Evangelical Vote
Evangelical vote, which accounts for 14% of all American vote
rs and comprises
the core of the
Christian-Conservative bloc,
is critical to winning elections: George W. Bush won in 2000 and 2004 by keeping the evangelical vote
united, while
Barack Obama and
Bill Clinton won in 2008 and 1992 & 1996, respectively, by splitting and
siphoning away portions of
the evangelical vote.
What makes the evangelical vote so crucial to winning the
White House is that
besides influencing the non-evangelical votes within the
Conservative bloc, the evange
lical vot
e can be counted on to show up at the polls, rain
or
snow. In the 2008 Iowa primary, for example, the evangelica
l vot
e comprised only 12% of the state's voters but
60% of the Republican
votes cast.
How will the evangelica
l vot
e influence and be
influenced in 20
12? Will it end up split or unite behind a
Christian candidate? The answer depends
to a large extent on the quality of the
2012 presidential candidates. After initially looking promising, the field
looks stronger in quantity than in quality.
An even more fundamental question is what issues should unite the evangelica
l vot
e
in 20
12.
Is it the pro-life issues of banning
abortion
and stem cell research, as well as
homosexual "marriage", or should the focus be broadened to include
healthcare,
economy, poverty, etc.?
The rest of
this site addresses these and other
'evangelica
l'
issues,
as well as the
Presidential and
Congressional
candidates, from the perspective of the "Evangile", a French Huguenot word
that means "Gospel" and which dates back to the early years of the Reformation.
Why America must elect a Christian President in 2012
