Faith offers valuable connection for Southern Dems
ATLANTA — Jason Carter, former President Jimmy Carter's grandson,
stepped into the pulpit of South Columbus United Methodist Church for a
Palm Sunday sermon and offered a message of Christian responsibility to
the poor, with his phone in hand.
"How many of you have the Bible
(app) on your phone? I bet all of you do," Carter said to laughs from
the crowd. Worshippers listened as the Democrat running for Georgia
governor read from his phone a New Testament verse about the importance
of "things that are not seen."
The technology has changed in the
four decades since Jimmy Carter spoke openly about his religious beliefs
while campaigning, first for Georgia governor and then president. But
the broader message of a shared faith remains the same.
Religion
offers a powerful connection with many in the South, considered the most
religious part of the country. Some Democrats hoping to reverse
Republican gains in Georgia and elsewhere are finding their faith can be
a valuable way to reach voters.
Religion can be a very personal matter, and candidates vary in how much they are willing to talk about their faith.
In
Kentucky, Democratic U.S. Sen. candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes hasn't
spoken much publicly about her Catholic upbringing. But in Georgia,
U.S. Sen. candidate Michelle Nunn highlighted her faith in an early TV
ad about her grandmother, whom she called "Mama."
"I remember as a
child, going to church with Mama, every Sunday in Perry and learning
how we live out our faith by helping others," Democrat Nunn says as an
image of her as a young child sitting in church flashes on the screen.
Nunn,
in an interview, said faith is a powerful bond shared by many. Raised
Methodist, she attends church in Atlanta and is raising her two children
in the Methodist faith.
"I think that faith is certainly
something that transcends political parties," Nunn said. "The reason I
decided to talk about it is because it's an important part of who I am."
Sometimes, candidates are even more direct in highlighting their religious beliefs.
U.S.
Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, one of the most vulnerable Democrats up
for re-election this year, is trying to win over those who might
disagree with his vote for the federal health care law but who might be
willing to support someone who calls the Bible his compass.
In a
statewide TV ad late last year, Pryor said: "The Bible teaches us no one
has all the answers: only God does. And neither political party is
always right."
In the Kentucky race, Grimes is said to pray
before campaign events and had a priest with the family on the night of
the primary election, but she rarely mentions her faith during campaign
stops. It's particularly interesting given that when her father, Jerry
Lundergan, was chairman of Kentucky's Democratic Party, he pushed it to
embrace religion, arguing Democrats should not let Republicans define
themselves as the party of faith.
"For me, your actions speak
louder than words," Grimes said in a recent interview. "And while you
may not hear it in my public comments, (my faith) is the underlying tone
I think that has kept this campaign on the ground of putting people
instead of partisan politics first."
Nationally, Kentucky and
Georgia may represent the Democrats' best hopes to thwart a Republican
plan to take control of the U.S. Senate. Both Grimes and Nunn are
considered to be strong recruits who have already proved to be prolific
fundraisers. Religion could offer them an important way to expand their
base of support and bring in more rural voters.
"For Democrats
who are disadvantaged politically in the region, it's one way for them
to at least attempt to neutralize the impact or the advantage that
religiosity has for the Republican Party," said Andra Gillespie, an
Emory University political science professor. "If you have a Democrat
who can make credible claims of faith that might actually help to
undermine support for the Republican candidate at least on the issue of,
'Does this person share my values?'"
Regardless of party
affiliation, the South has the highest concentration of people who
identify themselves as religious. Gallup polling last year found that
the most religious states in the country were in the South. Among those,
52 percent in Georgia said they were very religious, while 49 percent
in Kentucky reported the same.
A Gallup survey earlier this year
found that Southern Democrats are much more likely to say religion is an
important part of their daily life — about 74 percent, compared with 57
percent of Democrats from outside the South.
In Georgia, Carter,
a 38-year-old state senator from Atlanta, is in a tough battle to oust
Gov. Nathan Deal four years after Republicans claimed every statewide
office. Carter must pick up votes in rural Georgia, wooing those who
used to vote Democratic in state elections but have moved over to the
GOP in the past two decades.
When Carter's grandfather ran for
governor, he featured his faith prominently in campaign literature,
describing himself as a lifelong churchman who taught the Bible to
children of Navy families while at the U.S Naval Academy. The younger
Carter has so far kept discussion about his faith to church visits
across the state in recent months.
In an interview, Carter said he doesn't think about how faith affects his campaign but more about how it affects him personally.
