Evangelicals quietly worry about McCain, may not drive voter turnout like they did for Bush

[question everything]

Source: AP

By MIKE GLOVER , Associated Press

July 17, 2008

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa - Stirring her morning coffee, lifelong Republican Grace Droog voiced her doubts — and those of many evangelical voters — about what she isn't hearing from John McCain in this year's presidential election. "I look for something about his faith," she said. "It's very important, it's what our nation was founded on." Her pal Joan Rens nodded; she, too, wants McCain to talk about his religious beliefs. "I wish he would so we would know how he stands on his religious views and where his faith lies," she said.

In this part of the country — halfway between Sioux City, Iowa, and Sioux Falls, S.D., — separating religion from politics is folly. Religious conservatives here were energized by President Bush's public declaration of faith and handed him a landslide in 2004. With growing sway in the state GOP, they recently captured a prominent party leadership post.

(snip)

In the ongoing AP-Yahoo News Poll, only 10 percent of white evangelical Christians say they are excited by this election, compared with 20 percent of Americans overall. A third of these evangelicals said they were interested in the election, but half said they were frustrated by it. Nevertheless, they support McCain over Obama by 62 percent to 18 percent. Although the AP-Yahoo News Poll is of all adults, not the smaller, more energized group of likely voters, McCain's figures lag behind Bush's showing among white evangelical Christian voters in the 2004 election, when exit polls indicated 78 percent supported him.

(snip)

Carl Zylstra is president of Dordt College in Sioux Center, a small private school that bills itself as "what quality Christian higher education is all about." Also the host of a weekly radio talk show about politics and everything else on the minds of folks, Zylstra hears quiet doubts, far different from the passion Bush inspired. "George Bush has a very compelling personal story, a very compelling religious experience and in their hearts they believed he was a man who loved the same Lord they did," said Zylstra. "They might not agree with all his policies, but they trusted him that when the chips were down, he would do the right thing. McCain is not a man who incites the same passion."






Read more: http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/president/25550884.html?location_refer=$urlTrackSectionName

[Lebam in LA]

1. Hey Grace

How's that 'man of faith" working out for ya? These stupid people believe that if you (a repub at least) declare yourself a person of faith, then you must be.

"George Bush has a very compelling personal story, a very compelling religious experience and in their hearts they believed he was a man who loved the same Lord they did," said Zylstra. "They might not agree with all his policies, but they trusted him that when the chips were down, he would do the right thing. McCain is not a man who incites the same passion."

How's that workin' out for all ya, huh?

[izquierdista]

2. Looking for faith

What a maroon. All I can do is put up a link to the most insightful comment about faith:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o

[TomInTib]

4. I loved that.

After growing up washed in the Blood of the Lamb (Southern Baptist), I get an extra kick out of things like that.

[puebloknot]

17. I grew up that way, too. But our lamb was better than your lamb.

Church of Christ, Texas: No dancin' and no P-eye-anna and no organ (no, not that kind, either, unless it's kept well hidden) allowed in the church. Also, no cushions made out of polyster on the hard wood benches. God made wood, but God didn't even *know* about polyster when he handed down the Ten!

I suppose you know, being Southern Baptist, why your folks are not allowed to have sex standing up? (Answer: Being in that close vertical position, you might be tempted to dance!!!!)

Funny, ain't it? (No, it ain't!)

Towering intellects like this have surrounded the castle and are trying to smoke us out!

End of rant. Resuming normal life now.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. Maybe they will find a blob of melted cheese on a diner grill to be their savior.

McCain sure ain't cuttin' it for them.

[LiberalFighter]

5. Citizens need to educated that this country was NOT founded on religion!!

Settlement of the Americas was all about profit. If they bothered reading all the charters and patents they would realize that.

Even at the time of the revolution when the United States was actually established it was about money.

[question everything]

9. Or just go to Washington D.C. and read some of Thomas Jefferson

and Abraham Lincoln thoughts - as carved on their memorials.

At most, the Gettysburg Address talks about "hallowed grounds."

[SemperEadem]

15. my mom tried this the other day

she's a fundamentalist xtian... she was saying she wasn't going to vote at all because she didn't like the choices. (mind you, she didn't vote for *, either)

She was saying something about this being a xtian nation and how some preacher broke down what the separation of church and state really meant in the constitution. I had to stop her in her tracks and tell her that the Treaty of Tripoli clearly points out in plain English that this country was NOT founded as a xtian nation and that she needed to educate herself instead of blindly believing anything a preacher tells her. That's how thousands of people died in the jungles of Guyana--blindly believing what they were told and not discovering the truth until it was too late to get out.

