The Battle For Evangelical Voters
Posted by Matt on July 3, 2008
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.
July 7, 2008 at 7:44 am
I agree 100%. If not for Obama very liberal social positions on Abortion and Gay Marriage, I would be voting for him. Obama knows how to talk the language of Evangelicals, and is really trying to pull enough of that vote to win. It really is working with the younger evangelicals and this is why people like you and me need to do everything we can to get McCain past the finish line.
McCain had one very overt religious message with his Christmas ad, but no one seems to talk about that. Other than that ad though, you are spot on with your analysis in terms of McCain not liking to talk like an evangelical.
July 7, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Obama even talks about faith in the issues section of his website. The thing that bothers me is that many people make their voting decissions based on commercials. If I were to vote that way, I would vote Obama. Of course, I actaully research candidates and know what a liberal extremist he is. I just don’t think that most Americans do.
July 12, 2008 at 6:50 pm
If McCain chooses Romney he is dead with a large percentage of evangelicals and the lection is over. However, if he chooses Huckabee (highly unlikely becaue of the whole tax for growth unfair rap against him) of Palin (very possible if he has any political sense) he solidifies evangelicals and has a shot. Palin has the extra bonus of attrackting women voters.