"It's
incredibly important to me personally, it drives who I am and it drives
what I do and how I make decisions," Carter said. "People have to be
authentic about who they are and where they come from. What people want
in our political world is to understand where our leaders come from."
stepped into the pulpit of South Columbus United Methodist Church for a
Palm Sunday sermon and offered a message of Christian responsibility to
the poor, with his phone in hand.
"How many of you have the Bible
(app) on your phone? I bet all of you do," Carter said to laughs from
the crowd. Worshippers listened as the Democrat running for Georgia
governor read from his phone a New Testament verse about the importance
of "things that are not seen."
The technology has changed in the
four decades since Jimmy Carter spoke openly about his religious beliefs
while campaigning, first for Georgia governor and then president. But
the broader message of a shared faith remains the same.
Religion
offers a powerful connection with many in the South, considered the most
religious part of the country. Some Democrats hoping to reverse
Republican gains in Georgia and elsewhere are finding their faith can be
a valuable way to reach voters.
Religion can be a very personal matter, and candidates vary in how much they are willing to talk about their faith.
In
Kentucky, Democratic U.S. Sen. candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes hasn't
spoken much publicly about her Catholic upbringing. But in Georgia,
U.S. Sen. candidate Michelle Nunn highlighted her faith in an early TV
ad about her grandmother, whom she called "Mama."
"I remember as a
child, going to church with Mama, every Sunday in Perry and learning
how we live out our faith by helping others," Democrat Nunn says as an
image of her as a young child sitting in church flashes on the screen.
Nunn,
in an interview, said faith is a powerful bond shared by many. Raised
Methodist, she attends church in Atlanta and is raising her two children
in the Methodist faith.
"I think that faith is certainly
something that transcends political parties," Nunn said. "The reason I
decided to talk about it is because it's an important part of who I am."
Sometimes, candidates are even more direct in highlighting their religious beliefs.
U.S.
Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, one of the most vulnerable Democrats up
for re-election this year, is trying to win over those who might
disagree with his vote for the federal health care law but who might be
willing to support someone who calls the Bible his compass.
In a
statewide TV ad late last year, Pryor said: "The Bible teaches us no one
has all the answers: only God does. And neither political party is
always right."
In the Kentucky race, Grimes is said to pray
before campaign events and had a priest with the family on the night of
the primary election, but she rarely mentions her faith during campaign
stops. It's particularly interesting given that when her father, Jerry
Lundergan, was chairman of Kentucky's Democratic Party, he pushed it to
embrace religion, arguing Democrats should not let Republicans define
themselves as the party of faith.
"For me, your actions speak
louder than words," Grimes said in a recent interview. "And while you
may not hear it in my public comments, (my faith) is the underlying tone
I think that has kept this campaign on the ground of putting people
instead of partisan politics first."
Nationally, Kentucky and
Georgia may represent the Democrats' best hopes to thwart a Republican
plan to take control of the U.S. Senate. Both Grimes and Nunn are
considered to be strong recruits who have already proved to be prolific
fundraisers. Religion could offer them an important way to expand their
base of support and bring in more rural voters.
"For Democrats
who are disadvantaged politically in the region, it's one way for them
to at least attempt to neutralize the impact or the advantage that
religiosity has for the Republican Party," said Andra Gillespie, an
Emory University political science professor. "If you have a Democrat
who can make credible claims of faith that might actually help to
undermine support for the Republican candidate at least on the issue of,
'Does this person share my values?'"
Regardless of party
affiliation, the South has the highest concentration of people who
identify themselves as religious. Gallup polling last year found that
the most religious states in the country were in the South. Among those,
52 percent in Georgia said they were very religious, while 49 percent
in Kentucky reported the same.
A Gallup survey earlier this year
found that Southern Democrats are much more likely to say religion is an
important part of their daily life — about 74 percent, compared with 57
percent of Democrats from outside the South.
In Georgia, Carter,
a 38-year-old state senator from Atlanta, is in a tough battle to oust
Gov. Nathan Deal four years after Republicans claimed every statewide
office. Carter must pick up votes in rural Georgia, wooing those who
used to vote Democratic in state elections but have moved over to the
GOP in the past two decades.
When Carter's grandfather ran for
governor, he featured his faith prominently in campaign literature,
describing himself as a lifelong churchman who taught the Bible to
children of Navy families while at the U.S Naval Academy. The younger
Carter has so far kept discussion about his faith to church visits
across the state in recent months.
In an interview, Carter said he doesn't think about how faith affects his campaign but more about how it affects him personally.
"It's
incredibly important to me personally, it drives who I am and it drives
what I do and how I make decisions," Carter said. "People have to be
authentic about who they are and where they come from. What people want
in our political world is to understand where our leaders come from."
Faith offers valuable connection for Southern Dems
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