Democrat Christians?

Okay, I use that title in jest. Republicans and many evangelical churches would lead you to believe that Democrat and Christian are two words that just aren't compatible. I have never truly felt this way, but I've certainly heard it preached. This basically started in the 70's and gained huge momentum once Reagan was elected. The basic assumption was that if you were a Christian, you just had to be a Republican. No way around that. Like I said, I never bought into that and tend to get a little irritated by the Falwells, Robertsons, etc. that promulgate this notion. Even though I've never met a Christian that's also a Democrat. JUST KIDDING!!

Problem is, the Democrats have done an absolutely horrible job of convincing otherwise. They have gift-wrapped every morals-based issue and handed it to the Republicans. After the 2004 election when it turns out moral values was a key factor in how people voted, Democrats were stumbling over themselves trying to convince everyone that they too attended church and believed in God. They are always at the front and center when it's time to separate church from state, they are always at the front and center promoting gay marriage. They ridicule Dan Quayle and the whole "family values" way of thinking. Of course this would make people like Karl Rove giddy and they take advantage of this. Democrats don't even try to court the evangelical vote. They just write that whole population off (which to me has always been a colossal mistake).

This year, Democrats may finally be seeing the light. Criticize Howard Dean all you want, and maybe his motives are truly political, but he sees the advantage of the evangelical vote. So does Barack Obama. Both have taken flack for it.

But I think this year, more than ever, Christians are ripe to be swept up by the Democrats. BUT, and this is a BIG but, the Democrats on a national level have to want to go after them. They can't keep being scared to death to mention "God" in a public forum. This has always seemed particularly odd to me, why they continue to let themselves be run over by the Republicans on this issue.

Like I said, the Democrats have a huge opportunity. Let's see if they take advantage of it or not. Meanwhite, check out www.faithfuldemocrats.com, which is a website featuring blogs and commentary on the whole "Democrat Christian" ideal. Just launched today. I'm looking forward to reading more.