{"id":4242,"date":"2004-11-03T23:57:28","date_gmt":"2004-11-04T03:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2004\/11\/03\/towards-a-democratic-morality"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:58:16","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:58:16","slug":"towards-a-democratic-morality-and-majority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2004\/11\/03\/towards-a-democratic-morality-and-majority\/","title":{"rendered":"towards a “democratic morality” and majority"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

Earlier tonight, the PBS News Hour<\/em><\/font><\/a> took a look at the role of “religion” and “morality” in the\u00a0Bush election victory.\u00a0 A transcript of the discussion, <\/font>Divided We Stand<\/font><\/a> (Nov. 3, 2004), led by Gwen Ifill, is already available and might be a very good place for Democrats to start, as\u00a0we try\u00a0to understand how John Kerry failed to win the “morality vote”.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/font>Ifill’s discussion included Jim Wallis, representing the <\/font><\/font><\/font>Sojourners<\/font><\/a>, a “progressive” coalition of faith groups,\u00a0who wrote a column this morning entitled “<\/font>Progressive faith did not lose this election<\/font><\/a>“; Morris P. Fiorina, author of <\/font>Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America<\/em><\/font><\/a>; and Rick Warren, who has the bestselling book <\/font>The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?<\/em><\/font><\/a>,<\/em> and pens the influential evangelical <\/font><\/font>Ministry Tool Box<\/font><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\"wrong\u00a0 Leading into Ifill’s segment,\u00a0Ray Suarez questioned Andrew Kohut, president of the <\/font>Pew Research Center<\/font><\/a>, who analyzed the exit polls from yesterday’s election.\u00a0 Kohut downplayed the importance of the “moral values” explanation given by many voters as the most important reason for voting for Pres. Bush.\u00a0 I believe Kohut is wrong and that the Democrats should not attempt to wish away the fact that millions of voters — mostly evangelical and fundamental Christians and Catholics — went to the<\/font> polls specifically to show their moral repulsion at certain Democratic Party positions (especially Warren’s five “<\/font><\/font>non-negotiable<\/font><\/a>” issues: abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, homosexual marriage, and euthanasia).<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

Democrats may never be able — or willing — to convert that non-negotiable part of the electorate.\u00a0 But, I think <\/font>Rick Klau<\/font><\/a> is correct to\u00a0suggest that the Party badly needs leaders “on the national stage who are speaking authoritatively on moral issues.”\u00a0 (The only current example he can give is the new Senator-elect from Illinois, <\/font>Barack Obama<\/font><\/a>.)\u00a0 We need those morally-authoritative leaders, not only because taking a stance on issues of right and wrong is the right thing to do, but because Democrats can only overcome the loss of those millions of fundamentalist voters by appealing to the values\u00a0of a broader segment of American society, who believe that governing requres the constant application of our nation’s core moral precepts — although\u00a0not<\/em> the particular dogma of any one Faith.\u00a0 <\/font><\/p>\n