Steven Waldman: 2004 Convention Blog

Beliefnet Editor-in-Chief Steven Waldman writes daily dispatches from the 2004 political conventions.

Continued from page 3

Clinton's Press Secretary Diagnoses the Faith Problem
July 28, 2004 7:30 p.m

I had a fascinating chat this morning with Mike McCurry, Clinton's former press secretary. Turns out he's become intensely interested in this question of how to get the party to express its religious side. In fact, two months ago he and some other outside consultants visited with the Kerry campaign to press their case. According to McCurry, campaign aides told him, "It's very hard for Kerry to do it - it's just not a comfortable thing to address." McCurry offered more of his own thoughts on the matter: "That type of Northeastern Catholic just doesn't like talking about personal spirituality. You ask a Northeast Catholic to talk about his faith and he says, 'Eh, no. What is this, catechism?'"

Just this morning McCurry visited the South Carolina delegation meeting. One of the delegates had broken an ankle so the group's leader was asking everyone to put her on their prayer list. If that had happened in the Massachusetts delegation, McCurry noted, she would have gotten a card and some flowers, but not prayers. "Blue state delegates would probably say, 'Hey, why are we praying?'''

But McCurry believes the Kerry campaign has come around to the need to show a little spiritual leg. "All of a sudden, values is big in the campaign. So there's a realization that they can't tip toe around it."

Why has the party struggled so? McCurry believes it's that Democratic hyper-sensitivity to offending minority groups, especially, in this case, Jewish voters. "Because we want to be politically correct, in particular being sensitive to Jews, that's taken the party to a direction where faith language is soft and opaque."

One of the biggest riddles is why Kerry hasn't talked about the role of faith in getting him through Vietnam. In this case, though, Kerry's reticence to talk about religion combines with his reticence to discuss some of the details of his Vietnam experience. But McCurry believes that's likely to be one of the most effective ways for Kerry to express his spiritual biography. "That's a dimension that he needs to share."

We Are Religious! Really. Seriously. No Kidding.
July 28, 2004 7:30 p.m

There were three separate events today geared toward breaking the Republican monopoly on faith. The DNC organized a "People of Faith caucus," attended by about 100 clergy and activists. In opening the luncheon, Leah Doughtry, chief of staff for the party (and a Protestant minister in her private life), declared, "This is historic. This is the first time in the history of the Democratic Party that we've made space for people of faith" to hold a meeting like this.

That statement alone reflects just how much catching up the Democrats have to do. These folks show a combination of urgency and frustration. They believe that by refusing to talk about their religious motivations, they have allowed the Republicans to lay claim to religion as being, inherently, conservative. "When Democrats withdraw into secularism, we cede it to Republicans to define faith as they wish," said Rev. Jim Wallis, head of the Call to Renewal. The emphasis in the party has been on doing good deeds but Wallis suggested inverting the famous saying: "It's not enough to walk the walk, we also have to talk the talk."

Earlier in the morning, I sat in on a group of 40 young activists discussing the same topic. "It seems like the right wing has a monopoly on morals! That's not true!" said a young man named Jeff. "A lot of people believe the Republican party is the ONLY party for religious people."

Again the issue came up of whether the Democrats were too PC to allow varied religious expression. "The Democratic Party needs to be more ok with putting people with intense faith in the forefront," said one young activist named Greg Landsman. "To be ok with including Christian leaders is NOT an infringement on diversity or tolerance." So disgusted are liberals by what they view as the intolerance of the religious conservatives, they've come to believe that religious expression itself is inherently dangerous. "It's throwing the baby out with the bathwater," said Landsman. "It positions the Democratic Party as being anti-religion because of a problem with the Religious Right."

Rev. Albert Pennybacker, head of the Clergy Network, is organizing clergy throughout the country to become more politically active. He was also on the Democratic Party platform committee - the only member of the clergy. Democrats, he believes, tend to be more concerned about the views of civil libertarians than those of the rank and file voters who are mostly religious. It's spiritually wrong, he says, and it's lousy politics. "All I'm saying is: count the votes!"

So What Is the Agenda of the Religious Left?
July 28, 2004 5:00 p.m

They all agree that liberal religious leaders need to assert a progressive faith-based agenda. They all agree that candidates should use more religious language. But what do they believe?

