Targeting Democrats with Stereotypes
Consultant Helps Democrats Embrace Faith, and Some in Party Are Not Pleased
is the headline.
Who, exactly, are "some"? Read it
for yourself. You can count the number on one hand.
But even if you don\’t like religion and faith mixed with your politics, it\’s
the Democratic stereotype that the Times works so hard to continue.
We had the myth that Democrats were weak on defense and national security, but
now religion is the target; making the point that we are just a bunch of godless
liberals. However, even as a person of faith I would argue that you don\’t need
religion to be moral or to prove that people of faith don\’t have a monopoly on good deeds. Just look at the world today and the fights raging between \”people of faith.\” Look at the war \”Christians\” like Mr. Bush and the Republicans have waged on the poor, as well as women. Not exactly \”Christian\” in nature, now is it?
The point is that Democrats have the biggest tent of all, welcoming secular
progressives who contribute a large and important voice to this country. However,
the Democratic Party is also filled with a huge number of people of faith, like
myself, who have encouraged the reach out to evangelicals, but also to Muslims,
Buddhists, you name it, including secularists.
Someone needs to tell the Times that most Democrats are practical in the end, realizing that reaching out to the faithful benefits us all. We just don\’t believe you need to sell out to do it. If it works, let the church bells ring.
Exit polls show that Ms. Vanderslice’s candidates did 10 percentage
points or so better than Democrats nationally among those voters, who make
up about a third of the electorate. As a group, Democrats did little better
among those voters than Senator John Kerry’s campaign did in 2004.“Everybody is looking at the specific steps that had value in those
states, and the compass points to her and the efforts she helped lead out
there,” said Burns Strider, an evangelical Christian who directs religious
outreach for House Democrats and was recently hired to play a similar role
for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton if she runs for president.Mr. Strider said he was speaking only in the context of his current House
role and declined to comment on the work with Mrs. Clinton.Ms. Vanderslice’s success in 2006 is a sharp rebound from her first
campaign, in 2004. She was hired, at age 29, to direct religious outreach
for Mr. Kerry in his presidential campaign and was then quickly shoved aside,
a casualty of a losing battle to persuade him to speak more openly about his
Catholic faith, even if it meant taking on the potentially awkward subject
of his support for abortion rights.Consultant
Helps Democrats Embrace Faith, and Some in Party Are Not Pleased
Hey, but maybe the Times is just courting their base. Because it\’s
an article Tim
Russert would love.
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