Op-Ed news has an article on the "God strategy" in campaigning today, by the authors of The God Strategy: How Religion Became a Political Weapon in America(Oxford), David Domke and Kevin Coe.
It's basically a review of how the religious right is influencing elections, but lacks any real exploration of why this is happening. What's happening to the religious left or the secular center? Here's a hypothesis I'm not sure anybody has explored: what if this is more about doing what you're told to do, adhering to a standard imposed by an authority, or believing that what you do has significance, than about religion? In other words, what if it's about the fact that the religious right simply goes to the polls in greater number and with stronger conviction that their doing so matters? What if it's simply about the habits of showing up in response to the requirements of a respected authority?
On the Lehrer show last night, Michael Gerson ascribed the success of Huckabee's campaign in Iowa to the understanding that winning votes is not about promoting the candidate, but about understanding the voter. Is anyone trying to understand or speak to the non-voter who could be mobilized to vote, but who no longer feels a sense of duty or purpose or point in voting?
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