Threat to endorse

Atheists and other nonbelievers set up a political action committee yesterday to endorse candidates and lobby lawmakers to remove all traces of religion from the government.

But organizers acknowledged that they face a major problem.

Most politicians won’t want public support from their new group, which they are calling the Godless Americans Political Action Committee (GAMPAC).

So Ellen Johnson, the president of American Atheists, who announced the formation of the new group, proposed an unusual approach: GAMPAC could use the threat of endorsement to pressure lawmakers into siding with the group on issues.

“If a candidate says, ‘Don’t endorse me,’ we will have to say we have the right to endorse somebody, but perhaps we can talk about what we can get in terms of promises from that candidate to help us out in return for not endorsing him,” Miss Johnson told a sparsely attended news conference at the National Press Club.
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