Source: Politics<\/p>\n
A slate of Democrats are running for Congress leaning on their Christian bona fides. Republicans are trying to portray them as wolves in sheep\u2019s clothing.<\/p>\n
In Texas, Republicans are running ads blasting seminarian James Talarico for saying he\u2019s \u201ca Christian who hates Christianity.\u201d In Iowa, they are going after a pair of clergy in key House races as \u201cPINOS\u201d<\/a> \u2014 \u201cpastors in name only,\u201d because they \u201cdon\u2019t profess the true gospel of Jesus Christ.\u201d In Kansas, Republicans pan megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton as \u201ctoo woke and too weak.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis sermons are essentially a carbon copy of the Democrat National Committee platform,\u201d said Brent Robertson, chief of staff to Hamilton\u2019s opponent, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), pointing to a past sermon in which Hamilton urged followers to reduce their carbon footprint<\/a>.<\/p>\n The closing arguments on these Democrats \u2014 as evidenced by the most recent ads \u2014 shows a concerted effort to turn their preaching against them to paint them as fake, corrupt or even blasphemous<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Texas, MAGA Inc. is on air painting Talarico<\/a> as a \u201cliberal weirdo,\u201d clipping Talarico\u2019s controversial statements, like \u201cJesus Christ Himself was a radical feminist\u201d and \u201cGod is non-binary.\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump-aligned No Going Back PAC is on air in Iowa\u2019s 2nd District<\/a> hitting Presbyterian minister and Democrat Lindsay James as inauthentic: \u201cWhen the cameras are on, Lindsay James goes into a character, a caring pastor who says what you want to hear, but when there’s no spotlight, Lindsay James shows just how radical she can be.\u201d<\/p>\n And in Kansas, GOP Sen. Roger Marshall\u2019s campaign is on air slamming Hamilton<\/a> as a \u201cslimy,\u201d \u201cmillionaire megachurch CEO,\u201d saying he \u201cused faith to fatten his wallet\u201d and \u201casked churchgoers to pony up for God, then use church resources for his own campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe swamp’s got enough money changers,\u201d the ad says.<\/p>\n The attacks are coming precisely because these candidates have proven to be formidable candidates in purple to red areas, using their faith backgrounds to bolster themselves against GOP accusations that they\u2019re out of their state\u2019s mainstream. Talarico poses Democrats\u2019 best chance to flip a Texas Senate seat in nearly four decades. Hamilton has turned deep-red Kansas into a battleground. And James and Sarah Trone Garriott, a Lutheran minister, are running tough<\/a> in a pair of Iowa districts Trump won in 2024.<\/p>\n Voters \u201cunderstand and appreciate authenticity, and they know that faith without works is dead,\u201d said Chaz Molder, the Democratic nominee in Tennessee\u2019s deep-red 2nd District who leads a Sunday School class with his wife. \u201cAnd just posting scripture on Sunday morning to point out that they went to church is not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n But with Democrats\u2019 clerical credibility comes a practical challenge: years and years of on-camera sermons, a treasure trove for oppo researchers. It\u2019s become a challenge in Hamilton\u2019s race, where Vice President JD Vance joined the pile-on earlier this month: During a visit to Iowa, he took a shot at Hamilton as having \u201ckind of a \u2018gee whiz, I’m a nice pastor\u2019 vibe,\u201d but said he \u201ctells his congregation not about the gospel of Jesus Christ, but that they need to repent for their white privilege while eating beef.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats have largely brushed off the attacks. Talarico has said<\/a> he\u2019s \u201cmissed the mark\u201d on some of his \u201ccringey\u201d past comments, but has doubled down on his sermonizing: \u201cWhen I take on the politicians who are serving themselves and not the people, I\u2019m doing it on biblical grounds,\u201d he said in a sermon last weekend. A James spokesperson criticized Republicans for \u201cdesperately attacking Lindsay\u2019s deeply held faith commitments. If it wasn\u2019t so insulting to other Iowa Christians, it would be laughable.\u201d Hamilton has seen clergy run to his side: 120 fellow Methodist ministers across Kansas wrote an open letter<\/a> to Marshall telling him to stop attacking Hamilton\u2019s pastoral ministry, saying the attacks \u201ctear at the fabric that is the body of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re not the first Christians to be attacked for our faith, and we won’t let smears and lies from a couple of Washington politicians stop us from living out our values in the world,\u201d Hamilton said in a video<\/a> after Vance\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n In many ways, this election marks something of a faith resurgence for the Democratic Party. While only half of Democrat- and Democrat-leaning U.S. adults identify as Christian<\/a> (a 24-percentage-point decline since 2007), Democrats this cycle are running clergy, Sunday School teachers, chaplains and other devout Christians across the map.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a person of faith, I think that it’s time for the Democratic Party to reassert that Democrats are a big tent, and we have many elected officials from different faiths for whom faith is something very important to them,\u201d said Ben McAdams, the Democratic nominee in Utah\u2019s 1st District and a volunteer Sunday School teacher in his Latter-day Saint congregation in Salt Lake City. \u201cThe Republican Party of Donald Trump does not seem to be reflecting the Christian values that I grew up with.\u201d<\/p>\n Doug Pagitt, executive director of progressive group Vote Common Good, counts nine clergy running for federal office this cycle as Democrats \u2014 something he hasn\u2019t seen before.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea that a faith leader, especially a white faith leader, would run as a Democrat and be forthright about it \u2026 it’s really unusual,\u201d Pagitt said. \u201cWe’ve had candidates [in the past] whose moms were pastors, and they were nervous about mentioning that in the Democratic Party circles. But that seems to have shifted and changed.\u201d
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