A couple of different takes on why All Saints Church did not violate the IRS' prohibition on partisan electoral activity. The New York Times article defends All Saints by reminding us that "issue advocacy" that mentions a federal candidate is allowable under the IRS, particularly when an organization has a history of criticism on a particular issue. OMB Watch advanced a similar arguement in a recent Watcher article. The article also has links to the sermon. Bob Bauer take a different tack in his blog posting creating the term "ecclesiastical advocacy". He says, "This was speech on issues, then, with some possible but immaterial intention to influence the vote. The sermon, unsparing in its criticism of Bush and generous toward his opponent, did not include "magic words." The Times passed on a chance to defend All Saints with the simple proposition that Reverend Regas should have been able to say what he wished about the election".