Dems reaching out to religious believers
Party faces task: making platform appeal to faithful
By Ed Sealover, Rocky Mountain News
Published August 29, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Democrats have been people for faith for a long time, party chairman Howard Dean says. "We just haven't known how to talk about it."
Now, the party is talking about it.
After years of getting outhustled for faith voters by Republicans, Democrats are making a bigger push for people in pews.
It won't be easy.
A survey released last week by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed that nearly half of all respondents said nonreligious liberals have too much control of the Democratic Party.
The study did note that the percentage of people who believe the Democratic Party is generally friendly toward religion is way up from 2006 - 38 percent, compared with 26 percent. But a full 52 percent think the same thing of the GOP.
The Democratic National Convention this week provided a forum for the party faithful to boost their image among believers.
The head of the Democratic National Convention Committee is Leah Daughtry, a Pentecostal minister. The party set up a faith caucus at this year's convention for the first time. Barack Obama's campaign also is encouraging "American Values House Parties" to discuss religious issues.
To boost the party's stock among believers, leaders hope to expand the definition of faith issues. Humane treatment of prisoners, the fight against human trafficking and aid for Third World countries are being categorized in that way.
But the faith push has its perils, some observers say. Older atheists and secular Democrats think the mix of faith and politics is an assault on church-state separation, said United Church of Christ Rev. Susan Thistlethwaite, a convention attendee.
"With the over-50 crowd, they are almost traumatized by the faith abuse of the right and they don't want to see - and neither do I - the faith caucus become a litmus test for the party," she said.
Still, party leaders say they are committed to reaching out to faith voters. The trick is to heavily court them instead of just talking issues and expecting the voters to come to the party, Dean told caucus- goers Thursday.
Some voters who fit the Democratic Party demographic have been reluctant to get on board. Married, black, religious women who oppose abortion and support traditional marriage want to be in the party but haven't felt comfortable, said the Rev. Barbara Williams-Skinner of Maryland.
To attract them, she said, Democrats must emphasize a broader range of faith issues.
As for evangelicals, a Republican powerhouse, Democrats see an opening. In 2006, a group of ministers said it was time to take a moral stand on environmental issues.
Younger evangelicals, who remain solidly pro-life, believe such a stance also entails a fight against childhood disease and unnecessary war, said Cameron Strang, editor- in-chief of Relevant magazine, which is aimed at young adult evangelicals.
Democrats also are reaching out to religious groups like Jews and Muslims, who are often forgotten by Republicans, Dean said.
Crucial white Catholic voters, who make up 18 percent of the electorate, still support Republican John McCain over Obama, according to the Pew survey.
Catholic activists like Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver have said faithful Catholics cannot vote in good conscience for abortion-rights supporters.
There are more than 650,000 Catholics in the state, enough to swing the election. In 2004, Bush took the national Catholic vote 52 percent to 47 percent.
But Democrats shouldn't be discouraged, said Nancy Wadsworth, an assistant political science professor at the University of Denver who has written on the intersection of religion, race and politics.
"The idea of having a faith caucus at the convention this year was good because Democrats have had a long way to go on this idea of bringing faith and politics together," Wadsworth said.
sealovere@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5438
Featured
-
DNC in Denver
Complete coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
-
The Crevasse
A five-part series that examines one tragic day on Mount Rainier.
-
Deadly denial
Sick nuclear workers applied for government compensation but most haven't seen a dime.
-
Final Salute
The Rocky followed Maj. Steve Beck as he took on the most difficult duty of his career.
-
'Colorado's burning'
Coverage of the state's worst wildfires.
-
Columbine shootings
Coverage of the April 20, 1999, shootings at Littleton's Columbine High School.
-
The Crossing
Colorado's deadliest traffic accident killed 20 children on Dec. 14, 1961.
-
Osveli's journey
Osveli Sales left Guatemala for a better life. Two months later, he came home in a box.
-
Wake for an Indian warrior
Oglala Sioux bestow a tribute to the first tribal fatality in Iraq.
August 29, 2008
9:11 a.m.
Suggest removal
michaelleesmith writes:
The Democratic Party is wise to court religious voters, since most Americans are religious. But they have been doing so to the exclusion of secular voters. With 19% of Americans having no religious affiliation, and some 10% not believing in a personal god; and assuming that the majority of these Americans has traditionally sided with the Democratic Party; the Democrats are alienating some 20% to 38% of their support base with phrases such as "Democrats are people of Faith," (DNCC CEO Leah Daughtry) and by saying that it is our duty "to have faith in God" (Hillary DNC speech).
Democrats are, in fact, people of faith and people with no faith.
Humane treatment of prisoners, the fight against human trafficking and aid for Third World countries are not faith issues. They are human issues. We care about these things whether we are faithful or not. This pandering to the religious and the language being used by the Democratic Party is off-putting to the secular community.