By Dave Andrusko
Life News
There’s been a fair amount of chatter, overwhelmingly positive, about an interview the former director of Barack Obama’s 2012 faith outreach gave to Emma Green of the Atlantic.
I am considerably less positive, although the interview, which ran under the headline “Democrats Have a Religion Problem: A conversation with Michael Wear, a former Obama White House staffer, about the party’s illiteracy on and hostility toward faith,” is very much worth reading.
Michael Wear has a new book out titled Reclaiming Hope, so it’s a fair assumption the interview was part of the publicity tour. That doesn’t make what he says–and more important what he doesn’t say and what is tucked between the lines–any the less worth considering.
You may have read how many “experts” confidently predicted the Evangelical community, specifically the White Evangelical community, would not deliver Donald Trump the kind of overwhelming support it had given to President George W. Bush and to GOP presidential candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney.
So when a greater percentage than ever–81%–voted for Trump, there’s been some honest head-scratching what should Democrats do. A more dominant response has been to double down: forget White Evangelicals and the White working class that was instrumental in Trump’s victory and rely on greater support next time around from single women, African Americans, and a growing number of Hispanics.
I am considerably less positive, although the interview, which ran under the headline “Democrats Have a Religion Problem: A conversation with Michael Wear, a former Obama White House staffer, about the party’s illiteracy on and hostility toward faith,” is very much worth reading.
Michael Wear has a new book out titled Reclaiming Hope, so it’s a fair assumption the interview was part of the publicity tour. That doesn’t make what he says–and more important what he doesn’t say and what is tucked between the lines–any the less worth considering.
You may have read how many “experts” confidently predicted the Evangelical community, specifically the White Evangelical community, would not deliver Donald Trump the kind of overwhelming support it had given to President George W. Bush and to GOP presidential candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney.
So when a greater percentage than ever–81%–voted for Trump, there’s been some honest head-scratching what should Democrats do. A more dominant response has been to double down: forget White Evangelicals and the White working class that was instrumental in Trump’s victory and rely on greater support next time around from single women, African Americans, and a growing number of Hispanics.
Wear does not offer that counsel. He understands both the “civic motivation” and the political wisdom of Democrats reaching out to voters who did not support them and particularly those who oppose abortion.
But as Green points out, “from a party point of view, it’s basically impossible to be a pro-life Democrat. Why do you think it is that the party has moved in that direction, and what, if anything, do you think it should do differently?”Wear offers three reasons, two of which I’ll address.
