Bush, Kerry preach to vast and undecided righteous wing

AUSTIN – When it comes to presidential politics, not everybody in the Rev. Kyle Childress' East Texas congregation is singing from the same hymnal.

"I've got a few people who are yellow-dog Democrats, and I've got a few who are die-hard Republicans, but I've got a whole lot who are open," said Mr. Childress, pastor of Austin Heights Baptist Church in Nacogdoches.

"The lines are not as clearly drawn about who's going to vote Republican and Democrat right now as they were four years ago," he said. "They're not as easily labeled as Republicans. I think it's very much up in the air."

Recent studies have found a "religion gap" suggesting that Republicans own the church vote.

A survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that among people who attend church more than once a week, 63 percent vote GOP. Among those who seldom or never attend church, 62 percent vote Democrat.

But experts say millions of Sunday-morning regulars aren't in either camp and constitute an important voting bloc – the "swing faithful" – that could determine who wins the presidential race in November.

The swing faithful includes mainline Protestants and Catholics, but also a sizeable number of Christian evangelicals not automatically won over by the GOP. They go to church and believe personal morality is important, but also feel that their faith leads them to protect the environment and provide for the poor.

"There's a big slice of American Christianity that have caught this balance," said the Rev. James Dunn, professor of religion at Wake Forest University.

Basic breakdowns President Bush is the favorite among Christian conservatives, but analysts say Democrat John Kerry, who is Catholic, could score well among Catholic voters, mainline Protestants and moderate evangelicals that constitute perhaps the most underrecognized part of the religious swing vote.

Mr. Bush got the votes of 84 percent of conservative evangelicals in 2000, but John Green, political science professor at the University of Akron, said that perhaps 40 percent of all evangelicals – between 8 million and 10 million people – are not altogether comfortable with the religious right and offer a prime source of votes for either side. Religion experts called them "freestyle evangelicals." They voted for Bill Clinton in 1996 and Mr. Bush in 2000.

With those basic breakdowns in mind, the campaigns are taking different approaches to appeal to religious voters.

Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, has made Christian evangelicals a priority, fearing that the president did not win as many of their votes as he could have in 2000.

Evangelicals make up about 25 percent of the adult population, Mr. Green said. As a group, they share certain qualities: a personal relationship with God, a belief that the Bible is a central part of their faith and a commitment to share the gospel. They consider personal morality important, with many opposing abortion and gay marriage.

Mr. Bush, one of the most overtly religious presidents in a century, did well among evangelicals in 2000 because of his easy use of religious language, his faith-based initiatives and his personal story as a born-again Christian. But Mr. Rove said 4 million evangelicals failed to vote last time – something the Bush camp is working to rectify this year.

Mr. Bush's campaign has been more aggressive than Mr. Kerry's in public appeals to religious groups.

It has sought out Catholic clergy to spread the word that the president supports the church's agenda on abortion (Mr. Kerry has run afoul of several bishops over his support of abortion rights) and has targeted religious voters in Pennsylvania with an e-mail suggesting that supporters distribute campaign information at places of worship with "friendly congregations."

A recently revealed, already controversial part of the campaign blueprint is to ask religious volunteers to send church directories to state Bush-Cheney '04 headquarters. The Bush campaign defends the tactic, but some say it could violate tax laws.

Ralph Reed, chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign in the South and former executive director of the Christian Coalition, said Mr. Bush is reaching out to religious voters across the board.

"In the false choice between swing voters and core supporters, George W. Bush is appealing in a compelling way to both," Mr. Reed said.

Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton is actively seeking people of faith and predicted the Massachusetts Democrat will do well by pointing up the "compassion gap over the past three and a half years."

"One of the reasons that Democrats are reluctant to use the language of faith in their discussions, although on many issues it might serve them well, is they are a very diverse party," said Mr. Green. "So if you use the language of faith, there's a real danger you offend people."

Mr. Clinton did well among religious swing voters, including freestyle evangelicals, in part because of his roots in a Southern culture more comfortable talking about religion. Kerry aides say they believe that running mate John Edwards brings the same quality to the ticket with Mr. Kerry, a New Englander who is more private with his faith.

Mr. Kerry's most openly religious appeal of the campaign was before a predominately black congregation, a reliably Democratic constituency, in June at a church in Jackson, Miss. The Massachusetts Democrat took aim at Bush administration policies by quoting from the Book of James.

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds," he said. "We march forward against a sorry politics where too often words suffice where deeds are demanded."

For the most part, however, Mr. Kerry has avoided open expression of religiosity that might estrange more secular supporters.

At campaign stops last week in battleground states, both members of the newly minted Democratic ticket used the terms "values," "family" and "faith" repeatedly to frame the campaign in broad moral terms that will appeal to moderate, middle-class voters.

In addition, they hope to benefit from surrogates, such as a new Washington-based think tank, Center for American Progress, started by former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta. And Mr. Kerry has sought to win over religious swing voters by talking about issues they care about, such as tax fairness, social welfare and the environment – a political strategy that Mr. Green called sensible for a Democrat trying to bridge the religion gap.

"These people respond because their religious values tell them we should have regard for one another and the creation," he said. "I think those are very potent arguments."

On the importance of faith in choosing whom to vote for: Very or somewhat important, 55% Not too or not at all important, 44%

Note: The poll of 1,280 likely voters June 2-4 had an error margin of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points. Those undecided are not shown.

John Green, political science professor at the University of Akron, said that perhaps 40 percent of all evangelicals – between 8 million and 10 million people – are not altogether comfortable with the religious right and offer a prime source of votes for either side. Religion experts called them "freestyle evangelicals." They voted for Bill Clinton in 1996 and Mr. Bush in 2000.

I had this guy (Dr. John Green) as a Political Science professer when I was a sophomore at U of Akron. He claims to be a moderate Republican, but I didn't know this while in his class. I thought he was a liberal Democrat. He's actually a liberal Republican who calls himself moderate.

However, he did like my paper on Reagan and how he was responsible for ending the Cold War. Got an 'A' on it.

do a quick internet search on rev. kyle childress and you will see that he is an active leader of the religious left. not exactly an impartial observer...his congregation may well be more D leaning than in prior years, thanks to him, no doubt, using the pulpit for his brand of socialism.

So because the author is not persuasive in arguments and is not tolerant of diverse opinions, dissenters are "right wing".

Can we find any "left wingers" masquerading as "middle of the road" or "conservative"? You bet! Just check out the NYT and anyone who takes orders from her.

"Mr. Bush got the votes of 84 percent of conservative evangelicals in 2000..."

FROM THIS I MUST ASSUME THEN THAT THE BLACK CHURCHES OF AMERICA ARE NOT CONSIDERED "CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICALS".

The Dallas Morning News has strained so hard to be competive in the PC journalism race for years. You can find front page articles about pedophile Catholic priests in hiding, and stories so admiringly portraying gay life styles, that's no problemo. And their annual Christmas-time promotion of Kwazana is always fun to read with black friends who think it's more white nonsense.

Somewhere out there, George B. Dealy can't be happy.

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