Dems Courting Evangelicals on Global Warming

The Dems have found a new tool to try and split evangelical voters away from the GOP - global warming:

Democratic strategists are joining forces with conservative evangelicals to promote a faith-based campaign on global warming, in an improbable alliance that could boost Democratic hopes of taking control of Congress.

At a news conference today, the president of the Christian Coalition and a board member of the National Assn. of Evangelicals — both groups closely tied to the religious right — will announce Call to Action, an effort to make global warming a front-and-center issue over the next three weeks for Christians in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina, Colorado and several other states with pitched election campaigns.

Through ads on Christian radio, sermons from the pulpit, Bible studies, house parties and a documentary film, "The Great Warming," Christians will be urged to view protecting the environment as a religious and moral issue every bit as urgent as opposing abortion and same-sex marriage.

"We're not abandoning our previous positions: We're still pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-morality. But one or two issues can't adequately express the Gospel," said the Rev. Joel Hunter, new president of the Christian Coalition of America.

Hunter is one of scores of evangelical leaders who have become convinced — often reluctantly, after months of study — that the planet is facing a crisis and that God expects Christians to act, in part by electing committed environmentalists to office. "I'm trying to make Christians ... look at candidates in a broader way, and look at individuals, not just parties," he said.

The religious leaders say they are not trying to tip control of Congress to the Democrats; under federal law, churches cannot endorse candidates. Pastors can campaign on issues, however, and they acknowledge that the election-season focus on global warming is designed to send a message to the GOP: Don't take us for granted.

Because apparently we're not that smart. We can be swayed by bad science and emotional pleas to "save the planet", despite the fact that there's probably nothing substantial that could be done to change global temperatures without returning us all to the 10th century, and that sounds more like an Islamic goal than an evangelical one.

I would hope that evangelicals would be smart enough to look at Dem positions on the whole range of social issues (such as abortion, gay rights, illegal immigration, etc.), and compare them with the GOP stand on those issues and not let global warming scare tactics sway their votes. However, evangelicals are notoriously prone to single issues, and if global warming becomes the single issue, the Dems could successfully pry away some voters who don't bother to look at the party as a whole.

Let's not kid ourselves, though. This effort by the Dems is not about saving the planet. It's about winning control of Congress, and if they can convince evangelicals that global warming is more important than the many issues upon which most evangelicals vigorously disagree with the Dems, they'll get the votes they're looking for and we'll all lose.