9 years ago: Progressive evangelicals

March 24, 2004, on this blog: Progressive evangelicals

6. Abortion politics is a central issue for most evangelicals, but not necessarily a litmus test.

… Abortion raises serious moral qualms for most evangelicals — but that does not mean they demand, or even are comfortable with, a starkly anti-abortion political agenda. What they require from political leaders more than anything else on this issue is the sense that those leaders view this issue with moral seriousness. Bill Clinton’s formula — “safe, legal and rare” — won over many evangelical voters. That could still be a winning formula for Democratic candidates.

(Note that the abortion rate among evangelical Christians is indistinguishable from the abortion rate of the rest of the population. That may tell us more about likely actual voting behavior than any issue-oriented polling does.)