Democrats Are Going After the Church Vote

While much of the blustery branch of the Christian right shouts the country is falling into immorality and Trump will correct this, another group of Christians is saying, "Wait, Christianity is really about caring for the poor and the marginalized. Vote for Harris and other Democrats."

Harris has just appointed a woman pastor to head up her faith outreach. Needless to say, the preacher is not a Southern Baptist. She is head of a national outreach group in Christianity and has for years advocated Christianity welcome the LDBTQ+ into its center. Right wing religious sites are full of outrage over this appointment. Demographics, however, are on the side of the Harris appointment. The majority of young people are leaving the faith they grew up in.

Rather than saying Harris is going after the "religious vote," it might be more accurate to say she is going after first the liberal part of Christianity and second the post Christian demographic. For some reason, Trump and his people cannot read the numbers. The old people that die off each year trend conservative. The young entering voting age, more liberal, are larger in number. Does it make political sense to cater to a disappearing demographic?

Polling is following a well-worn path again this year. When one looks at births and deaths, such as above, the only rational conclusion is the country is inching left in most ways. Polling up until recently has said "Biden polls badly, Trump will win." Early in the election year all kinds of people, liberal and conservative, say, "Gosh, I don't really like my party's nominee. Why can't the powers that be come up with someone better?" As time moves closer to the voting day, there is a collective sigh of resignation, "Well, I guess I'm stuck. That unworthy person is my group's candidate. I sure don't want the other one." They start answering polls more affirmatively. My view Biden would be doing much better in polls now than he was doing a few weeks ago and some of the success we are seeing from Harris is do to the simple passage of time--it's closer to election day. I say to myself sometimes, "Biden would have won sitting in a wheel chair," and who knows, that might be right. I'm happy it's Harris.

I know readers have seen this and experienced it themselves, mostly religious people want the same thing from their government and politics as everyone else. Yes, parts of the outcome will turn on abortion, but other parts will play out with appeals to our clans, life experiences and perceiptions.