What Democrats Talk about When They Talk about God: Religious Communication in Democratic Party Politics

by David Weiss (Editor), Allison J. Ainsworth (Contribution by), Samuel Boerboom (Contribution by), Daniel D. Gross (Contribution by), Paul Haridakis (Contribution by)

Overview

What Democrats Talk about When They Talk about God is a collection of essays on the religious communication of members of the Democratic Party, past and present-in office, while campaigning, and in their public and private writing. While many books on the market address issues at the intersection of church and state, none to date have focused exclusively on Democrats as important participants in the dialogue about religion and politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739138267
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	10/11/2010
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

David Weiss is assistant professor at Montana State University, Billings.

Table of Contents

Introduction: What Do Democrats Talk About When They Talk About God" David Weiss 1

Part I Historical and Philosophical Perspectives

Chapter 1 The Religious Explorations of Thomas Jefferson and His Public and Private Expressions of Faith Paul Haridakis 11

Chapter 2 Deities, Divisions, and Democrats: The "Political Left" and Religion Penni M. Pier 25

Part II Past Presidents and Presidential Hopefuls

Chapter 3 The Three Faces of John: Mutable Religious Personae in the 2004 Presidential Race David Weiss 41

Chapter 4 Bill Clinton's Looking Glass: A Metaphorical Analogy for the Faith and Values of the Democratic Party Paul R. Raptis C. Thomas Preston, Jr., Allison J. Ainsworth David Weiss 63

Chapter 5 The "Voice of God" in Democratic Political Rhetoric: Exploring the Social-Political Gospel of John Edwards Brent S. Roberts Daniel D. Gross 75

Chapter 6 Al Gore's Rational Faith and Unreasonable Religion Christina M. Knopf 93

Part III The Religious Rhetoric of Barack Obama

Chapter 7 The Audacity of Faith: An Inclusive Political Rhetoric James T. Petre Lenore Langsdorf 117

Chapter 8 Dancing on the Wall: An Analysis of Barack Obama's "Call to Renewal" Keynote Address Biff Rocha Jeffrey L. Morrow 129

Chapter 9 Change the Context, Build the Coalition: Democrats, Abortion Reduction, and the Politics of Articulation Samuel Boerboom 155

Part IV Religion in Gubernatorial and Congressional Campaigns

Chapter 10 Tim Kaine's Catholic Evangelical Rhetoric Sara Ann Mehltretter 177

Chapter 11 Dwelling amongst the Righteous: Keith Ellison-Demagogue or Demon" Julie R. Woodbury 193

Index 211

About the Contributors 219

Editorial Reviews

In recent years the Democratic Party has struggled to win over conservative Christian voters without antagonizing religious liberals, members of minority faiths and secular Americans. David Weiss has assembled eleven fascinating essays documenting and assessing the religious strategies of Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates. No student of politics and religion in the United States should miss this insightful and balanced evaluation.

James L. Guth

The contributors to this book provide an important corrective to the view that only the GOP does "God talk." The collection is full of interesting accounts of candidates and officeholder religious rhetoric. Recommended.

Clyde Wilcox

David Weiss and his colleagues have produced a fascinating collection of essays on the role of religion in the rhetoric of the Democratic Party and its leaders. Insightful, analystic and timely, this book reveals that religious language is not the sole province of Republicans and is likely to remain a staple of political discourse for years to come.

John C. Green