Christian Conservatives Take Credit For Bush Win

by Emad Mekay

(IPS) WASHINGTON -- Conservative Christian groups may have swung the vote in Tuesday's U.S. election, according to several experts and analysts here.

Bush got the strong support of evangelical Christians and a notable showing among Catholics and mainline Protestants, they added.

"Yes, they were a huge part of President Bush's victory, not so much nationally but in the particular states where he needed to win," said Steven Waldman, editor-in-chief of Beliefnet.com, an Internet site that reports on religious issues.

"Making values and ethics central to a political campaign was the main factor for this strong support," said Tom Barry, policy director at the Inter-hemispheric Resource Center (IRC).

Immediately after the results became apparent Wednesday, many leaders of Christian groups were quick to claim credit for the Bush victory and pledged to press ahead with their agenda of issues ranging from the so-called "war on terrorism" to anti-abortion legislation and a ban on same-sex marriages.

"It is clear that one of the major factors in this presidential race was the strong turnout of the faith and pro-life communities," said Reverend Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, a group that works to end abortion and lobbies for more open display of religious affiliations and symbols in public life.

"Moral issues played a major role across the country," he added in a statement.

Mahoney said Christian groups will use their demonstrated clout to further influence policies developed in the White House, focussing particularly on an abortion ban.

"We will now bring this newfound political influence to bear on the White House," he said. "Our first effort will focus on the nomination of a pro-life Supreme Court Justice."

Added James Kennedy, president of Coral Ridge Ministries, "The defense of innocent unborn human life, the protection of marriage, and the nomination and confirmation of federal judges who will interpret the constitution, not make law from the bench, must be first priorities, come January."

"It may be that America may yet return to a recognition of the importance of religion and morality in public life," he added in a statement.

Some 42 percent of total votes cast Tuesday were from people who attend church at least once a week. Nearly 22 percent of the electorate was comprised of "white evangelicals" or "born again" Christians, according to exit polls.

Nationally, Kerry won 47 percent of the Catholic vote to Bush's 52 percent, according to those polls, but in the battleground state of Florida, Bush beat his challenger with 55 percent of Catholic support. In Ohio, the state that determined the election, Bush beat Kerry 53-46 percent.

Catholics make up about 27 percent of the U.S. population while Protestants account for 54 percent.

Bush also benefited from an increase in popularity among Protestants, and Jews compared to 2000, exit polls found. He won 59 percent of the Protestant vote (up three percent over 2000) and 25 percent of the Jewish vote (a six-percent jump).

"President Bush's victory in Ohio is a major accomplishment for the Bush-Cheney ticket," said Father John Putka, a lecturer in political science at the University of Dayton in Ohio, one of the country's largest Catholic universities.

Ohio is drafting a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions. The proposal was endorsed, by a substantial margin, by the state's voters Tuesday.

"This placed an emphasis on traditional moral values and helped to produce a substantial surge in new voters from the evangelical and 'born again' Christian parts of the electorate," said Putka in a statement.

After voters in 10 other states backed proposals to ban same-sex marriages, Christian groups predicted Wednesday the issue could become a defining one in U.S. politics, possibly second only to abortion.

"Bush's strength among conservative Christians put huge swaths of the country simply out of reach for Kerry," wrote Waldman and John Green on Beliefnet.com.

Rev Rob Schenck, president of the National Clergy Council, a Christian group that lobbies Washington on behalf of religion causes, said the election demonstrates Democratic Party leaders have moved far from the religious consensus in the United States.

"If they are to reclaim political relevancy, they will need to re-examine their positions on all the major moral issues, including the sanctity of human life, the sanctity of marriage and the public acknowledgement of God," he said in a press release.

But some analysts warned that a stronger conservative Christian agenda will mean more aggressive postures by Bush, both at home and abroad.

"The Bush victory will allow the radical policy agenda of the Christian conservatives and the neo-conservatives, both in foreign and domestic policy, to continue moving forward at a frightening pace," said Barry.

"I think that given this clear mandate and support for a foreign agenda that, home and aboard, is so radical and so explicitly re-orders a liberal system at home and a multilateral system abroad, the administration will pursue those policies with more confidence," he added.