Pastor says Harris could get 'the highest level of evangelical support since Carter'

Maya Boddie, Alternet
August 25, 2024 

U.S. Vice President and Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Kamala Harris (AFP)

Donald Trump has long been backed by evangelical Christian voters, and as of May, the Associated Press reported that the ex-president's "support is as strong as ever among evangelicals and other conservative Christians."

In an op-ed published by MSNBC Sunday, Minneapolis pastor Doug Pagitt — who also heads the nonprofit organization Vote Common Good — explains how Vice President Kamala Harris can win the evangelical vote this time around – and why it's possible.

"On the trail in 2020, 2022 and this year, I’ve gleaned the reason many evangelical and Christian voters ultimately leave Trump: his obvious lack of kindness," Pagitt writes. "A poll that my organization Vote Common Good commissioned in 2020 showed that in swing states, Trump’s lack of kindness was driving evangelical and Catholic voters away in large enough numbers to potentially affect the outcome of the election."

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The Minneapolis pastor emphasizes that "Democrats more broadly need to embrace the idea that evangelicals, and especially white male evangelicals, are worth winning and can be won without the party compromising its values."

One way to do that, Pagitt suggests, is by implementing a strategy similar to one Vote Common Good made ahead of the 2020 presidential election in Kent County, Michigan.

"We held voter rallies and roundtables; put up billboards juxtaposing the words of Jesus Christ with those of Trump; sent thousands of postcards to evangelical voters; and trained multiple local Democratic candidates on how to engage with faith voters," Pagitt writes. "Our message to the 25% of the Kent County electorate that identified as evangelical was simple: Trump lacks kindness and it’s OK not to vote for the Republican."

Pagitt notes "Trump beat Clinton by 3 points in Kent County in 2016," but due to Vote Common Good's election efforts, "In 2020, he lost to Biden there by 6 points, a 9-point swing."

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Furthermore, if Democrats want to win evangelical support, the Party must take a "concerted, grassroots effort to reach these voters," Paggit says, "listen to them and bring them along on a journey to help them understand it’s OK for them to let concern for the common good, and not allegiance to a political party, determine how they vote."

With a recent endorsement from a group called Christians for Kamala, Pagitt emphasizes: "I think it’s possible for Harris to receive the highest level of evangelical support since Carter."

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Pagitt's full op-ed is available here.