The GOP’s Chistianist Conundrum

There continues to be much talk about the Republican Party seeking to change its messaging if not the substance of its policies.  On the social issues component of this endeavor, however, the GOP faces a major problem: its Christianist base that refuses to tone down its hate and bigotry.  Making maters even worse, a new Pew survey found that the image of the GOP as a creature of the Christofascists is harming the party's competitiveness with non-Christian and the non-church going voters. Among Jewish voters, in fact, Muslims have a higher favorable rating than Christofascists.  Of course, all of this is the result of the GOP's cynical decision to court Christofascists a number of years ago and, worse yet, start electing them to local city and county committees and caucuses.  Here are highlights on the new survey findings:

In 2012, many political reporters suggested that the issue of Israel would be pivotal for Jewish Americans, and it did feature prominently in both campaigns. Yet in the end, the issue did not seem to affect the voting decisions of most Jewish voters, 69% of whom backed President Obama. If the question of Israel did not move many Jewish voters, what did? Although it was not discussed widely during the campaign, one of the most influential factors for Jewish voters was the Christian Right.  .  .  .  in the case of Jewish voters, the close association between the GOP and the Christian Right proved to be profoundly important. 

Few social groups are further apart in their politics than conservative Christians and Jews. In 2012, the Public Religion Research Institute conducted a survey of Jewish voters. That survey painted a portrait of a group that remains one of the most socially liberal in the U.S. American Jews strongly support legal abortion (93% say it should be legal in all or most cases) and favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry (81%). Conservative Christians, by contrast, are strongly opposed to same-sex marriage (78%), and most believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases (65%). However, the two groups are not just divided on social issues. Both groups also embrace very different perspectives on cultural pluralism, religious traditionalism, and church-state separation issues.

[T]he Christian Right scored only 20.9 on a 100-point “feeling thermometer” scale among Jews, well below Muslims (41.4) and Mormons (47). Nearly one in five (19%) Jews gave the Christian Right the lowest score possible (1). In fact, no political or religious group scored lower among Jews than the Christian Right.

The challenge confronting the GOP as it attempts to broaden its base is not limited to Jewish voters. A survey conducted by Pew last year found that more than six in ten (61%) non-Christian affiliated Americans (a group that includes Hindus, Jews and Muslims) agreed that “religious conservatives have too much control over the Republican Party.” Nearly two-thirds of religiously unaffiliated Americans also affirmed this statement. These groups are among the fastest-growing religious communities in the U.S. 

Obama and the Jewish Vote - McCain Lies Fall Flat

John McSenile and Bible Spice have been doing their dishonest best to discredit Barack Obama with Jewish voters by beating to death the non-story of Obama's connections with Rashid Khalidi (never mind, of course, McSenile's own ties to Khalidi). As has been typical of the McSenile/Palin ticket, their whole campaign boils down to trying to smear Obama as opposed to discussing ideas and substantive proposals that they would implement if elected. Thus, I found this column by Edgar M. Bronfman, the former president of the World Jewish Congress and and chairman of the Board of Governors of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, all too funny; He basically kicks McSenile to the curb and identifies Palin as the world class cretin that she is in fact. Here are some highlights via the Huffington Post:

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I am supporting Obama for president for two reasons: one is my disdain for the McCain-Palin ticket, and the other my respect and admiration for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

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Among Jewish voters, some feel the basic question is which candidate will act in the best interest of Israel. The answer is Barack Obama. As an American Jew who loves Israel, I cannot support John McCain. He cannot provide what Israel needs most--a respected, credible, morally strong America. To have the United States and Israel both regarded by the rest of the world as unreliable and in isolation is no way to solve the problems that plague both countries. This has been the effect of the Bush policies, and these are the policies that John McCain has promised to continue. Barack Obama is the candidate who can restore America's moral authority in the world and position our government to help negotiate peace.

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John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as running mate is the towering example of his poor judgment. Palin's ignorance of public affairs is monumental. Especially disturbing to the Jewish voter should be her willing acceptance of the campaign assignment of demagogy, which has stirred up racism and hate. The prospect of our having a 72-year-old president in poor health raises the real possibility that Palin could be our president, a thoroughly frightening thought. (I am well aware, in my eightieth year, of the flagging energy of any 72-year-old.) McCain's choice of Palin was a bid to the extremists in the Republican party, not the considered choice of a man who puts his country first.

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Barack Obama is the leader who can begin to undo some of the damage done by Bush's policies. His background as an American who has lived among diverse cultures makes him sensitive to the cultural and religious motives that shape conflicts. He is cerebral, measured, calm, and pragmatic. By his character, he will engage these issues with more than stonewalling and weapons. He is brilliant in his choices of advisors. He is a tough idealist who has the courage to imagine an America that may inspire hope, not fear, in the Middle East and around the world.
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Obama can inspire much-needed support for Israel among this next generation of American Jews. . . . . He has articulated a vision for American society that does not ask us to ignore our differences--religious, racial, or economic--but to set aside divisive rhetoric and acknowledge that we all have a stake in building a more ethical society. Under his leadership a renewed America can help to foster a renewed Israel.