Are Evangelicals Really Sold on Palin?

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Lost in the stampede of social conservatives to embrace Palin this past week is the fact that she is culturally outside the mainstream of Evangelicalism. Over the past few years, a growing number of Evangelicals have been consciously distancing themselves from the more extreme stands of the Christian right. They live in the suburbs, hold graduate degrees, and while they might not want their children reading certain novels, would be embarrassed by attempts to ban certain books from libraries, as Palin is reported to have briefly considered while mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. They don't attend churches where speakers charge that violence against Israelis is divine punishment for the failure of Jews to accept Jesus, as happened at one of Palin's churches two weeks ago (though Palin has now issued a statement saying she does not agree with those views). And they would disagree with Palin's decision to use her line-item veto as Governor to slash funding for an Alaska shelter that serves teen mothers.
That goes double for younger Evangelicals. These voters tend to be even more pro-life than their parents, but abortion isn't always a priority that moves their votes — it wasn't when McCain was alone on the ticket, and there's no reason for that to change with the addition of Palin. More important, Palin has problematic stances on many of the issues that do motivate young Evangelicals. Her insistence that global warming is not man-made, for instance, is unlikely to appeal to those Evangelicals who have embraced so-called "creation care" in the past few years. This is particularly relevant to the current race, as young Evangelicals account for much of that demographic's undecided bloc. No one knows what the size of their impact may be in November because young Evangelicals are consistently underrepresented in polls of white Evangelicals. (Even a TIME poll of likely white Evangelical voters conducted last month used a sample in which just 10% of respondents were between 18 and 35. That age group made up 22% of the total electorate in 2004, and its share of the electorate is expected to increase this year.)
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http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1839190,00.html

His campaign may not be as smart as they think they are.

some evangelicals who are voting for Obama, and while they are against abortion, they are drawn toward Democratic positions on social justice issues. This is a group that is growing and many do, indeed, think for themselves. They might not always come up with answers I like, but that sure as hell does not mean they are not thinking.

Gay marriage?
Unwanted pregnancies?
The "War on Drugs"?
Freedom from religion?



I'm completely unaware of *any* Evangelicals(tm) who are concerned with anything except mandating morality and requiring loyalty to their superstition.

out Jim Wallis from Sojourners. Quite a number are actually starting to look at the Sermon on the Mount a lot more closely. My cousins - who are also PFlag - are very concerned with environmental issues. The most devout evangelicals I personally know ( who as much as I like them drive me nuts) are left and do more work with the dispossessed in a week than most people I know do in a year ( and it is not that noblesse oblige bullshit either). I like to draw a distinction between fundies and evangelicals. I am not an apologist for evangelicals. I used to we take them all and lump them together and write them off. The few I knew who didn't fit were "exceptions." So I looked around. Well, they are a minority (and not exactly a vast one), but a growing one.


I am ex-Catholic, and in fact I am completely agnostic ( I really dislike organized religions), but as angry as I am and fed as I am with the Catholic Church as an organizational group, I still see Dorothy Day, the Berrigans, Archbishop Romero, and so many others.

There are far too many shills and apologists for us to not "caveat" our statements.

I can't be as tolerant as you, I'm afraid. At my most generous, I perceive organized religion as a hobble that has kept us from decades, perhaps literal "light years", of progress.

At my worst, I see cavemen huddled over their fires, fearing the night, itself.

It only paints the evangelical community in a bad light.

they aren't sure they want to be as closely linked to any politician as they were to Bush. They think the negative association hurt their ability to do outreach and proselytize.

she will appeal to the extreme right wing christian movement. she`s going to repulse as many as she attracts

Here's something a MoveOn or another 527 could run with...and pretty simple and straight forward.

Start the spot with pictures of the Terri Schaivo circus...all the rabid fundies and their signs...and super-impose Grandma Barracuda's face over that group. The give a quick rundown of her strong extremist religious ties. Jews For Jesus is one hell of a dealbreaker with many Jewish voters and tie her to her masters...the people who would take away your rights to live and die.

Remember, there was a visceral and large backlash from the religious right's over-reach on this case...tie it to Palin...and then ask if this is what people want a 72-year old heartbeat away?

but most people of faith just don't fall for it

I liked this quote:

If Bristol Palin were the daughter of Democratic parents, she would undoubtedly be held up as an example of the failures of a liberal, permissive culture. Instead, she is viewed — as are the majority of teenage mothers in Evangelical churches — as a Christian who sinned, is forgiven, and needs to be embraced and supported.