The most common issue cited is the importance of fighting poverty, which is interesting because that's not one that Kerry talks much about. One person after another tied that imperative to Jesus' call to help "the least of these." Other frequently mentioned priorities: health care and the environment. Many view opposition to the Iraq war as a religious requirement (a view endorsed by the Catholic Church).

And then there are those who have other issues. One activist talked about the need to get more Buddhists and Baha'is in Congress.

Dems Assault GOP's Ownership of God
July 28, 2004 10:00 a.m

Ok, I admit it: given all the earlier signs of religification, I was surprised that the Teresa Heinz Kerry speech didn't tell us what a good Catholic her husband was. The closest thing to religious autobiography was her son's description of her as a "spiritual" force.

But what we did see again throughout Tuesday night's speeches was a persistent Democratic yearning to disrupt the public association of the Republican party with faith and morality. Helping with this was Barak Obama, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Illinois. "It's that fundamental belief--I AM my brother's keeper, I am my sisters' keeper-that makes this country work," Obama said, an allusion to the moment in Genesis when Cain asks, "Am I my brother's keeper?"

One of the emotional highpoints of the speech was when he declared: "The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republican, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an AWESOME God in the Blue States." A pretty direct rhetorical assault on the Republican ownership of God.

Teresa Heinz Kerry didn't try to reclaim God but did try to Democratize "morality." The people of the world "want America to return to its moral bearings. It is not a moralistic America they seek, it is a moral nation," she said. Then, playing off Lincoln's first inaugural, she said, "Today, our better angels of nature are just waiting to be summoned."

And most amazingly, Ron Reagan, Jr-.-son of the politician who helped birth the "religious right"--declared that those who oppose stem cell research are imposing their troglodyte faith on others. "Their belief is just that, an article of faith, and they are entitled to it. But it does not follow that the theology of a few should be allowed to forestall the health and well-being of the many." In closing he became even more pointed, "We can choose between the future and the past, between reason and ignorance, between true compassion and mere ideology."

Ronald Reagan attacking religious conservatives. Pause a moment to consider how amazing that is. Picture 20 years from now Chelsea Clinton getting up at a Republican convention to attack the permissive immorality of the Democratic Party. A jarring thought, no?

Who's Religifying Kerry?
July 27, 2004 6:30 p.m

Some of the pressure for Kerry to speak more about faith is coming from former Clintonites. Mike McCurry, former press secretary, John Podesta, former Chief of Staff, and Paul Begala, a political consultant have all weighed in urging Kerry to be more proactive, sources tell me.

At a panel at MIT this morning, Podesta, a shrewd political operative, declared that the party has lost ground in part because "we're losing our moral voice." He cautioned that Kerry needs to be, above all, authentic in his God-talk, citing Howard Dean's botched efforts to sound religious by referring to the book of Job as being in the New Testament. "Kerry needs to speak not only about public policy but about the values from whence they come. I have no doubt that when we see him Thursday, we'll see that. Kerry has got to find that set of of moral issues--but it's all about the passion and conviction."

He suggested that Kerry take one page from John Kennedy, who made his big don't-worry-about-me-being-Catholic speech to a group of Protestant pastors. Kerry should go to a Catholic or evangelical institution to lay out how his faith informs his policies. "The setting is important. The photos are important. But most important is showing whether his policies come from intellectual analysis only or whether they come from a set of moral concerns."

I then went back to the Fleet Center to the area where all the conservative radio hosts have set up shop--a whole lot of yelling in that hallway!--to be interviewd on Rabbi Shmuley Boteach's radio show. Shmuley was appalled by Kerry's efforts to seem religious when, according to Boteach, he doesn't seem to care about "fighting evil." I argued that fighting evil was not the only theme in Christianity--I gather that helping the poor is mentioned in the New Testament here and there as well. But I do wonder whether Kerry will be able to show his soul without seeming like he's faking. How HAS faith translated into his political life? He doesn't actually talk that much about poverty. It's certainly not abortion that's motivated his politics.

