The Christian Split

Some people suggest that middle of the road voters are the key to winning the mid term election. That the country is so divided that the political parties must compromise on their core values to court the elusive independent voter in order to achieve victory.

I respectfully disagree.

The republicans have been losing Christian voters, and that is the group they need to win in order to win the next election. The following labels could use some improvement, but for lack of a better term I'll refer to Christians as Classical Christians and Resonance Christians. The Classical Christians are individuals like me who some would mistakenly call fundamentalist. We are antiabortion, anti-euthanasia and believe in traditional marriage. Other religious issues are second tier.

The Resonance Christians have other top tier beliefs. They believe in social justice issues, and have by and large drunk the kool-aid on global warming. The issues that Classical Christians believe in are second tier, and as a result many voted for Obama.

Republicans have been slow to see this change in Christian voting patterns and slower still to act in any meaningful way to court these voters. It's much easier for the GOP to win these voters over than true independents since they are inclined to GOP positions on secondary issues already.

While the stimulus packages have many flaws, one good expenditure has been the cash for clunkers program. While it's arguable if this program is creating demand or merely accelerating future demand, it is a program that will reap benefits in the long run. As the fuel inefficient vehicles are replaced with fuel efficient vehicles the amount of gasoline consumption will drop, or probably more likely, rise at a slower rate. This means less is spent purchasing foreign oil, and more money stays in our own economy. The program is less of a bailout and more of a capital expenditure. This type of program is appealing to the Resonance Christian because it is helping the environment, which is being a good steward of that which God has given us.

Another item that could be used with little actual cost would be debt forgiveness. This can take the form both of foreign debt owed to the US which will likely never be paid, and also internal debt that is being paid, student loans for example. Forgiving debt that will never come into our coffers is merely memorializing that which is reality. Forgiving internal debt that is in the process of being paid off is more in the line of a capital expenditure. If the loan is currently in repayment and being actively paid then forgiving the loan frees up disposable income that will likely be spent, creating demand and in turn fueling the economy.

With a little outside the box thinking the GOP could make some sensible proposals that in the end pay for themselves and win back the Resonance Christian. Then the GOP doesn't have to compromise on core values to court the independent voter and still wins in 2010.