Politics: Courting the Religious Vote

Looking at how the results split the country, the Democrats are considering the obvious: increased pandering to the highly religious members of our society that cost them this election.

"I think that the Democratic party nationally is perceived as being out of step with mainstream values," said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-North Dakota. "I want our party to do a better job of speaking to matters of faith and family."

It's obvious, and from a perspective of increasing the power of the Dems, probably makes perfect sense, but it's hard for me as an athiest to get too excited about it. I definitely go left on economic issues, but that's never been the primary reason I favor the Democratic party. If the Democrats stop putting up resistance on the church/state front, I just see too many things that are going to go badly badly wrong.

An anti-gay-marriage amendment to the constitution would seem almost a certainty. Successful appointments of abortion-squelching judges are even more likely. More funds will be siphoned away from public school and, by vouchers or some other means, into private religious schools. More ill-conceived attempts to regulate speech on the internet loom large, as well as an increased mandate for the FCC to continue cracking down on indecency.

It's too early for me to draw any conclusions yet, but if the Democrats really chart this course, they may gain the vote of some of the religious heartland, but they may lose mine.