush's appearance in Poplar Bluff nearly two years ago. Those convictions were also what prompted journalist Ron Suskind to interview Billington for an Oct. 17, 2004 edition of the New York Times Magazine for an article about the importance of the religious right in the Bush campaign.

Billington uses "The Election by Faith" to attack Suskind for his article.

When Suskind called, Billington talked to him frankly about his faith and its importance to the events that led up to the Bush visit. In Billington's mind, the subsequent article ridiculed the religious right.

"I was naive, I guess," said Billington. "I trusted him."

In a chapter called "Critiquing the Critic," Billington joins another conservative rallying cry, this one against the "liberal media."

He writes:

"I'm sure most people reading this already realize just how prejudiced and biased the New York Times is against Christianity and our president. So any true Christian who reads this article will have a confirmation of how much faith our president has."

People like Suskind just don't understand Southeast Missouri, Billington says, including loyal Democrats who fall on the conservative end of moral and social issues.

"The heartland still has the faith and values ... The Democrat party, the platform, not the individuals, does not have the faith and values," Billington says.

The truth of that assertion will likely be born out in future elections, both this year and in 2008. But after his experience, and putting that experience in writing, Billington thinks Southeast Missouri is a lock as a stop in another faith-based presidential candidate's campaign, whoever that may be.

And it shouldn't take as much work as it did last time.

"I don't think it will be necessary to ask someone to come," he says.

"The Election by Faith in '04" is available at Hastings in Cape Girardeau and online at www.electionbyfaith.com.

msanders@semissourian.com

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