Midday Roundup: Marriage advocate Teetsel joins Rubio campaign

Courting evangelicals. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign has hired a prominent pro-marriage leader to work on winning the support of evangelical voters. Until joining Rubio, Eric Teetsel led the Manhattan Declaration, an organization that formed after conservative Christian leaders signed a pro-marriage manifesto of the same name in 2009. Teetsel not only opposes same-sex marriage but has spoken against including pro-gay voices in Christian conferences and colleges. He called Wheaton College’s hiring of a “gay-celibate” student adviser, who later recanted her support for celibacy, an “error for which Wheaton owes students, parents, and the entire alumni community an apology.” Evangelical commentator Erick Erickson called the move a “home run” by Rubio in wooing evangelicals, while liberal media lamented the move: MSNBC’s Steve Benen said it shows Rubio is “committed to a regressive vision” of the culture.

Gaining ground. A U.S. airstrike targeting “Jihadi John,” the English-speaking voice on many of Islamic State’s beheading and propaganda videos, might have hit its mark. But it could be months before officials can confirm it. A drone strike on a vehicle carrying British national Mohammed Emwazi in Raqqa, Syria, “incinerated” two people inside, sources told NBC News. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron thanked the United States for the airstrike, which officials hope finally took out one the most famous British Muslims to join Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL). Kurdish forces fighting ISIS reclaimed the town of Sinjar on the Iraqi-Syrian border today, dealing the terror group a decisive defeat in territory it has held for more than a year. And yesterday, ISIS released a video threatening it will attack Russia “soon, very soon,” in retaliation for Russia’s ongoing partnership with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in fighting the organization.

Resonating resignations. The dean of students at an elite private liberal arts college in California resigned this week over accusations of racism. Students protested dean Mary Spellman after an email she wrote alluded to a student of color who did not “fit the CMC mold.” The email was inviting the student to talk with Spellman about race issues, but the wording angered many on campus. After high-profile protests at the University of Missouri ousted the campus chancellor and UM system’s president earlier this week, students around the nation have been emboldened to demand firings and changes in college administrations. Racial tensions are reportedly heating up at nearby University of Kansas, where a minority student group organized a demonstration during a campus diversity forum this week. Meanwhile, Missouri on Thursday named Mike Middleton, a retired MU administrator and former student there, as interim system president. Middleton was one of the first African-American graduates from the MU law school and helped start the Legion of Black Collegians in the 1960s.

New leads. Police said today they have linked the slaying of a young pastor’s wife in Indianapolis to an earlier burglary in the area. Investigators have security footage of the suspect in the killing of Amanda Blackburn, a 28-year-old mother who was 12 weeks pregnant. Blackburn was shot Tuesday morning in an apparent home invasion after her husband, Pastor Davey Blackburn, left to go to the gym. He returned to find his wounded wife. She died Thursday. The couple moved to Indianapolis two years ago from South Carolina to start Resonate Church.