We won. Now what?

Democrats scored a major victory this election. A big part of the story was the defection of the faithful to the democratic side. the bigger question is will we make the same mistakes with faith  and the faithful that the Republicans did? 

Cheers all around. The Dems are in. The Elephants are out. And, it seems, if you read the pundits, a big part of the story is how the Democrats stole much of the evangelical thunder that has been part and parcel of Republican strategy for decades. 

Democratic candidates like Shuler and Casey were open about their faith, and campaigns everywhere took on the language of faith in their talk. Believe the analysts and this was a major factor and so I am sure that those already hard at work on 2008 are building this factor into their plans. 

There's danger for Democrats here, danger that we'll fall into the same trap as the Republicans. Here's what we need to avoid…..

 – Don't take the evangelical vote for granted. Let's be honest, we got this vote because of Iraq. Evangelicals are suspicious of us, but were fed up with the Bush clan and the war. We didn't win this, they lost it.

– Walk the walk.  Part  of what also hurt the Republicans is that for two terms of Bush, they talked the evangelical talk, but really did not do much that reflected  the evangelical social agenda. And so that made it easier for them to come to the Democratic side. But there is no trust yet that faith is a real thing in the Democratic party,  and they can go back as fast. Talk is fine, but they'll want to see our faithful candidates make faith based choices, and if we don't, those  voters will swoon back the the next solid looking Repuublican in a heartbeat.

– Have courage to show your faith. Another reality chech here. Democrats who are comfortable with holding their faith up and making it a centerpiece of who they are, are still a minority in the party. There  will be pressure to play that faith up in campaigns and play it down in real policy wonk stuff. Avoid that trap if you want to keep that vote. The voters who switched this election can smell a fake a mile away, That's why they left the Republicans. So if you campaign on faith issues, you dang well better live it, or those swing votes are going bye-bye. 

In short, I am encouraged by what happened Tuesday. I see potential for balance in the religio-political arena. But we shouldn't think we have it fugured out, and reduce religion to a formula for election. That's the mistake the other side made. We need to hold up the faith first, and the politics second, and let things fall where they may. Remember, it's not us, but God who is really in control. And forgetting  that may be the Republican's biggest sin.

Tom