With a record number of “nones” or religiously unaffiliated Americans (20%) possibly voting in the 2012 election, I wonder: will we hear about faith tonight at the Presidential debate? Mitt Romney, a Mormon and Barack Obama, a Protestant are vying for millions of religious voters.
The town hall-style debate voters will ask questions of the candidates and each candidate will be able to respond.
You might remember that at the end of the Vice-Presidential debate, we heard from the candidates about how they saw their faith:
“I don’t see how a person can separate their public life from their private life or from their faith,” said Ryan. “Our faith informs us in everything we do.”
“My religion defines who I am,” said Biden. “I’ve been a practicing Catholic my whole life.”
Michelle Boorstein, at the Washington Post posted an interesting argument:
Newsflash: Religion doesn’t really matter in politics. This tidbit comes from an unlikely source, the people who work to mobilize faith communities for the Obama and Romney campaigns.
Even if it flies in the face of all research, this argument isn’t new to the religion reporters who heard it during a politics and religion panel on Friday. That’s because we’ve been largely shut out for many months in our efforts to get the campaigns to open access to their organized faith outreach – where they go, who they talk with, what their strategy is.
“I don’t view myself as having job of speaking about my candidate’s faith. I’m speaking about his candidacy for the office of the presidency,” said Mark DeMoss, an evangelical communications executive who advises the Romney campaign on a volunteer basis. “I don’t go around talking about his faith. I talk about him.”
If an evangelical communications executive will not talk about the faith of his candidate, why use the term “evangelical”? If the media have been shutout, this will certainly be an opportunity for each candidate to express his views.
Will we hear questions during the Presidential debate on the role of religion in government, abortion, and medical care contraception? Or, will he hear more personal questions about how each candidate’s faith shapes their vision for America?
Whatever questions are posed, if posed, sharing a personal faith with voters can help Obama and Romney connect more.
I’ll be live tweeting tonight (9PM EST) about the role of faith in the debate. Join me on Twitter. @alanrud
No Comments