Sen. Jesse Helms (1921-2008)

Yesterday, on July 4th, conservative icon and former U.S Senator Jesse Helms died at his home in Raleigh, NC.  Sen. Helms was a conservative giant.  For all of his adult life he campaigned against socialist politics and the expansion of government.  I know that Sen. Helms was a good senator because not everyone liked him.  I’m naturally suspicious of any politician that everyone likes. 

As I said before, a lot of people didn’t like Sen. Helms, mainly because they thought that he was a racist. The truth is that he was not racist.  Rather, Sen. Helms was a victim of liberal name-calling and stereotypical labeling.  If you are a true conservative, and from the south, you will be very lucky not to be called a racist.  Every time a southern conservative mentions something about federalism, or state’s rights, liberals almost always assume that they really think that African-Americans should use seperate water fountains. 

In every movement, there has to be someone who does the dirty work.  In 20th century conservatism, that person was Jesse Helms.  While Ronald Reagan may of had the lead role in the play, Jesse Helms was definately one of the stage managers.  Like Henry Hyde and Bill Buckley before him, Sen. Helms’ death highlights the lack of conservative leadership today.  As one generation is passing, we need to think about building up a new generation.

The Battle For Evangelical Voters

It could be argued that every election since 1976 has been decided by evangelical voters.  Jimmy Carter was able to connect with them as a “born again” Christian.  Later, evangelicals replaced him with Ronald Reagan, who they considered to be more socially conservative.  Then, Bill Clinton as a Baptist, defeated George H.W Bush, who came across as a distant and apathetic Episcopal.  The saga has continued with George W. Bush’s campaigns in 2000 and 2004.  In 2000, he was able to win with the brilliant ”compassionate conservative” mantra. In 2004, evangelicals went with Bush again mainly out of fear of John Kerry’s liberal social positions. 

Everyone who isn’t an idiot knows how important Evangelicals have become in modern political history.  So, why isn’t John McCain appealing to them?

First of all, no one really knows anything about John McCain’s faith.  He can’t seem to make up his mind about whether he is an Episcopal or a Baptist.  His confusion is made clear in his lack of religious vocabulary.  I’ve heard him use the words, “faith”, “God”, and “cross”, that’s about the extent of it. 

Barack Obama, on the other hand, talks about his “personal commitment to Jesus Christ”, and “doing the Lord’s work”.  As an Evangelical, I can say that those of us without any political knowledge will probably find Barack Obama as a much more attractive candidate than John McCain.

John McCain’s campaign doesn’t promote any issues that attract Evangelicals.  He’s clearly not comfortable when he talks about the specifics of being pro-life, and he han’t made a clear stand on same sex marriage.  Sen. McCain is also the last person that I would expect to speak about compassion or poverty at any level.

The only things that Barack Obama has going against him are his positions on abortion and gay marriage.  Otherwise, Sen. Obama is very savy with positions that will attract faith based voters.  He wants to reduce welfare, has spoken out against the epidemic of abscent fathers, and he speaks frequently about helping faith based charities do their work.  In my estimation, Barack Obama has outperformed John McCain among evangelicals, and time will only tell if that is enough to loosen the GOP’s hold on their votes this November.

I’m still supporting McCain, but if he wants to win, than he better start talking about issues that matter to Evangelical Christians.  He also would be smart to speak of his personal experiences of faith.  The nation can’t afford to have Barack Obama as president, likewise, John McCain can’t afford to not speak about issues of faith.