It made me think: there's another way at this for Kerry, not how faith informs his politics but how faith strengthens him as a person. Bush's effectiveness has not been in tying faith to a particular set of policies (except occasionally the faith-based initiative) but rather that he is steadfast and morally clear.

In that sense, the obvious way for Kerry to go is, once again, Vietnam. He's mentioned that he carried a rosary and a medal into battle. Perhaps he would be wise to elaborate on what that rosary actually did for him.

Pro Life Shut Out
July 27, 2004 6:30 p.m

Unfortunately, today's religion-and-politics panel conflicted with a Democrats for Life rally. As of now there are no pro-life Democrats speaking in a prominent role at the convention, though the head of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) spoke today. I'm coming to think Kerry is botching the approach to partial birth abortion. Even though the majority of Catholics are more-or-less pro-choice*, they do oppose partial birth abortion. I didn't realize this but Kerry was one of a handful of Democratic Catholic senators who tried to work out a compromise that would have banned abortions after a fetus became viable. According to Amy Sullivan, a Washington Monthly writer who was then working for Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, the amendment was scuttled in part because of opposition from other liberals!

In other words, Kerry actually has a more centrist position on abortion than he is saying. Why on earth, from a political point of view, would he obscure a more centrist voting record on abortion at this stage in the election? One theory came from Sean Casey, a professor at the Wesley Theological Seminary: "There's so much early pro-choice money in the Democratic Party." He's right. Interest group politics drive the Democrats toward a position on abortion that's out of the mainstream of American public opinion.

Bush Jews
July 27, 2004 6:30 p.m

Anna Greenberg, a pollster at Greenburg Quinlan Rosner Research, estimates that the Jewish vote is at about 75% for Kerry. In 2000, nearly 80% of the Jewish vote went to Gore. That's a shift amounting to relatively few votes--except for the fact that among the states with the highest Jewish populations are Florida and Pennsylvania, two battleground states. She said the vote has not shifted more because, while many Jews love Bush's support of Israel, most don't consider that the key factor in their choice.

Clinton and Isaiah
July 27, 2004 9:30 a.m

I was standing on the floor during Clinton's speech, when he dazzled the crowd with the phrase "Send me".

"During the Vietnam War, many young men--including the current president, the vice president, and me--could have gone to Vietnam but didn't. John Kerry came from a privileged background and could have avoided it, too. Instead, he said, 'send me.'"

That "Send me" construct is from the book of Isaiah (6:8), where God asks who will go tell Israel the bad news of His judgment for the unfaithful. "Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

As Darrell Bock, a Bible scholar at the Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote in an email to me immediately after the speech, Isaiah volunteered even though it was a "difficult, even unpopular, circumstance," making it a pretty good analogy to Vietnam.

God Sent John Kerry
July 27, 2004 9:30 a.m

From a religious perspective, though, the most amazing speech of the evening was given by the Rev. David Alston, who, as a young man, was in John Kerry's swift boat in Vietnam. After describing Kerry's courage in guiding the boat right into enemy fire and his compassion as a commander, he said:

"The 27th Psalm tells us, 'Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear. Though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.' I stand before you tonight, alive, while many of our brothers never made it home. I am grateful to have lived to enjoy my children, to see them grow up. But I stand here before you only because almighty God saw our boat safely through those rivers of death and destruction, by giving us a brave, wise, and decisive leader named John Kerry."

Clinton's and Alston's speeches continued the process of giving John Kerry soul. The first night of the convention had more faith references than probably the first several months of Kerry's campaign rolled into one. "Remember the scripture," Clinton urged. "Be not afraid." And a 9/11 tribute was followed by a moving violin rendition of "Amazing Grace". It is the Religification of John Kerry.

Forgiveness and Reconciliation
July 27, 2004 9:30 a.m

The Al Gore speech drew a very emotional response from the crowd. Standing near the Arizona delegation, I couldn't help but think that if I'd been through what Gore had, I would have become deeply depressed or twisted. Putting aside the question of whether he should have won, no one has ever come that close to winning the presidency only to lose. What if I had campaigned in West Virginia? What if I hadn't said that one stupid thing about my grandmother? Any one of a thousand decisions made a different way would have meant that he would be in the history books as President of the United States instead of as a famous loser. Add to that his feeling that the election was stolen. That Gore hasn't either become a drug addict or a serial killer is, for me, quite impressive.

