Would A Giuliani Candidacy Help Democrats ?

It has become obvious in recent months that the religious right has lost much of its momentum. In the last few years, a candidate could not get the nomination of the Republican Party to run for president unless he had the approval of the evangelical movement. That is no longer true.

None of the major candidates running for the Republican nomination have the credentials expected of a candidate of the religious right. Although he is now parroting the beliefs of evangelicals, Romney has a history of liberal beliefs and actions. It is doubtful that he could gain the trust of most fundamentalists. McCain has never been trusted by the right-wing fundamentalists.

Thompson has been touted as the darling of the religious right, but with his trophy wife, his admission that he doesn't go to church regularly, and his refusal to support a constitutional ban on gay marriage, he has already raised opposition from some leaders of the religious right, such as James Dobson.

In fact, the candidate most likely to receive the nomination is also the most liberal of the Republican candidates -- Giuliani. Until recently, I thought his candidacy might pose the most problems for Democrats. That may not be true.

The fundamentalists are still united in their opposition to abortion, but beyond that issue many are starting to pay attention to many other issues -- issues such as racism, peace, fighting HIV, helping the poor and the environment. Some believe that if the abortion issue were nullified, it would open the campaign to these other issues that are championed mainly by the Democrats. Giuliani is pro-choice, and his nomination would nullify the abortion issue.

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, says, "Most evangelicals have been voting Republican because they were given a bright-line choice between a pro-life candidate and a pro-choice candidate. If that issue were taken off the table, then other issues get oxygen, issues where evangelicals are not nearly as certain that Republicans offer the best answer. Issues like economic justice, racial reconciliation, the environment. If the Republicans are foolish enough to nominate a pro-choice candidate, they give the Democrats a license to go hunting evangelical votes".

I still expect most evangelical votes to go to the Republicans, but it is an exciting prospect to think that Democrats could make inroads with this demographic group. After all, this is the "base" that Republicans have counted on for the last few years. Given the moral problems experienced by the Republican Party recently, and it's even easier to believe some evangelical votes could go to Democrats.

So while Giuliani might appeal to a few independents (although not many, considering his support of the war), he might actually free many evangelicals to vote for the Democratic candidate.