Villaraigosa's DNC God Flap Subject of Campaign Ad by Allen West

Allen West / Facebook

As chair of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte this week the mayor made three calls for an audible vote on God and Jerusalem before coming to a decision that required the approval of two-thirds of the delegates:

Many folks didn't think there was a clear majority voicing approval for God and Jerusalem. In fact many delegates shouted "no."

A pro-religious congressman in Florida is using video of Villaraigosa's move to make this argument:

Three times they said no to God. That's Patrick Murphy's party.

Allen West, a Republican who's running for reelection against Democrat Murphy, released the spot on YouTube yesterday.

Murphy responded to the ad with this statement:

How dare Allen West question my faith. This deeply offensive ad is not in the spirit of American political discourse and inappropriately attempts to assign guilt by association. Once again, Allen West has crossed a line with this hateful ad. His campaign tactics are reprehensible and not befitting a Member of Congress.

West hit back with this statement:

It would be nice if Patrick Murphy was half as upset about Democrats removing God and Jerusalem from their platform, or booing when they were added back in, as he is pretending to be about our new tv ad which simply points out what happened.

Villaraigosa's time as chief of the Democrats' big dance was supposed to be a prelude to the mayor's longstanding ambition to move up the political ladder.

But, after the convention ended yesterday, it appears that he presided over the DNC's biggest misstep.

However: We don't think it will hurt him. He was carrying water for an Obama campaign that wanted God and Jerusalem back in the mix. If anything, Villaraigosa will probably be rewarded.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]