McChurch Losing Ground

Is U.S. evangelical vote in play?

Fri Mar 7, 2008 8:32am EST

By Ed Stoddard - Analysis

DALLAS (Reuters) - Evangelical Christians who have greatly influenced recent U.S. elections are seen playing a different but once again key role in this November's White House race and analysts say both parties are keen to woo them.

"I think it (the evangelical vote) will be different this time round. The evangelical community is more fractured than it has been in the past," said Allen Hertzke, director of religious studies at the University of Oklahoma.

One in four U.S. adults count themselves as evangelical or "born-again" Christian, giving them electoral clout in a country where religion and politics often mix.

All of the contenders in the presidential race -- Republican presumptive nominee John McCain and Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton who are battling for the Democratic crown -- are Protestant Christians.

Obama importantly in evangelical eyes had an adult "conversion experience" into the United Church of Christ while Clinton was raised a Methodist. McCain grew up in the mainline Episcopal faith but now attends a Baptist church in Phoenix.

Analysts say if Obama is the Democratic nominee he could make inroads into this Republican bloc because of his frank talk about faith and appeal to young evangelicals.

McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam and Arizona senator, faces the difficulty of wooing skeptical religious conservatives within his own party who view him as soft on some of their core issues, such as stem-cell research and gay marriage.

This could dampen their enthusiasm to turn out and vote the way they did in 2004, when 78 percent of white evangelicals who cast ballots did so for President George W. Bush.

But Clinton, a New York senator who is an object of wrath in many conservative Christian circles because of her liberal positions and feminist image, could draw them to the polls for McCain in numbers that a match-up with Obama might not.

Opinion polls show most white evangelicals firmly in the Republican camp. A recent Pew Research Center poll shows McCain with a 70 to 25 percent lead over Obama and about the same margin over Clinton with this group.

But hard-core conservative Christians in the Republican Party are unhappy with McCain on many grounds, ranging from his failure to support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage to his past criticism of leaders in the movement.

So while polls may show him with an almost three to one edge he may find that some of those who have favored him in surveys will not show up to vote for him at the ballot box.

"Evangelicals lean Republican to such an extent that Republicans cannot win without them," said Dennis Goldford, a professor of politics at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

"They come from a background that is the whole loaf or nothing. They don't compromise and they know how to go if somebody is not with them 100 percent," he said.

But Clinton would solve McCain's problem on this score.

"If Clinton gets the nomination then conservative evangelicals will come out for vote for McCain like he's the second coming," said David Domke, a professor of communication at the University of Washington.

Those white evangelicals already in the Democratic fold in the South though show a decided preference for Clinton. Exit polls for the primary vote on February 5 showed Clinton overwhelmingly won over Tennessee's white evangelical Democrats with 78 percent to only 12 percent for Obama.

YOUNG EVANGELICALS

Analysts see Obama wooing some wavering evangelicals especially young ones by his activism in areas such as the global AIDS pandemic as well as his youthful, rock star image.

"If Obama is the nominee I think he will have an ability to appeal to some of the more moderate evangelicals and there will be a generational factor as well," said Hertzke.

He said while younger evangelicals also tended to be conservative and oppose abortion rights -- which Obama supports -- they also had a broad range of concerns such as human rights abroad, global poverty and the environment.

The 71-year-old McCain would be the oldest American ever elected to a first presidential term while Obama would be the country's first black president.

Both tales have a wide resonance and Obama and McCain each has a compelling narrative to add that evangelicals find especially attractive: the adult convert and the war hero.

"Obama is comfortable speaking about his faith and he had an adult conversion experience and that has real resonance in the evangelical world," said Hertzke.

McCain by contrast does not seem as relaxed talking about his faith as Obama, who pointedly devotes a whole section to it on his campaign web site.

But patriotic U.S. Christians, who regard sacrifice for "God and country" as a virtue, are impressed by McCain's record as a naval aviator and prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.

And McCain has two trump cards over the Democrats with most evangelicals: his staunch opposition to abortion rights and his unflinching backing of the Iraq war, which many conservative Christians still strongly support.

(Editing by David Alexander and David Wiessler)

(For more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online here)

McChurch and McMormon - One Big Happy Family!

Jan 28, 2:30 PM EST Faithful mourn death of Mormon president By JENNIFER DOBNER Associated Press Writer

