God on the Campaign Trail
We're 18 months away from the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, and the race for the presidency is getting more muddy by the minute. By the time you finish reading this blog, I predict at least three new candidates will throw their hats into the proverbial ring.
One thing we can safely predict, however, is that religion will play a crucial role in this campaign. A prime Republican darling is also Mormon -- a faith that some conservative Christians consider a cult. Democrats are working hard to prove they're also a party of faith -- a label that Republicans have monopolized for the last couple of decades. And, to my knowledge, at least three candidates have already been forced to answer faith-centric questions.
Before he even announced his candidacy, Barack Obama was being accused of being a closet Muslim and attending a radical Indonesian madrassa as a child. Both were slam-dunk falsehoods, apparently. Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ, a fairly liberal but undeniably Christian denomination.
Fellow Democrat John Edwards had even more problems. Two campaign staffers resigned after they were accused of being anti-Catholic. Both women -- Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan -- got in trouble for blogging on religion: Marcotte said the Catholic Church punted "compassion" (i.e. abortion, in her view) so women could "bear more tithing Catholics," and McEwan used the term "Christofascists," to refer to conservative Christians. The Catholic League, a conservative Catholic activist organization, launched a nationwide blitz to push them out of the Edwards campaign.
Over on the Republican side, Mitt Romney is dealing with questions about his Mormon faith. The former governor of Massachusetts has done well so far, pundits say, poking fun at his faith's polygamist past by saying "marriage is between a man and a woman ... and a woman, and a woman." Still, with Romney campaigning as a social conservative, there is some question whether the GOP's evangelical base will support a candidate who shares their political views but doesn't share their doctrine.
Most Republican candidates will make their obligatory pilgrimage to Colorado Springs' Focus on the Family to meet with James Dobson. Those meetings are typically private, but I'd be fascinated to hear how a Dobson/Romney summit goes.
One thing we can safely predict, however, is that religion will play a crucial role in this campaign. A prime Republican darling is also Mormon -- a faith that some conservative Christians consider a cult. Democrats are working hard to prove they're also a party of faith -- a label that Republicans have monopolized for the last couple of decades. And, to my knowledge, at least three candidates have already been forced to answer faith-centric questions.
Before he even announced his candidacy, Barack Obama was being accused of being a closet Muslim and attending a radical Indonesian madrassa as a child. Both were slam-dunk falsehoods, apparently. Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ, a fairly liberal but undeniably Christian denomination.
Fellow Democrat John Edwards had even more problems. Two campaign staffers resigned after they were accused of being anti-Catholic. Both women -- Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan -- got in trouble for blogging on religion: Marcotte said the Catholic Church punted "compassion" (i.e. abortion, in her view) so women could "bear more tithing Catholics," and McEwan used the term "Christofascists," to refer to conservative Christians. The Catholic League, a conservative Catholic activist organization, launched a nationwide blitz to push them out of the Edwards campaign.
Over on the Republican side, Mitt Romney is dealing with questions about his Mormon faith. The former governor of Massachusetts has done well so far, pundits say, poking fun at his faith's polygamist past by saying "marriage is between a man and a woman ... and a woman, and a woman." Still, with Romney campaigning as a social conservative, there is some question whether the GOP's evangelical base will support a candidate who shares their political views but doesn't share their doctrine.
Most Republican candidates will make their obligatory pilgrimage to Colorado Springs' Focus on the Family to meet with James Dobson. Those meetings are typically private, but I'd be fascinated to hear how a Dobson/Romney summit goes.
posted by Paul Asay | 9:05 AM
1 Comments:
It will be interesting to see how Conservative and/or Evangelical Christians handle Romney, because you are right -- traditionally these groups have viewed Mormonism as (at best) a heresy and (worse) a hellbound cult.
But I think in the minds of idealogues like Dobson and Wildmon that's a secondary issue to the abortion debate.
Will Conservatives & Evangelicals be told to look the other way, will they excuse the "heresy", will they rally around Romney if they feel he is their next best shot at overtuning Roe v Wade?
My guess is absolutley yes, because in the minds of the pro-life idealogues overturning abortion is the single greatest mission of the faith.
To them it doesn't matter WHO works to overturn it, only THAT it is overturned. If that means dancing with the devil to accomplish the mission (i.e. the end justifies the means), then yes ... Conservatives and Evangelicals will be encouraged by their leaders to embrace Romney as one of their own.
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