Village Voice - God Is a Centrist Democrat

[paineinthearse]

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0509,lombardi1,61604,6.html

God Is a Centrist Democrat
Hillary Clinton moves self, whole party into the religious middle

by Kristen Lombardi
March 2 - 8, 2005


Might meets right: Hillary Clinton breaks bread with Reverend Eugene Rivers III at a Boston benefit in January.
photo: Dominic Chavez/The Boston Globe

If it's true that the Democratic Party is about to get religion, then Hillary Clinton is first at the altar. Much has been made of Clinton's newly softened image—the way she tore down her old liberal icon and got spiritual over abortion, for instance. She told an Albany crowd on January 24 that abortion represents "a sad, even tragic choice to many, many women," and singled out "religious and moral values" as an antidote to teenage sex. Never mind the New York junior senator's continued advice that pro-choice activists find "common ground" with their anti-abortion counterparts. Pundits chalked up the putative presidential candidate's remarks to a post-election Democratic shift to the center. After all, the only way to win national office anymore is to move to the middle, and these days that means getting serious about God and guns.

And sure enough, there she was, getting cozy with Republican maverick John McCain on NBC's Meet the Press last week, as he said she'd make "a good president." She played commander in chief, going out of her way to disagree with the hard-left wing of her own party by insisting that the troops must stay in Iraq to keep the insurgents at bay.

Yet for all the notice of Clinton's centrist tone and morality-speak on the national stage, her New York constituents largely missed the senator's real debut as a God-fearing Middle American. It came in a January 19 speech in Boston that made headlines there, with Clinton appearing in a Globe photograph alongside the host, Reverend Eugene Rivers III, one of the state's most outspoken opponents of same-sex marriage.

Clinton had traveled there to attend a benefit for Rivers's youth-outreach program, known as the National Ten Point Leadership Foundation, which promotes faith-based solutions to gang violence and urban crime. At the event, attended by many of the city's prominent black ministers, the senator celebrated the foundation's street ministry to at-risk kids. But she also used the opportunity to demonstrate her commitment to a key issue in the culture wars, the role of faith in addressing social ills like poverty and hunger. Listen to her praise faith-based initiatives: "There is a lot that needs to be done, and there is an unnecessary debate in our country about how to do it. It does not matter whether it is inspired by faith, inspired by obligation, inspired by family, or inspired by threat of a federal indictment. The work is what is important. . . . And there is no contradiction between faith based, community based, faith inspired, government inspired—we are all in this together, and we need to provide support for the ongoing work."

much more......

[cheezus]

1. and Jesus was his radical far-left son

the holy ghost? Dittohead.

[davidinalameda]

2. yet another reason NOT to vote for Hillary

thanks Hill

[Pawel K]

3. yet another reason Democrats might not win in 06 and 08

What she is doing is exactly what we all need to be doing. Face it, religion is a huge part of the culture in this country. I am for same sex marriage as I'm sure Clinton is; she is simply being smart.

[MsTryska]

5. there's religion

and then there's conservative christianity.



who's cozying up to the Sojourners?


you want a religious left? those are the people we need to be speaking with and incorporating. fuck this homophobic, misogynistic old-testament christian taliban.

[Pawel K]

9. I agree

But when you attack a liberal for being religious it makes all of us look bad; such as the original posting. Look, we need to appeal more to religion ("smart religion"). This does not mean we have to be homophobic but it means we should respect liberals that talk openly about their religion.

Also, what Clinton has been doing has been consistent in her political career; this is nothing more than a smear campaign by the right to make it look like she is changing her ideology to run in 08.

[ClayZ]

4. See the Angels in the Box Seats?

I hope the waiters are not going to pour Koolaid in her glass.

And if we are all in this together how come there are not more homeless people at that BREAKFAST?

[scarletwoman]

6. "...the only way to win national office anymore is to move to the middle"

Yeah, that's been working really well for the Dems so far, hasn't it? :eyes:

sw

[David__77]

7. "God" can only be a revolutionary of the anti-capitalist type.

Even Christian theology is wholly incompatible with class exploitation. The exploiters cannot pass the test of morality. The limitation of religion is insofar as it incapacitates people from acting for their freedom in THIS world.

[roguevalley]

8. Best candidate in 2008? For who?