Ohio exit poll uncovers more evangelical Democrats

[struggle4progress]

March 7th, 2008, filed by Ed Stoddard

... An exit poll commisioned after Ohio’s Tuesday primary by Faith in Public Life, the Center for American Progress Action Fund and Sojourners asked both Republicans and Democrats if they were evangelical or born-again Christian. Almost all other polls have only asked this of Republican primary voters as this group is widely regarded as a key base for the GOP.

The poll, conducted by Zogby International, found that 43 percent of white evangelical Ohio primary voters took part in the Democratic primary and 57 percent in the Republican one.

Other national polls still show over 60 percent of white evangelicals firmly in the Republican camp but analysts have said they do not expect them to play quite the same role in this November’s election as they did in the 2004 White House race, when by some estimates around 78 percent of those who cast ballots did so for President George W. Bush.

The Tuesday poll also found that 42 percent of Ohio’s white evangelical voters ranked jobs and the economy as the most important issue area in deciding how to vote versus 14 percent who ranked abortion and same-sex marriage as the most important issue ...

http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/03/07/ohio-exit-poll-uncovers-more-evangelical-democrats/

[madrchsod]

1. so there were "democratic evangelicals" voting.....

well is`t that interesting....but i bet there is a few here that will think that`s bullshit.after all, no "real democrat" could be an "evangelical"....:sarcasm:

[struggle4progress]

2. Interview: Evangelical Democrat Tony Campolo (2004)

... Is gay marriage another one of those absolutes?

The reality is that people like me have very strong feelings about the gay situation. I feel that the government should not be in the business of marrying anybody; that, in reality, what the government should do is recognize civil unions, both homosexual and heterosexual. That's what they do in Europe. You go down to the city hall and you become legally connected. You have a civil union there. Then, if you're religious, you go down to the church, and the church blesses the union. That gets the problem solved. I don't know of many evangelicals who want to deny gay couples their legal rights. However, most of us don't want to call it marriage, because we think that word has religious connotations, and we're not ready to see it used in ways that offend us. Now, I have to say this. My wife and I differ on this issue. She goes to a church that does marry gay people. I don't. We go to different churches. That's all right. It seems to me that a gay couple could go to a church like hers and get their marriage blessed. They couldn't come to mine and get their marriage blessed. But I think it's up to a local congregation to determine whether or not a marriage should be blessed of God. And it shouldn't be up to the government ...

Would you describe President Clinton as an evangelical?

Yes, I certainly would consider him as an evangelical. I consider him an evangelical in the following way. I have to define what I mean by "evangelical." An evangelical is somebody who, first of all, has a very high view of Scripture, believes it's an infallible message from God. He would say, "Yes, I believe that." Who believes in the doctrines of the Apostles' Creed. He would say, "Yes, as I go over that list of doctrines that are outlined in the Apostles' Creed, I believe every one of them." And the third thing is that an evangelical Christian is somebody who claims to have an intimate personal relationship with Jesus. President Clinton claims to have that kind of relationship with Jesus. It's not for me to judge whether he's telling the truth. I judge no one. Jesus says I have to judge no one. I can't go to a higher authority than that. On a personal level, I have to say I have a real good spiritual fellowship when I'm with the president. And that gives me a great deal of comfort ...

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week734/interview.html

[struggle4progress]

3. A Democratic Evangelical's Election Reflections

Volunteering in rural Ohio at the end of the election revealed some truths about values and politics in America.
By Rev. Jeff Carr

I spent the last three weeks "living" this Presidential election, as my family and I have been in Crawford County, Ohio volunteering on the Kerry/Edwards Campaign. When I decided to leave Los Angeles last summer, I thought it would not only be a unique opportunity to spend time traveling and reflecting on life with my family, but also to participate in the democratic process, and work for the values that have been important to me for most of my life ...

It was fascinating to listen to people say they would vote for Bush, even though they disagreed with his decision to go to war in Iraq, his handling of the economy (Ohio lost 230,000 jobs in the last 4 years), and his tax cuts. And yet, they felt like he more accurately reflected their positions on cultural and moral values, at least on the only two moral values discussed in the campaign (abortion and gay marriage). When you talked with people and explained to them that John Kerry's positions on abortion and gay marriage are not much different from President Bush's, they just didn't believe it ...

To my liberal non-religious Democratic friends: Many of your core values of civil rights, affordable health care, the elimination/reduction of poverty, and a fair and just economy are core Judeo-Christian values born out of these historic faith traditions. The civil rights movement of the 1950's and 60's was birthed in the African-American church and I believe much of its success was rooted in a faith in a just God who believed all people were created in the image of God and deserved to be treated as such. While a lot of evangelicals do in fact make all their voting decisions based on two narrowly defined issues, there are many more who share many of your core values. Engaging them in a discussion in the context of faith and moral values will lead to not only greater dialogue, but maybe even some unlikely partnerships/friendships ...

To my progressive Evangelical Christian friends who don't have a political "home": It's time to break your silence and to boldly speak out for a more progressive, holistic, evangelical voice in our politics. Your silence leaves a void that others with a narrower view of morality and values are eager to fill. You need to take back the words "evangelical Christian" from the Republican and fundamentalist Christian leaders who have co-opted that phrase for their own political gain ...

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/155/story_15582_1.html

[struggle4progress]

4. Getting the Evangelicals Wrong - Again (Wallis in HuffPost 11 Jan 08)

... For example, the exit polls in the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary have asked departing Republican voters if they are "evangelicals," but they don't ask the same question of exiting Democrats--therefore assuming there aren't any evangelicals voting for Democrats, an assumption that is demonstrably not true. The leading Democrats in the race--Obama, Clinton, and Edwards--speak explicitly and articulately as Christians and their campaigns have reached out as much to faith communities as the Republicans have.

The media experts on religion then go on to explain to us that evangelicals care mostly or only about abortion and gay marriage, and not about other issues. That is even more mistaken. The issues that most concern evangelicals today, especially a younger generation, include poverty, the environment and climate change, human rights, and the morality of a foreign policy where war is the first resort. This year those issues are drawing a growing number of evangelicals to consider the Democratic candidates.

Along with a number of other evangelical leaders, I just signed a letter to the media outlets in the National Election Poll, which says: By omitting the question of evangelical/born-again identification from the Democratic polls, you prevented the public from seeing the full picture of how the bipartisan courtship of evangelical voters affected the outcome of the first contest of the 2008 campaign and perpetuated the misperception that all evangelical Christians are Republicans. No party can own any faith. Evangelicals have broadened their agenda to include care for the planet, the poor and the stranger, and as a result are increasingly diverse politically

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/getting-the-evangelicals-_b_81171.html