Dem
52
Ties
3
GOP
45
We all know about the religious right, the people who believe Jesus said: "If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, kick them in the groin as hard as you can." But is there a religious left? And if so, does it matter? The answer to the first question is "yes" and on Nov. 4th, we will find out about the second one.
Two center-left Christian pastors are running for the Senate in deep-red states: James Talarico in Texas and Adam Hamilton in Kansas. Texas hasn't sent a Democrat to the Senate since roughly when Methuselah was in short pants and the last time Kansas did so, Herbert Hoover was sitting in the White House. But both Talarico and Hamilton are within shouting distance of winning. In fact, Talarico has actually had small leads in most polls. If both of them win, together with Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), a Southern Baptist minister, they can form a pastor caucus.
But more importantly, even a win by Talarico and a really close loss by Hamilton could show Democrats how to win in red states: Run Christian ministers who talk about Jesus' message, something ministers are usually pretty good at. Instead of talking about how they support some government anti-poverty program, they should talk about Jesus' attitude toward the poor. Although there is no record of how Jesus felt about whatever Medicaid was called back then, his empathy for the man with leprosy and the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years is clearly stated in the Gospels. Run on that. He was OK with taxes, had a few thoughts about rich people's odds of getting into heaven, and he took some action in the temple relating to the financial services industry of his time. Run on that. His ministry was not xenophobic, but rather compassionate, merciful, and welcoming of outcasts. Run on that. There's actually not a lot of space between the program of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and that of Yeshua ben Yosef (I-Nazareth).
Debating a Democratic minister, it will be tough for a Republican to get away with saying: "What the hell do you know about Jesus?" In a debate, the minister could throw in quotes from the Bible to make points. That might well fly in red states, coming from an expert. And there are more than a few Republicans who pretend to be Biblical but are not. A few well-timed questions could really hoist some of the phonies by their petards. For example, a pastor-candidate could ask: "I am having trouble understanding how my opponent can reconcile his vote to cut school lunch programs with the instructions Jesus gave us in Luke 18:16. Perhaps he can explain?"
The Senate isn't the only office Christian ministers are running for. Iowa state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott (D) is a Lutheran minister running against Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) in IA-03. Iowa state Rep. Lindsay James (D), a Presbyterian minister, is running in IA-02, the seat Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) vacated to run for the Senate. Both Garriott and James are in their 40s. The districts are R+2 and R+4, respectively. With Rob Sand (D) running away with it in the gubernatorial race, he could have coattails that extend to both of the women, as well as to Senate candidate Josh Turek (D). In any event, in a week, we will get some useful information whether this is a viable path for Democrats in red states going forward. (V)