Pastor sees 'cracks' in GOP stronghold on Evangelical Christian voters
Pastor Doug Pagitt of Vote Common Good spoke with MSNBC Wednesday morning about the shift he is seeing in the Republican Party's stronghold on Evangelical Christians.
Pagitt is on a bus tour through swing states ahead of the election and speaking to people of faith who have, in the past, associated their religion with their politics.
In a piece he wrote for MSNBC.com titled "How I've been convincing Christians they don't have to vote Republican," Pagitt walks through the extensive coalition of people lining up behind Vice President Kamala Harris in the ongoing fight against Donald Trump. In the past, White Evangelical Christians have remained largely loyal to the GOP and to Trump. This time around, there might be a small shift.
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"We've been seeing the cracks since after Donald Trump's election in 2016," the pastor explained. "He received nearly 81% of White Evangelical support in 2016. But that went up from the summer of 2016 when, in July, he was down in the 30% range with White Evangelicals. But then he picked Mike Pence. Mike Pence became a validator and then promised to put evangelicals in his cabinet, and evangelicals rallied around Donald Trump."
He explained that Pence's legitimacy helped evangelicals reconsider their commitment to the GOP and got the ticket elected. Unfortunately, however, he said that they saw in their surveys that evangelical voters immediately regretted voting for Trump.
"So, our group, Vote Common Good, along with a lot of other groups, started to organize," he said, noting they have been on the road every election since 2018.
"A lot of people ask us, how do you go out and change the minds of these evangelicals? The truth is, we don't feel like we have to change their minds," Pagitt explained. "Their minds have already started changing. To be blunt, Donald Trump is like a self-cleaning oven who does all the work for you."
Harris is not expected to win over the large numbers of evangelicals that Trump already has, but she could earn enough to make a difference in swing states.
See the interview below or at the link here.
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