A matter of faith: Democrats embrace religion in campaign

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

A matter of faith: Democrats embrace religion in campaign

By ELANA SCHOR
July 7, 2019

WASHINGTON (AP) — When 10 Democratic presidential candidates were pressed on immigration policy during their recent debate, Pete Buttigieg took his answer in an unexpected direction: He turned the question into a matter of faith.

Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, accused Republicans who claim to support Christian values of hypocrisy for backing policies separating children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. The GOP, he declared, “has lost all claim to ever use religious language again.”

It was a striking moment that highlighted an evolution in the way Democrats are talking about faith in the 2020 campaign. While Republicans have been more inclined to weave faith into their rhetoric, particularly since the rise of the evangelical right in the 1980s, several current Democratic White House hopefuls are explicitly linking their views on policy to religious values. The shift signals a belief that their party’s eventual nominee has a chance to win over some religious voters who may be turned off by President Donald Trump’s abrasive rhetoric and questions about his character.

“The bar for Democrats on reaching broad swaths of the American faith community is lower than ever because of Donald Trump,” said Michael Wear, who led White House faith outreach during President Barack Obama’s first term and re-election. Wear said Democrats have an opportunity to show faith voters they don’t just “have a seat at the table, the values table is our table.”

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Read more: https://apnews.com/9de001e6bb7843618ab42fc3ee674584

[trev]

1. Republicans use religion as a weapon.

We should use it as a validation of genuine values.

Disclaimer: I'm an atheist, but I recognize the importance of reaching out to believers.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. Republicans use religion to pander to idiots.

[trev]

4. While they violate all religious tenets. nt

[50 Shades Of Blue]

5. Religious tenets are very malleable though.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

7. Republican Pharisees don't give a shit about that, though.