Pittenger facing the Rev. on his turf

North Carolina 9th District U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger is facing another Republican primary challenge from the Rev. Mark Harris, former pastor of Charlotte’s First Baptist Church and a hard-line conservative. Harris gave Pittenger fits in last year’s primary, losing by just 134 votes.

Pittenger’s apparently decided to fight fire with fire. Or should that be, fire and brimstone with fire and brimstone? Or perhaps it would be appropriate to say Pittenger is going to face Harris on his home field, so to speak.

The congressman has a Christmastime ad, standing in front of a Christmas tree and a fireplace, and he’s attacking political correctness, he says. A tag line is, “Let’s end political correctness and put the true meaning of Christ back in Christmas.” The thing is, there are no widespread reports of people trying to take Christ out of Christmas, or, despite the arguments of some conservatives to the contrary, to ban people from wishing each other “Merry Christmas.”

Oh, sure, there have been instances where people suggested “Happy Holidays” would be more inclusive, but the claim that there’s a national threat to ban the saying of “Merry Christmas” is a fanciful notion advanced by some conservatives to rally their supporters. Which is what Pittenger appears to be doing.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Pittenger facing the Rev. on his turf."