Faithful Democrats
Media Matters has picked up up a juicy nugget today. On Sunday, Tim Russert reinforced the meme that Democrats never talk about faith. In pointing out that Barack Obama referred to faith in his announcement speech on Saturday, Russert claimed he had not heard a Democratic candidate do such a thing “in some time.”
Russert obviously hasn’t been listening, because Media Matters laid out numerous instances when current Democratic presidential candidates have discussed their faith — including John Edwards discussing his Southern Baptist heritage on Russert’s show the previous week.
Russert seems also to have forgotten that presidential candidate Bill Clinton went so far as to call his change agenda the “New Covenant” in 1991 and 1992; to those who know a thing about Christian theology, it doesn’t get more obvious than that. Indeed, President Clinton incorporated religious language into his rhetoric more often and more fluidly in his presidency than George W. Bush does today; see one example here, though there are countless others. And Clinton continues his thoughtful application of faith in the public square to this day.
Isn’t it time for the media to stop regurgitating right-wing talking points on the “godless Democrats” and start listening to what numerous Democrats on this site and elsewhere are really saying?
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