Rothenberg: Dems should skip the Evangelicals

I don't really disagree with Stuart Rothenberg's assertion that evangelicals, even with a broadening agenda, are simply an unattainable voting bloc for the Democratic party. And I think it would be good for everyone to acknowledge that and move on to more likely voters, but I hate that such a decision could end up being played as that old saw that Democrats hate people of faith.

Evangelicals, by virtue of their faith or not, take certain hard-line policy positions, and some of those positions are anathema to most Democrats. It's just how it is.

There is a long-term strategy that Democrats can attempt though. It's called being an effective, solutions-based party that is able to be in control of enough of government to make a difference.

Younger evangelicals, like younger Americans generally, have fewer issues surrounding gays than their elders. Gay marriage (under one name or another) is already legal in several states, and I think that everyone who's more than a little awake recognizes that the future is one of equality for gay families. The GOP can continue to house the bashers. They won't even speak for most evangelicals in a decade or two.

Abortion rates have been declining for many, many years, and it shouldn't be a big deal to start promoting that and encouraging it. If there's a Democrat in the White House in 2009, he or she should commission studies on the factors that lead to abortion and then develop policies to accelerate the decline. Send them to Congress as stand-alone pieces of legislation, so that something highly contentious like sex ed doesn't kill something (hopefully) non-controversial like an additional unemployment benefit for expectant mothers who are out of work or a tax credit for families whose head of household is out of work during a pregnancy.

Democrats don't have to explicitly reach out to evangelicals to make inroads in that community, or any other. They just have to be effective: identify problems, find solutions, and build the consensus necessary to implement them.

It's really a formula for good governance, and everyone supports that.