The Dynamic Center: Populism and Evangelical Voters

Posted by Dan Martin on 11.17.2006

The Democrats held the Republicans to 66% of Evangelical Voters in 2006. That may sound bad, but it was vastly better than the Democrats showing in 2004 among Evangelicals. Is a Rising Tide of Populism the Cause of this Improved Showing?

This past Sunday on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, George Will commented that my current state of residence, Ohio, is often looked at as a bell weather of national politics. George Will observed that Ohio's Governor-elect is Ted Strickland, an Ordained Methodist Minister. Will also noted that Ohio's Senator-elect Congressman Sherrod Brown wrote a book in 2004 promoting "Fair Trade" entitled Myths of Free Trade: Why American Trade Policy Has Failed. George Will concluded from this data and the fact that the Democrats did much better among Evangelicals than in 2004 that populism may be making a come back.

This column will not be a review of What's the Matter with Kansas? (a future column perhaps?) because I have not yet read the book in its entirety, but I can say that Thomas Frank's book does note that Kansas was at one time a national leader of popular fronts and populist movements. Thomas Frank laments that Kansas and other states like it have signed onto the Republican agenda because economically the GOP platform is not in their best interests even if culturally many rural voters have felt more at home in the Republican Party. He notes with a sense of sad irony that many poor rural voters are voting in favor of Wall Street's policies in order to stick it to the establishment.

George Will's comments on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Thomas Frank's work and the exit polls showing Democratic gains among Evangelical voters all brought into new relief a conversation I had with an Evangelical Christian Preacher in his mid 20's during early September. This preacher is a member of the Christian Churches that emerged from a unity movement among U.S. Christians during the 1800's. This preacher is also one hell of a smart guy. While I as a Roman Catholic cannot be described as an Evangelical Christian with any of the normal sociological implications associated with that term, he certainly can.*

The point this preacher made was startling. He said to me something along the lines of, "Dan, the one group that should most be opposed to predatory lending practices (such as pay check advance businesses and many buy here pay here car lots) are biblical literalists." He buttressed his argument by noting that Sabbatical Years as described in The Bible instruct members of Israel to forgive debts every seven years. He went on to discuss how scripture anoints every 50th, after seven sets of Sabbatical cycles have been observed, a Jubilee Year. Such a year was supposed to be marked by returning all hereditary property to its original family and liberating all indentured servants.

He went on to say something like, "A lot of history has passed between that time and now, and our economy is quite different. So I am not advocating just applying economic standards produced in one cultural situation to our very different cultural situation, but the general trajectory of forgiving debts, land reform and removing economic servitude is all present." He argued thought that the trajectory and intent of those laws ruled out Evangelical approval of much of the plantation farming in the third world as well as predatory lending practices such as paycheck advance operations.

I think his instincts and Biblical world view do reflect a certain consonance between populism and Evangelical Christianity. While the free market might see no problem in elites (including U.S. fruit corporations) claiming 99% of available land in Central America in order to grow bananas etc., and while the free market may see no problems in pay check advance businesses victimizing the working poor with excessive interests rates that are not spelled out up front, someone with a Biblical world view ought to be opposed to such practices based upon Judeo-Christian moral principles.

This leads to an interesting situation and potential opportunity for the Democratic Party. If Democratic candidates can make a moral case for raising the minimum wage, making health care more accessible, moderating the free market in areas where it ignores human dignity, and aiming foreign policy toward stopping situations such as the awful plight of Darfur, then it might be able to attract voters such as those Kansans who want to stick it to the elite powers that be.

If U.S. trade policies leave many Midwestern cities rusting and many people who have spent decades at a factory earning a living, building a family and building neighborhood communities looking for low paying service industry jobs, then it is justifiable to ask is this trade policy moral? It is even justifiable to ask, "What are the moral implications of this trade policy?" in terms that might resonate with practicing Evangelicals, Mainline Christians, Roman Catholics, Jews and Muslims. After all, if a voter is concerned about family values, they are likely to be worried if jobs no longer exist that allow parents to raise a family and reasonably expect to be able to send their children to college let alone to the doctor.

While Thomas Frank might still be wondering what is wrong with Kansas, he might worry a little less if he spoke to this young preacher that I talked to in September. Tomas Frank may want to ask a second question, "Can the Democrats get past the perception that they are tone deaf when it comes to moral questions?" The elections in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Montana and North Carolina offer the Democrats an interesting insight into what some new form of populism might mean for their fortunes. The question now is do they heed the message contained in that insight, or do they keep pelvic issues at the center of their platform that allow Republicans to paint them as out of touch with middle America's morality.

* An interesting phenomenon of so called "Evangelical Catholics" is in its infancy. No exit polling group takes this phenomenon into account as of yet, and I would have to say I do not self-describe myself as fitting many of the Evangelical Catholic tendencies. In this column my use of Evangelical primarily refers to non-mainline Protestants or to mainline Protestant Churches that have adopted many Evangelical traits in light of flagging attendance numbers. I am aware that "evangelical" can mean many other things, so if this caused any confusion I am sorry.