MANCHESTER, NH (January 4, 2008) \u2013 Dale Kuehne, pastor of Emmanuel Covenant Church in Nashua, New Hampshire, has been extra busy because he also is the point person for coordinating media and the candidates\u2019 arrangements in Saturday\u2019s Democratic and Republican debates at Saint Anselm College, making certain all are well-organized.
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\nThe debates \u201care as close to the World Series as you can get\u201d in the race to become the party nominees,\u201d says Kuehne, who also is special assistant to the school\u2019s president for government relations. At this point, they are the only scheduled national debates of the primary season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019ve come to realize is that TV runs the election,\u201d says Kuehne, who also coordinated previous debates at the school, including two contests in last June.<\/p>\n
The news corporations dictate every detail of the event, including the seating order of the candidates on stage. The arrangements at the most recent debate have been widely criticized because they featured the frontrunners in the middle, automatically giving them the best exposure and opportunity to converse on the issues.<\/p>\n
Those debates were just two of many that have been held at Saint Anselm. Republican and Democratic debates will be conducted back-to-back this Saturday.<\/p>\n
The task of telling the powerful that they can\u2019t get tickets to the debate also has fallen to Kuehne. He has had to turn away \u201cA-list\u201d celebrities, moguls, and international leaders because the debate hall had too few seats. He\u2019s not naming names, however.<\/p>\n
The job can be exhilarating and intensely frustrating, Kuehne says, but he sees it as an opportunity to speak truth with compassion and hospitality. Still, he adds with a laugh, \u201cWhen we have our call to confession on Sunday, I\u2019ll have my share of things to say.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kuehne says he has been careful never to promote specific political positions while preaching. \u201cI became a pastor because I really think Christ is Lord, not to push a political agenda,\u201d he explains. \u201cMy greatest moment of the week is to open the scriptures and preach.\u201d<\/p>\n
With regard to politics, \u201cI want people to use the brain God has given them to make their own decisions on how to apply their faith,\u201d Kuehne says. \u201cAt Emmanuel, we have many Republicans, and we have many Democrats. They care about their issues, but they care more about God and each other.\u201d<\/p>\n