True colors

As head of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Land is the SBC's prime lobbyist. He's been there 24 years, with  about a year left before retirement. 

Just a week before the 2012 presidential election, Land broke his longstanding pledge not to endorse political candidates. He announced his support for Mitt Romney for president.

A year ago, Land repeated his longstanding claim not to endorse political candidates: "I have defended various candidates from time to time when I've felt that they have been unfairly or inaccurately criticized," he said in Christian NewsWire. "At other times, I have been asked by the media for my assessment of a particular candidate's chances or weaknesses and strengths. Neither defense nor assessment should be confused with endorsement. As a matter of policy, I have not endorsed, do not endorse and will not endorse candidates."

Of course, Land always flirted with the truth of that statement. He never said, "Vote for So-and-so." But, if anything, Land is a clear communicator. He always framed his advocacy of issues so directly that anyone who heard or read him knew exactly who he supported in major races.

Immediately before joining the SBC agency in 1988, Land worked for Republican Texas Governor Bill Clements. When he moved into the Baptist Building in Nashville, he decorated his office with pictures of elephants. (Get it? Elephants.) Land advocated the George W. Bush administration so enthusiastically you always had the feeling if President Bush started wearing a cowboy boot on his right foot and a wing-tip oxford on his left, Land would write a theological treatise about why God wants everybody to wear a cowboy boot on their right foot and a wingtip oxford on their left.

But Land never outright endorsed a political candidate—including his good friend, Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry, late of the presidential race—until now.

He knows direct endorsement of political candidates by leaders of churches and tax-exempt organizations violates the Internal Revenue Service code. His disclaimers aside, he's smart enough to know he can't hide behind a "private citizen" shield when he's gained all his notoriety across more than two decades as the chief public policy/public affairs officer of the nation's second-largest religious group.

So, why now? 

Romney needs conservative Christian votes.  Many evangelical Christians—Baptists included—don't believe Mormons are Christians and don't believe they should vote for a non-Christian. So, the Team Romney needed Billy Graham to remove the Mormon "cult" designation from his website. And they need Religious Right leaders to come out directly and explicitly in favor of Romney. 

That's Romney's side of the timing. And what about Land's timing?

He knows the IRS is so under-staffed it's not likely to deny the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's tax-exempt status over this. More than that, he loves the political limelight. And sometime next year, he'll be out of a job. And he won't have a platform. Unless he's been promised a place in a Romney Administration.

Only time will tell … and only if Romney wins.