I also felt like the crowd, by giving him generous cheers, was telling him: "We forgive you." So much attention was paid to the anger held by Democratic activists over the election that it's often forgotten that they were also furious that he didn't run a better campaign.

Can Kerry Corner the 'Bad Catholic' Vote?
July 26, 2004 5:00 p.m

"I may be a good Catholic, a bad Catholic or a so-so Catholic," Teresa Heinz Kerry recently told Newsweek.

It's unlikely that her husband will proclaim himself a "bad Catholic and proud of it" any time soon. But the strange thing is, he might pick up a few votes if he did.

Figuring out whither the Catholic vote this year is complicated by two ironic facts. First, the Protestant candidate is closer to the Catholic Church position on abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage than the Catholic candidate. Second, the candidate at odds with the Catholic Church is more in synch with the majority of Catholic voters.

Gaming this out politically is complicated. The Republicans are going hard after Catholics who attend church regularly. That's about 9 percent of the electorate. Right now, Bush is beating Kerry among those Catholics. But an analysis by Stanley Greenberg, Clinton's 1992 pollster, showed that while church-attending Catholics are breaking for Bush--very bad news for Kerry--those who attend less often are moving toward Kerry.

Maybe these are the "bad Catholics" of which Teresa Heinz spoke. If so, how does one appeal to them?

"And when I'm president, I will encourage churches to hold services monthly instead of weekly... Lent will be shortened to seven days and chocolates will be given a special exemption!"

In truth, these voters are probably shifting to Kerry for reasons having nothing to do with their Catholicism--perhaps the war or the economy.

But there is one way in which Kerry's own complicated views might forge a bond with these Catholics, sometimes derisively known as "Cafeteria Catholics" since they pick and choose which church doctrines they follow. If the Bishops in effect say that since he's pro-choice Kerry really shouldn't call himself Catholic, they are essentially insulting 56% of American Catholics.* If Kerry defends himself, he is defending them, too.

That's why George Marlin, a conservative activist who recently wrote a book about Catholic voting patterns, believes that Kerry might actually benefit from being denied communion. "Narcissists that they are, they'll say, 'We're all victims because we express our freedom and the church tries to muzzle us.' It will emancipate a lot of Cafeteria Catholics if they see John Kerry being a victim."

Kerry's Faith Offensive
July 26, 2004 4:30 p.m

Earlier I wrote that if you look carefully you could see "signs" that Kerry might be showing a little bit more leg, spiritually speaking. Allow me to amend that. It's not subtle anymore. We are in the midst of a full-bore John-Kerry-is-a man-of-faith offensive.

In addition to the signs I mentioned earlier, we now have this: The campaign has released a new TV ad in which John Edwards says Kerry is, "a family man, a person of strong faith." If that's not clear enough, the announcer then says, "John Kerry is a man of faith." We then hear Kerry saying, "I began life baptized and confirmed as Catholic. I served as an altar boy. There was a period in my life when I thought I might even be a priest--as a young person. And then I went to Vietnam. And in Vietnam I think most of the time I wore a rosary around my neck when we went into battle. So I believe. I still believe. And I have great personal faith and I think the more you learn about the universe; the more you learn about the unanswered questions, the harder it is for many people not to, in my judgment. But many people chose not to and I understand that and I respect that. That's what I want to get to. We are a country founded on the notion of diversity and our freedom of choice and freedom of religion."

It's also become part of the official talking-points for speaker surrogates. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm told the International Herald Tribune. "People need to know him as a person," Granholm said. "He is a man of faith; he is a person of conviction."

Kerry Coming Out of the Closet
July 26, 2004 2:30 p.m

I'm starting to think Kerry will, spiritually-speaking, come out of the closet this week. It's something to watch.

So far, he's been quite shy about his faith. "Faith--that has been probably the hardest thing for the Kerry campaign to come to grips with," says one Kerry aide. The issue, said the campaign insider, is that Kerry "personally just has a deep-seated aversion to talking about it."

