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The Christian Right's Voter Mobilization Strategy for 2014
My latest post at Political Research Associates is about how this weekend's Values Voter Summit fits into the Christian Right's wider electoral strategy for 2014.
It is also about a new app to make it easy for pastors to run their church membership lists against voter registration lists -- and to encourage them to register and vote.
The annual event typically draws several thousand Christian Right activists and features speeches by top GOP pols -- especially those with presidential aspirations. This year is no different. Headliners include Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR). |
Here is an excerpt from my post:
The annual Christian Right political program-- the Values Voters Summit which convenes on September 26 in Washington, DC-- is often seen as a singular event. But like most such conventions, it is in many ways but a convergence of several traveling road shows. The Summit functions for the Christian Right as the kick-off of the home stretch of the 2014 election campaign season. And when the Summit is over, they will go back on the road through election day.
This year, the Family Research Council and other conveners of the Summit have been politically engaged in states where there are competitive races for major office such as governor and the U.S. Senate--while waging a large voter registration and mobilization campaign of their own. They have also been updating their method of targeting churches for voter development, which used to be done largely by hand.
But now, there is an app for that.
Their strategic voter registration app allows pastors to compare their church membership lists with official voter registration files, so they can see who among their congregants they need to recruit into electoral life.
The behind the scenes communications agency United in Purpose has created or updated several online tools, including motivational and instructional videos aimed at pastors. The California-based UiP is led by Bill Dallas, an ex-con and Tea Party activist, whose organization has made news in the last few election cycles by engaging in deep data mining, database building, and online tools for the ongoing short and long-term development of the Christian Right. Their strategic voter registration app, promoted by the UiP project Champion the Vote, allows pastors to compare their church membership lists with official voter registration files, so they can see who among their congregants they need to recruit into electoral life.
Their analysis is as simple as their goals are ambitious. United in Purpose claims that too few Christians of the right sort are registered, participating in public life, and sufficiently grounded in a theocratic "Biblical worldview."
Their effort to turn this around is called Project 75. The stated mission is to "get pastors across the America to get 75% of their congregation educated in the Biblical worldview and voting accordingly on Election Day. Of the 90 million Christians in the U.S., only 39 million of them vote in any given election or are even registered to vote. We believe that if Christian voters will make their voices heard on Election Day, we can bring about positive change in America."
Continued here...
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