{"id":3873,"date":"2008-02-05T00:30:16","date_gmt":"2008-02-05T05:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2008\/02\/05\/white-house-god-5\/"},"modified":"2008-02-05T00:30:16","modified_gmt":"2008-02-05T05:30:16","slug":"white-house-god-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/02\/05\/white-house-god-5\/","title":{"rendered":"White House God 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

With the new Barna <\/a>report finding that born again voters are not supporting Republicans as they once did, a book like Randy Balmer\u2019s God in the White House<\/a>\"\"<\/em> becomes all the more pertinent. On top of this observation I also want to say that an element of this reconfiguration of the political scene is the emerging movement. Things are changing friends. Those who predict are usually wrong; I\u2019ll avoid predicting. But things are changing.
\nBefore I get to Balmer, here is a paragraph from that Barna report:<\/p>\n

In 1992, born again voters sided with Republican incumbent George H.W. Bush over Democratic challenger Bill Clinton by a 39% to 35% margin. In the 1996 election, born again voters again sided with the Republican candidate (Bob Dole) rather than the incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton by a 49% to 43% margin. In the 2000 election, the born again constituency gave Republican nominee George W. Bush a resounding 57% to 42% margin over Democratic challenger Al Gore. In 2004, the born again segment again sided with George W. Bush, giving him a lopsided 62% to 38% preference over Democratic hopeful John Kerry.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What about today? Barna: \u201cThe new Barna study shows that if the election were to be held today, 40% of all born again adults who are likely to vote in November would choose the Democratic candidate and just 29% would choose the Republican candidate.\u201d 25% are undecided on this so the numbers could change \u2026 still something is shifting.
\nWhy? What do you think are the major issues? (I\u2019ll wait to give my views, if they are needed; I\u2019m sure some of you think the same way I do on this one.)
\nNow to Balmer\u2019s survey of Clinton and Bush.
\nClinton walked forward at a Baptist church in 1955 because, as he puts it, \u201cI was a sinner and wanted Jesus to save me\u201d (134). Four years later his grandparents support of integrated education was affirmed by Billy Graham in a crusade. Billy\u2019s support \u201chad a profound impact on me\u201d (134). For months afterwards he sent some of his allowance to Billy Graham. After his election to the Presidency, Clinton regularly attended church (usually Foundry Street United Methodist). Clinton\u2019s relations with women gave the Republicans and conservative evangelicals fodder for criticism. Clinton maintained relationships with ministers throughout his Presidency, including Bill Hybels from Willow Creek and Tony Campolo and Gordon MacDonald, and Clinton welcomed blunt talk. Not all evangelicals were happy with those associated with Clinton and neither were they happy when the impeachments failed.
\nBush. 5-to-4 Bush v. Gore<\/em> decision. Bush was on the road to nowhere at 40 \u2014 so a cousin said of Bush\u2019s younger years. In 1984 Bush was born again but it was a year later, at Kennebunkport, that Billy Graham got through to George W. Bush and he began to conquer his alcoholism. In his Presidential campaign, in Iowa, he said Jesus was his favorite philosopher. Balmer thinks the American public warmed to Bush\u2019s story of conversion and redemption. Balmer thinks the sincerity of one\u2019s faith matters most.
\nThe (in)famous remarks of Robertson and Falwell; Bush followed those comments about the \u201caxis of evil\u201d and the focus on bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Balmer lays side by side Bush\u2019s accusations against Saddam with the practice of torture by the US military (and I don\u2019t believe enough of us care to think about this practice of torture).
\nBalmer brings up John Kerry \u2026 his Catholic faith; against abortion personally but not constitutionally.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the new Barna report finding that born again voters are not supporting Republicans as they once did, a book like Randy Balmer\u2019s God in the White House becomes all the more pertinent. On top of this observation I also want to say that an element of this reconfiguration of the political scene is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1732],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public-issues"],"yoast_head":"\nWhite House God 5<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With the new Barna report finding that born again voters are not supporting Republicans as they once did, a book like Randy Balmer's God in the White\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/02\/05\/white-house-god-5\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"White House God 5\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the new Barna report finding that born again voters are not supporting Republicans as they once did, a book like Randy Balmer's God in the White\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/02\/05\/white-house-god-5\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-02-05T05:30:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=ur2&o=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/02\/05\/white-house-god-5\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/02\/05\/white-house-god-5\/\",\"name\":\"White House God 5\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-02-05T05:30:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-02-05T05:30:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"With the new Barna report finding that born again voters are not supporting Republicans as they once did, a book like Randy Balmer's God in the White\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/02\/05\/white-house-god-5\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/02\/05\/white-house-god-5\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/02\/05\/white-house-god-5\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"White House God 5\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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