Evangelicals Hit the Polls

I mean for this blog to be a place for civil discussion about real issues, and to that end I am not going to use this space to tout or demean any political candidate. So, even though I've already chosen a candidate, I won't delve into that. That's not to say that anyone who wishes to leave a comment can't endorse a candidate; but I'd like readers--and myself, as well--to become more educated about the candidates and the issues.

One issue that has become very interesting during this campaign cycle is this: how should evangelical Christians vote? As an evangelical Christian myself, I find the trends in this area quite interesting. Evangelicals have, over the last twenty or thirty years, been consistent Republican voters, joining a coalition of foreign-policy conservatives, economic conservatives, and social conservatives. Over the last few years, there seems to be a trend in which evangelicals, overwhelmingly social conservatives, are breaking away from foreign-policy and economic conservatism.

Many are coming to believe that the Bible's injunction to care for the poor and sick means using government programs to alleviate poverty in the United States, or even to lessen the gap between rich and poor. Many are also pacifists, opposing the Iraq War that most of the Republican candidates support. These voters are turning in droves to Mike Huckabee, a social conservative and economic liberal, and even Barack Obama, a social, economic, and foreign-policy liberal; the evidence can be seen in Iowa, a heavily evangelical state that voted for Pat Robertson over George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Some analysts predict that a Huckabee victory would represent an end to Reagan conservatism and would fracture the Republican Party. Jason Lewis, America's Mr. Right and one of my favorite talk-show hosts, believes we may be witnessing a political party's demise, just like the Whigs in the mid-19th century. To a large extent, I agree with that assessment.

So my question for evangelical Christians is this: Do you believe it is more important to have an evangelical in the White House, or someone who agrees with you on the issues? Or are those the same things? What would you like to see the next president do? Not in general, but specifically; tax cuts? Tax increases? A federal abortion ban? A U.S. constitutional amendment banning gay marriage? Spending cuts, or increases? An end to the war, or continued support? A new foreign policy?

To non-evangelicals: What is your view of the role of evangelical Christianity in politics? In the Republican Party? In the Democratic Party?