But there are signs of change. In the last month, he has started lacing speeches with Bible references such as one from the book of James stating that people should be judged based on deeds not just words. He endorsed more money for faith-based social programs and on Larry King Live said of faith--"It's your rock. It's the bedrock of your sense of place, of where it all fits." In an interview with Cokie Roberts on ABC, John Edwards said that voters "want their leaders to be good people" and that "if you're a person of faith, that adds to the equation of trust for most Americans."

If Kerry goes Godly on us it will be because he's come to realize that religion talk is not primarily about appealing to religious voters. President Bush's use of religious rhetoric hasn't only helped him with religious voters--it's helped generally convey an impression of steadfastness. Religious conviction translates into just plain conviction. For Kerry, the opposite is true. He is increasingly viewed as a waffler (thanks in part to President Bush's TV ads making that point). Worrisome for Democrats, Kerry is viewed as a "person of strong faith" by only 7% of voters. "Part of the reason voters are interested in religious views is whether the candidate believes anything strongly-- such as whether there's such a thing as absolute right and wrong," the Kerry aide says.

God-talk is probably also necessary to convince voters that Kerry is like them. If Kerry is seen as not comfortable with religion then he'll be seen as not comfortable with Americans. So, talking about faith is akin to riding a motorcycle and tossing a football--it shows he's a regular fellow.

There's also the small matter of the Catholic vote being up for grabs, but more on that later.

Are Pro-Choice Activists Akin to the NRA?
July 26, 2004 12:45 p.m

Some of Ray Flynn's anger toward John Kerry appears to be personal. When I talked to him last Thursday he noted at some length that as Mayor of Boston he went out on a limb as one of the first active supporters of John Kerry's political ambitions. And despite that, Kerry has not even spoken to Flynn since he began his run for the presidency. Flynn, who became ambassador to the Vatican after he was mayor, says "I just assume Kerry doesn't want to hear what I have to say."

What Kerry would hear if he did call Flynn was that the Democratic Party is making a huge mistake by shutting out pro-life voters. "We're almost like politically homeless," Flynn says. "I'm a registered Democrat, pro-social justice and pro-life." He's furious that the party has not allowed any prominent pro-life speakers at the convention--at least so far.

In his day, Flynn notes, a guy could be pro-life and still get elected in a Democratic primary. "I was the highest vote getter in the history of Boston and I was pro-life--and it's a liberal Democratic city," he says. "People voted overwhelmingly for me because they could trust me."

Based on the speakers rosters made public so far, the Republican convention will actually be more tolerant of different views on abortion than the Democrats are. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rudolph Giuliani, and George Pataki are all pro-choice and all speaking primetime.

How did this happen? According to Flynn, "The party has been taken over by powerful special interests--liberal activists, radical feminists--those are the voices of the Democratic party."

I'm not sure I would put it that way but I do think that there are some similarities between the role of pro-choice activists in the Democratic Party and the National Rifle Association in the Republican Party. Many Democrats voted against restrictions on "partial birth abortions" because it was considered a vote on the principle of "choice." True, not many women use this procedure, the argument went, but restricting it would take us down a slippery slope toward further abortion restrictions. It's exactly the same argument the NRA makes about assault weapons. True, not many hunters use assault weapons, but restricting their use would take us down a slippery slope toward further gun restrictions.

Will Flynn's views have any impact? A group called Democrats for Life issued a press release on Friday declaring that Democratic Party chairman Terry Mcauliffe had now promised to allow some pro-life speakers. I can't quite tell whether that's their way of trying to force his hand, or a sign of a change on the part of the Democrats. It will be an interesting thing to watch as the week goes on.

Swarms
July 26, 2004 12:00 p.m

I shared a cab to the Fleet Center with Willie Brown, the former Mayor of San Francisco and czar of the California assembly. "I think Bush really believes he was mandated by God to be president," he said. How should the Democrats counter Bush's religious appeal? "Oh I guess you're starting to see Kerry do it with all this talk about values." There was a slight roll of the eyes, and then that trademark broad Willie Brown grin.

The small packs of reporters following interview subjects remind me of my 7-year-old's soccer games--swarms of people huddled close together following the same ball. Small swarm around Jesse Jackson and Garrison Keiler. Enormous swarm around Michael Moore.