I am Neither a Prophet, Nor The Son Of A Prophet….
…but sometimes simple logic allows one to foresee things. As best as our search function can determine, I first discussed the possibility of Evangelicals sequestering themselves in a political ghetto in February of 2008. It did not dawn on me when I wrote this on Monday reflecting on the Romney/Ryan ticket and the absence of a Protestant:
What seems obvious to this observer, and completely unremarked upon anywhere else, is that this also marks a shift in who is in front of the Evangelical/Catholic coalition. After a couple of decades of Evangelicals in the lead, it is now plain that Catholics have assumed that position. This would, I think, be a fascinating topic for a thesis by some grad student out there. Evangelicals and Catholics are roughly equal demographically in the nation, but Protestants generally, which includes Evangelicals, enjoy a huge demographic advantage. At first glance it appears a major failure for Evangelicals to have lost the lead. It really would be interesting to chronicle the why’s and wherefore’s of this decline in political clout. But such is a long term project for someone with more time and a different education than I.
That my worries about the political sequestration of Evangelicals had pretty much come to pass. And for the time being I think they are content to stay there. Being evangelical myself, I ran across two articles this week that I found fascinating. One was a discussion of how God intends us to do economics. The other was a three part (to date) discussion of whether the president really is the “nation’s pastor-in-chief” at Christianity Today. Here they are – Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3. I set them aside and said, “What wonderful stuff to go over in detail and discuss on the blog on the weekend.” And then it dawned on me – such discussions are part of living in the ghetto. Back in that 2008 post I wrote:
The problem is simple, when all you do is hang around with people who are like you and talk about stuff only you all are interested in, you create a ghetto. Is that ghetto imposed on you? Not really, its just that no one else cares about what you care about so much. In such a circumstance you have two choices, really. One start talking about other things so that more and other people will want to join the conversation, or somehow change other people so they want to talk about what you are talking about.
It seems clear that Evangelicals are not yet waking up to the realities of American politics. Are they impactful? Absolutely, but are the effective? Only in a limited sense. Paul Ryan’s VP nod is certainly due in part to the Tea Party and the Tea Party is largely, though not exclusively, composed of Evangelicals. But Ryan is Catholic and “only” the vice-presidential nominee. Any success that Evangelicals might claim this cycle is due to two factors. The first is rebranding as the “Tea Party,” largely focusing on fiscal, not social, issues. The second is tightening the coalition with the Roman Catholics. Alone and on the things that are truly closest to their hearts, Evangelicals can claim no success.
Evangelicals have no choice now but to work as hard as they can to elect Romney/Ryan. But once that job is done, it is time for a major rethink and reorganization. To do otherwise is to be satisfied in the ghetto.
Posted in Political Strategy, Religious Freedom, Understanding Religion | 3 Comments » | 
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Rockgod28 on 18 Aug 2012 at 2:03 pm #
Team Obama is trying so hard to label Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan as Evil.
It is clear neither men are Old or Stupid. So all they have left is Evil.
Having the media helping promote the White House talking points it makes what happened at FRC more likely each day.
When an 83 year old protestor spits on an older volunteer at a Romney campaign point emotions are running high. By labeling Ryan and Romney as evil those that are emotionally unstable and fear the politics they don’t agree with winning the elections can drive those who disagree to violent behavior.
That means that as Team Obama realize they are losing the lies, distractions and scaremongering will just get worst.
Now for the good news.
I have been in California, Nevada and other places around the country recently.
I remember 4 years ago seeing Obama stickers and promotional material everywhere. Everywhere. Only in Utah did I see anything from McCain. Yet even in Utah there were Obama stickers.
Now this year I am seeing Romney t-shirts and stickers in Nevada! Zero Obama stickers on any bumpers anywhere. The only Obama stickers I saw were anti-Obama stickers and advertisements. The battleground state of Nevada is clearly against Obama and at large enough majority is for Romney. There is no enthusiasm for Obama in Nevada at all.
California among the unions and citizens is extreme dissatisfaction in President Obama. Even to the point that if Californians are not excited about Obama and Republicans turn out to vote that the President could lose the state.
Everywhere there is extreme dissatisfaction of Obama and no idea what he wants to do for a second term.
A relative of mine was a huge admirer of President Obama. He could do no wrong. Nothing I said got through. As the election approaches that relatives faith in Obama is gone. They just aren’t sure a lot of people feel the same way she does now.
If she feels this way after being such an aggressive supporter of Obama to no longer believe in him then others will feel the same way. Enough to make all the difference in this election. That means Romney is going to win. Romney and Ryan are going to win.
They have Obama on the ropes.
The President knows that his personal likability has taken a hit with his negative (lies, slander, and distractions) ads. So he is on Entertainment Tonight and other entertainment shows to get the likability back up again.
The press, the ones not total in the tank for Obama, are offended and are being openly manipulated by the Democrats (Joe Biden Press Pool heavy editing). While many reporters in the mainstream media can not fight the establishment the undercurrent will be against Obama. The dissatisfaction, the dislike of being used without reward and dismissal of the White House will have an impact in the election.
It will only get worse for Team Obama.
The economy is only going to continue deteriorate. Unemployment is up in 44 states. There is going to be no turnaround.
The most damaging issue right next to the economy is going to be Medicare. Over 700 billion taken from the trust fund of Medicare to be funneled into the most unpopular piece of legislation in the 21st Century.
Expect to see attack ads from Team Romney that have President Obama’s own words used against him. His only defense works right into Romney/Ryan’s hands since he has to publicly declare the Medicare money goes into Obamacare.
I am not an Evangelical. I have had both good and bad experiences with members of that faith. Mostly good. I have said before while evangelicals are not on the ticket, or major players in politics right now, they are in the trenches.
We are all together in the trenches. Evangelicals, Mormons and Catholics are all fighting against bad government. FRC is one of those groups that are in the trenches. The war on religion became literal. It has been literal since 2008 with flair ups every so often. Prop. 8, Tea Party, Chick fil a, FRC and more. The culture war in in full swing focused on religion.
The media would love to divide us. There are many stories trying to divide Catholics and Mormons. Mormons and Evangelicals. Evangelicals and Catholics. Mitt Romney keeping his VP pick secret for so long the Media had not been able to play up the Catholic/Mormon divisions until now.
What does this all mean?
It is exactly as our founding fathers’ said. “We will all stand together or we will hang separately.”
Or “A house divided can not stand.”
The Liberals and Leftists would love to divide our houses. There are elements in each of our houses that are doing exactly that. To exploit the current close election and culture war to accomplish their agendas. Our economy, debt, unemployment, corruption in our government, and other issues are irrelevant to them. Their core beliefs, their agenda, their desires are more important that the general welfare of the country.
So what do we do?
Ignore them and work on the actual issues. Entitlement reform, debt reduction, and economic improvement.
By bringing back economic liberty, relieving over regulation, and freeing capitalism while punishing cronyism then we can get back to social issues.
Time to adapt. Time to endure. It is time to be true Americans.
I believe in America.
Romney/Ryan! 2012!
An Evangelical Political Ghetto? on 18 Aug 2012 at 2:46 pm #
[...] not sure that I agree that Evangelicals have marginalized themselves politically, as this Evangelical (whom I respect) appears to believe. But it’s striking that the 2012 major party presidential tickets are, respectively, [...]
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