[Overseas]

6. And we can assure people that God will surely forgive JSM III's repeated adultery.

And John Sidney McCain III, husband of beer heiress, serial adulterer, is really just a humble guy with seven homes (a few are just condos!).

[TlalocW]

7. It looks like within my lifetime, we're going to have a Black president

I'm only 36 so I'm also sure that within my lifetime, we'll have a woman president.

What I'm hoping for in my lifetime is that we'll have a president that when he was running for office was asked about his religious beliefs and replied, "It's none of your damn business."

TlalocW

[question everything]

11. "Arnold Vinick," a mythic Republican candidate on "The West Wing"

said it best (only on TV)

"I don't see how we can have a separation of church and state in this government if you have to pass a religious test to get in this government. And I want to warn everyone in the press and all the voters out there if you demand expressions of religious faith from politicians, you are just begging to be lied to. They won't all lie to you but a lot of them will. And it will be the easiest lie they ever had to tell to get your votes. So, every day until the end of this campaign, I'll answer any question anyone has on government, But if you have a question on religion, please go to church."

[puebloknot]

18. Second the motion. And I'm old enough to be your mommie! nt

[Gogi]

8. My dad is'nt an evangelical but he is a staunch republican voter...

and he HATES McSame!

[pretzel4gore]

14. NAU (North Amer. Union) police now patrolling interstates!!

so your dad is staunch republican; what does he think about the new cops which are starting to appear throughout north america- and are stopping regular citizens, just like traffic cops (Jeff Farias had callers mentioning the weird greenish brand new cop cars: wouldn't the fascists giggle to paint their paddy wagons earth-friendly green!)
you dad (all repubs, all so called conservatives) owes you and future generations an apology
as far as mcsame, that dipstick sees his name in hushtory books, and probably doesn't give a crap about what policies are used...
(I don't want to make you defend your dad, but this 'solid republican' nonsense overlooks what the 'men behind the curtain' of the republican party have done; openly and loudly. They, or rather ther phonies in control, have used the flag, the land, the troops and the traditions of america to defraud it and destroy trust in it - even an anti government libertarian activist like webster tarpley recently said the US probably never put men on the moon!- republican bigshot pat buchanon has said it would've been better had USA fought WW2 with the fascists rather then against them! Your dad almost certainly would find the reactionary rightwing thus typified a horror, just like the average lefty, but it's still a fight just to get our man the presidency)

[defendandprotect]

10. Won't the idea of a Supreme Court opening be sufficient to bring them out . . .???

[Jefferson23]

19. That is what I wonder too, and with Bush's new measures about birth control

where will McCain take this? I suspect it will backfire on them.

[pipi_k]

12. Evangelical zombie persons

"Zylstra hears quiet doubts, far different from the passion Bush inspired. "George Bush has a very compelling personal story, a very compelling religious experience and in their hearts they believed he was a man who loved the same Lord they did," said Zylstra."


I firmly believe that Bush thought he was the Lord.

Or maybe the Lord's right hand man, at the very least.


As for Bush's "compelling religious experience" they all thought he had, all he did was trade one addiction (or maybe two?) for an addiction to religious zealotry. I've seen plenty of that type, believe me. They're even more scary than the alcoholics/druggies they used to be before they Found God.

Those people make me shudder in fear.


I'd like to see religion banned altogether, quite honestly. Let's see what the crazies do with themselves when they don't have religion to justify the insane acts they commit.

[mitchum]

13. They should just stay home and talk to their invisible friend on election day

[JustAnotherGen]

16. Maybe they

Actually read Tempting Faith: http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=520877

And not all people of 'Faith' are wingnuts. Some of us *gulp* believed a Human Being named Yeshua (Jesus) walked this earth, that he was not a supernatural being (immaculate conception) and that was the greatest Socialist to have ever lived . . . we're called Unitarians. You can believe in a Spirit -

And I think SHE is awesome. . . without believing in 'supernatural' humans and magic underwear and the like. . . Don't be so quick to judge. Especially those of us whose faith come from Arians who tried to get Mithracite Priests to admit Yeshua was Jewish - but lost in a Political Game. :-)