Striving for the Presidency with a Methodist Foundation
Former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has always made her Christian faith and background known. Throughout her career as a politician, Clinton has maintained her religious foundation and her activity in the Methodist church, regularly speaking to congregations and clergy alike.
While Clinton has many religious voters rallied behind her, she has yet to make her religious affiliation a pillar of her political campaign. According to Aljazeera reporter Sarah Posner, religious Democrats are looking for Clinton to beef up her campaign to better secure their votes. And although Clinton has yet to make her faith a point of overt importance in her presidential race, political action committees (PACs) are rounding up religious voters for her.
Faith Voters for Hillary, a mega PAC lead by political strategist Burns Strider, is at the forefront of Clinton’s religious voters camp. Although PACs are legally prohibited from coordinating with the campaigns they support, they can rally voters in massive numbers and further strengthen a candidate’s chances of securing numbers they need to win.
It appears that Clinton’s personal devotion to her faith throughout her life has greatly impacted the amount of third-party support her campaign is receiving. Faith Voters for Hillary’s tag line “Grounded in faith. United with Hillary.” embodies the group’s mission and the sentiment of religious Democratic super PACs in general.
PACs like Faith Voters for Hillary have supplemented Clinton’s campaign by giving religious voters a platform they can rally around while stayed aligned with the official campaign. Taking to social media primarily, the groups are aimed at presenting Clinton to a more wide-reaching audience, keeping in mind the Methodist foundation that unites her with her voters.
Clinton’s faith has played an integral part in her success and her personal life. She was raised Methodist and her mother taught Sunday school. Her youth minister took her to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. speak in Chicago and played an important roll in developing a lifelong passion for social justice, according to her biography. Social justice is a major part of Clinton’s religious practice, stating that the church was a critical part of her growing up and understanding her obligations to others at the United Methodist Convention in 1996.
Recently, Clinton has focused on key issues including early childhood education, climate change and energy, immigration reform and women’s rights and opportunities. PACs like Faith Voters for Hillary have mustered support from religious voters across the nation in significant numbers. Although Clinton’s religious background hasn’t been front-and-center, it’s evident her faith and beliefs have solicited a community of believers ready for her to win.
Learn more about Methodists and their beliefs.
Learn more about the history of the Methodist Church on Deily.
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