WP: Democrats Win Bigger Share of Religious Vote

[Pirate Smile]

Democrats Win Bigger Share of Religious Vote
Parties Disagree on Why The Gap Has Narrowed

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 11, 2006; Page A01

As the results of the midterm elections sank in this week, religious leaders across the ideological spectrum found something they could agree on: The "God gap" in American politics has narrowed substantially.

Religious liberals contended that a concerted effort by Democrats since 2004 to appeal to people of faith had worked minor wonders, if not electoral miracles, in races across the country.

Religious conservatives disagreed, arguing that the Republican Party lost religious voters rather than the Democrats winning them.

Either way, the national exit polls told a dramatic story of changing views in the pews: Democrats recaptured the Catholic vote they had lost two years ago. They sliced the GOP's advantage among weekly churchgoers to 12 percentage points, down from 18 points in 2004 congressional races and 22 points in the 2004 presidential contest. Democrats even siphoned off a portion of the Republican Party's most loyal base, white evangelical Protestants.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/10/AR2006111001694.html

[Hekate]

1. Holy moly. How about a toast to Rev. Jim Wallis?

Now there's an evangelical who keeps preaching the Sermon on the Mount as the basis for calling any government moral.

To the extent that Democrats have historically been the party most devoted to helping the poor, the sick, the old, the widows and orphans -- you would think the religiously inclined would favor the Democratic party. If the electorate needs to have our principles framed in religious terms, so be it.

Rev. Wallis (Sojourners -- http://www.sojo.net/) has written "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It"

It looks like we might be making the turnaround.

Hekate

[Erika]

2. Hunger, lack of healthcare, poverty

are all areas that W dismissed. I think all caring people want these issues resolved. Tax cuts to the rich does not justify cuts to these programs.

I think the RR and many others agree.

[Blaq Dem]

3. For a moment I thought they were all brain-dead

Religious right really are a bunch of cult followers who can't think for themselves. That's exactly what conservatives want: lockstep, military mind-set type of people. Bush has been lying and lying and they believe it no matter what. They speak the same scriptted talking points: 'stay the course', 'we need to fight them over there not over here', 'democrats want to raise our taxes'.

I'm so sick of these fools.

[aquart]

4. Heh. Heh. Heh.