Evangelicals Say They Led Charge For the GOP [GOTV effort = 79% Evangelical, 52% Catholic to Bush]

Washington Post ^ | Nov 8, 2004 | Alan Cooperman and Thomas B. Edsall

[Mike Fieschko]

As the presidential race was heating up in June and July, a pair of leaked documents showed that the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign was urging Christian supporters to turn over their church directories and was seeking to identify "friendly congregations" in battleground states.

Those revelations produced a flurry of accusations that the Bush campaign was leading churches to violate laws against partisan activities by tax-exempt organizations, and even some of the White House's closest religious allies said the campaign had gone too far.

But the untold story of the 2004 election, according to national religious leaders and grass-roots activists, is that evangelical Christian groups were often more aggressive and sometimes better organized on the ground than the Bush campaign. The White House struggled to stay abreast of the Christian right and consulted with the movement's leaders in weekly conference calls. But in many respects, Christian activists led the charge that GOP operatives followed and capitalized upon.

This was particularly true of the same-sex marriage issue. One of the most successful tactics of social conservatives -- the ballot referendums against same-sex marriage in 13 states -- bubbled up from below and initially met resistance from White House aides, Christian leaders said.

In dozens of interviews since the election, grass-roots activists in Ohio, Michigan and Florida credited President Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, with setting a clear goal that became a mantra among conservatives: To win, Bush had to draw 4 million more evangelicals to the polls than he did in 2000. But they also described a mobilization of evangelical Protestants and conservative Roman Catholics that took off under its own power.

In battlegrounds such as Ohio, scores of clergy members attended legal sessions explaining how they could talk about the election from the pulpit. Hundreds of churches launched ...

[Mike Fieschko]

Rest of article covers motivating factors, a little history of Massachusetts homosexual marriage selection, Michigan GOP abandonment of bill banning homosexual marriage, Karl Rove or Tim Goeglein, head of the White House Office of Public Liaison meeting with Rev. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, psychologist James C. Dobson or others from the Colorado-based Focus on the Family, and Charles Colson.

[pissant]

I've never been as proud of my usually dem-leaning fellow Catholics as today.

[Psalm 73]

"....79% Evangelical....to Bush"

Only 79%? - That means when we look around us at church 2 out of 10 supported Kerry - ouch.
We'll work on that for '06.

[WoodstockCat]

Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the conservative American Center for Law and Justice, advised in mailings to 45,000 churches that their clergy should avoid endorsing a candidate by name from the pulpit. Other than that, "we told them they were absolutely free and should encourage their people to vote their convictions," he said.

Here is the key difference in how liberals have approached the "values" issue.

Bush didn't go into pulpits weekends before election day and preach about his values, he lived them.

Evangelicals don't want a politician in the pulpit, we wants preachers who draw the lines on good and evil starkly and biblically.

[sarasotarepublican]

Would someone please tell me why these same Evangelicals didn't support GWB in 2000? The gay marriage issue was more powerful than the reason to beat Al Gore.

[OldFriend]

There are many reports in the media that no more evangelicals voted this time than the last time.

Don't know if that is true or not, but keep in mind this article cites percentages without raw numbers.

[Sam Cree]

I can't get over how completely and totally intolerant the Democrats have become. Many of them are filled with hate, many others are filled with anger and contempt.

And for no good reason that I can see.

[Mike Fieschko]

There are many reports in the media that no more evangelicals voted this time than the last time.

Correct:

Exit Poll Data Inconclusive on Increase in Evangelical Voters.

[repubmom]

A friend told me she talked with some Christians who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and they were very soft on Bush - seemed to be very influenced by the liberalness of the whole area, buying into the arguments against him. You will probably find that most of the evangelicals that voted for Kerry came from the larger cities.

[Preacher777]

Gladly!

You and I are actively involved in political life ... not so of most people. GWB was not a "unknown" entity to a lot of Evangelicals, and his Father, was not known as a bastion of conservatism!

This time EVERYONE knew where W stood! Love him or hate him ... love his stances or hate his stances ... you KNEW where he stood!! And most Evangelicals loved where he stood on many moral issues!

[sarasotarepublican]

Thank you for the information. I didn't take Bush 41 into consideration.

[NYer]

Catholic Ping - please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[Coldwater Creek]

James Dobson is Focus on the Family. A great man, full of wisdom for raising children.

[Zack Nguyen]

I absolutely guarantee that more evangelicals voted in this election than in 2000. I have no direct data yet, but I've been involved with some GOTV on the ground, and I've never seen anything like the level of awareness and arousal amongst evangelicals to vote.

[Coldwater Creek]

Exactly!

[Coldwater Creek]

Apathy

[Coldwater Creek]

I would bet that way more Evangelicals voted this time than 2000. I go to a mega church and for several weeks there were voter registration forms in the bulletin. Also, I believe that 9/11 changed a lot of people.

[OldFriend]

Instinct tells me you are right and frankly, I don't see how we are ever going to get a true independent analysis.

I truly believe that good defeated evil.

[truecons]

52% of Catholic voters went to Bush? Isn't that huge? Does anyone have the numbers for Catholics for past several elections?

Might lead one to ask why. One theory might be Kerry's mom's buzzword: integrity. It's one thing for a politician to take a position that a voter disagrees with, but the voter can still support him if the balance of their positions is sound.

But when John Kerry asked Catholic, presumably largely democrat, voters to believe that he was pro-life, that may have pushed their credibility (gullibility?) to the limit.

I mean, come on...John Kerry pro-life? I would sooner expect to see Hitler in a yarmulke.

[Psalm 73]

"....and his Father, was not known as a bastion of conservatism!"

Well said. I think his father is (little "c") christian, but W is a (big "C") Christian.
A big difference.
BTW - I was a Reagan supporter, but didn't vote for Bush Sr. - and I didn't vote for W in the 2000 primaries but I did (finally) warm up to him and worked darned hard for him in 2000.