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Thousands of believers were in mourning Monday following the death of Gordon B. Hinckley, the humble head of the Mormon church who added millions of new members and labored long to burnish the faith's image as a world religion. An announcement of his successor was not expected for days. Hinckley, the 15th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died Sunday of complications arising from old age, church spokesman Mike Otterson said. He was 97. In a statement, President Bush praised Hinckley as a "deeply patriotic man." "While serving for over seven decades in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gordon demonstrated the heart of a servant and the wisdom of a leader. He was a tireless worker and a talented communicator who was respected in his community and beloved by his congregation," Bush said. The church presidency is a lifetime position. Before Hinckley, the oldest church president was David O. McKay who was 96 when he died in 1970. Hinckley, a grandson of Mormon pioneers, was president for nearly 13 years. He took over as president and prophet on March 12, 1995, and oversaw one of the greatest periods of expansion in church history. The number of temples worldwide more than doubled, from 49 to more than 120 and church membership grew from about 9 million to about 13 million. Dozens of mourners gathered Sunday night outside Mormon church headquarters to honor Hinckley. College students sang hymns by the light of their cell phones. On Monday, Kelly Ford, 28, of Kaysville stared at a painting of Hinckley in the church visitor's center as a snowstorm swirled outside and recalled how he took time to speak to teens. "He was a complete optimist. ... He talked about our potential and what the Lord expects of us," Ford said. "He was the greatest optimist I've ever known." Hinckley became by far his church's most traveled leader in history. And the number of Mormons outside the United States surpassed that of American Mormons for the first time since the church, the most successful faith born in the United States, was founded in 1830. Hinckley worked to show that his faith was far removed from its peculiar and polygamous roots. Still, during his tenure, the Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention and United Methodist Church - the three largest U.S. denominations - each declared that Mormon doctrines depart from mainstream Christianity. "The more people come to know us, the better they will understand us," Hinckley said in an interview with The Associated Press in late 2005. "We're a little different. We don't smoke. We don't drink. We do things in a little different way. That's not dishonorable. I believe that's to our credit." Republican Mitt Romney, who is trying to become the first Mormon elected president, said Monday he would miss the humility and wisdom of Hinckley and plans to attend his funeral. He also said Hinckley was pleased he was endeavoring to become the first Mormon elected president. "He smiled and said it would be a great experience if you won and a great experience if you lost," Romney said. Born June 23, 1910, in Salt Lake City, Hinckley graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in arts and planned to attend graduate school in journalism. Instead, a church mission took him to the British Isles. Upon his return, he became executive director of the newly formed Church Radio, Publicity, and Mission Literature Committee at $60 a month. Hinckley always worked for the church, except for a brief stint during World War II as a railroad agent. Hinckley was an apostle in 1978, when the church reversed its policy that prevented black men from holding the priesthood. He began his leadership role in 1995 by holding a rare news conference, citing growth and spreading the Mormon message as the church's main challenge heading into the 21st century. Hinckley's grandfather knew church founder Joseph Smith and followed leader Brigham Young west to the Great Salt Lake Basin. He often spoke of the Mormon heritage of pioneer sacrifice and its importance as a model for the modern church. By tradition, at a church president's death, the church's most senior apostle is ordained within days on a unanimous vote of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. The longest-serving apostle now is Thomas S. Monson, 80. The vote is not likely to occur until after Hinckley is laid to rest. At least twice in the past the naming of a new president has lagged for several years, but in modern times the announcement has come within a week. Monson, Hinckley's likely successor, was one of the youngest men ever called to the highest levels of church leadership, named a church apostle at age 36. Before that he spent three years in Canada overseeing church missionary work. Prior to serving as Hinckley's First Counselor, Monson was Second Counselor to two previous presidents. A storyteller at heart, Monson in known among Mormons for his folksy humor, delivered in speeches and parable-like stories during the twice-yearly church conferences in Salt Lake City. He's also known for making frequent, unannounced visits to patients in local hospitals to offer encouragement and prayer. Outside the church his professional life included stints in newspaper advertising for the church-owned Deseret Morning News, later becoming general manager of the Deseret News Press, one of the West's largest commercial printing companies. --- Associated Press writer Brock Vergakis in Salt Lake City and Glenn Johnson in West Palm Beach, Fla. contributed to this report. --- On the Net: http://www.lds.org © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

McChurch - Baptists Bailing on the Huckster!

December 20, 2007

Opinion: Baptists Not on Board

by Robert Novak
The Washington Post

When Mike Huckabee went to Houston on Tuesday to raise funds for his fast-rising, money-starved presidential candidacy, a luncheon for the ordained Baptist minister was arranged by evangelical Christians. On hand was Judge Paul Pressler, a hero to Southern Baptist Convention reformers. But he was a nonpaying guest who supports Fred Thompson for president.

Huckabee greeted Pressler warmly. That contrasted with Huckabee's anger two months ago when they encountered each other in California. The former governor of Arkansas took issue then with comments by Pressler, a former Texas appeals court judge, that Huckabee had been a slacker in the war against secularists within the Baptist church.

The warmth in Texas and hostility in California reflects the dual personality of the pastor-politician who has broken out of the presidential campaign's second tier. Huckabee can come across as either a Reagan or a Nixon. More than personality explains why not all his Baptist brethren have signed on the dotted line for Huckabee. He did not join the "conservative resurgence" that successfully rebelled against liberals in the Southern Baptist Convention a generation ago.

Criticism from co-religionists stands apart from criticism by the Club for Growth, the Cato Institute and the Arkansas Eagle Forum of Huckabee's 10 big-government, high-tax years as governor. Because no Republican candidate since Pat Robertson in 1988 has depended so much on support from evangelicals, opposition by Huckabee's fellow Southern Baptists is significant.

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