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CNNOver the last few decades, a growing number of Christians have left traditional, predominantly White evangelical churches. The post-evangelical movement predates former President Donald Trump’s political rise, but has been accelerated by his alliance with White conservative evangelical leaders. White evangelicals have been a key part of the Republican coalition since the 1980s. The exit polls estimated that 26% of 2016 voters and 28% of 2020 voters were White evangelicals. Still, Trump has maintained overwhelming support among White evangelicals since consolidating their support during the 2016 Republican primary.

Persons: North Carolina CNN — Larissa Miller, Billy Graham, Graham, she’d, ’ ” Miller, Miller, She’s, Larissa Miller, Donald Trump’s, It’s, who’ve, –, Kamala Harris, Trump, Harris, ”, Matt O’Neil, Christian, Donald Trump's, Jordan Gale, Randall Balmer, “, I’ve, David Gushee, Flamy Grant, televangelists, Shawn Bowers Buxton, ” O’Neil, MAGA, they’re, Critics, Karoline Leavitt, Joe Biden, ” Trump, Ralph Reed, Jimmy Carter, ” Reed, Ronald Reagan, “ There’s, Jesus, James Talarico, we’re, Donald, Doug Pagitt, God, ” Miller Organizations: North Carolina CNN, CNN, Fox News, Trump, –, Watershed, Republican, Public Religion Research, New York Times, Episcopal, Dartmouth College, Mercer University, Trump –, News Service, Trump ”, & Freedom Coalition, Republicans, Democratic, White, Texas Democrat Locations: Charlotte, North Carolina, White, American, Cedar Rapids , Iowa, ”, Charlotte’s, Chantilly, Watershed, Charlotte , North Carolina, Independence, Israel, Texas, Georgia, Michigan , Wisconsin, Pennsylvania

☆ Biden faces widening partisan split over Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

CNN —President Joe Biden is facing more critical moments this week that will test his fraught relationship with his base over Israel’s war in Gaza and potentially widen the partisan split about the Jewish state that has been building for years. Against this backdrop, partisan polarization about Israel among American voters was already widening years before the brutal Hamas attack last October and the devastating Israeli response it triggered. An array of polls this spring show how the war in Gaza has hardened this partisan split. Nearly half of Democrats, but only a little over one-fifth of Republicans in the CBS poll, said the US should pressure Israel to stop the fighting. “Biden has a Democratic caucus that is putting a lot of faith in this process,” she said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Long, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, “, ”, Aaron David Miller, Biden, Harry Truman, Lyndon B, Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W, Bush, Reagan, George W, Donald Trump, Clinton, Barack Obama, Republicans —, Obama, Israel, Biden —, Gallup, Trump, That’s, Chuck Schumer, Mike Johnson, Biden’s, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Waleed Shahid, Shahid, David, it’s Goliath, David ”, Miller, “ Biden, ’ ”, Ben Rhodes, ” Biden, “ We’re, Saudi Arabia — “, Mark Mellman, Schumer, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Israel’s, Chris Murphy of, Chris Van Hollen, Chris Coons, Tim Kaine, Virginia, Van Hollen, Amanda Klasing, — Organizations: CNN, Israel, Republican, Democratic, Gallup Organization, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, Holocaust Memorial, GOP, Whites, Republican Party, Republicans, Gallup, Trump, Chicago Council, Global Affairs, Quinnipiac University, CBS, Liberal, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, National Security Council, Amnesty International, Amnesty Locations: Gaza, Israel, United States, Iran, Quinnipiac, Washington, New York, Missouri, Yom Kippur, Saudi Arabia, Sens, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, Rafah

☆ CNN Poll: Americans still broadly oppose overturning Roe; they’re less united on what abortion laws should look like
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Ariel Edwards-Levy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Roughly half of US adults, 49%, want to see federal politicians work to enshrine abortion access nationally, while 37% say abortion laws should be left to states, and 14% call for nationwide restrictions. The poll comes in the wake of two years of largely state-level skirmishes over abortion laws following the overturn of Roe – political fights with tangible consequences for residents’ access to abortion in those states. The share who view their state’s abortion laws as too restrictive rises to 43% in the states where abortion is currently legal with gestational limits of 6-18 weeks, and to 52% in the states where it is banned. Among those who disapprove of overturning Roe, about two-thirds (64%) in states with gestational limits and three-quarters (74%) in states where abortion is banned find their state’s laws too restrictive. The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS from April 18-23 among a random national sample of 1,212 adults drawn from a probability-based panel, including 967 registered voters.

Persons: Roe, Wade, Dobbs, shouldn’t, state’s, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Laws, they’d, Biden, aren’t, he’s, he’ll, Trump, SSRS, CNN’s Jennifer Agiesta, Ed Wu Organizations: CNN, SSRS, Jackson, Health Organization, White Evangelical, Arizona Supreme, Republican, GOP, Biden, Trump, Democratic, Surveys Locations: Arizona, Florida , Maryland, New York

☆ How evangelical leader Jim Wallis uses the Bible to expose the ‘False White Gospel’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Some may already be tired of the debate over White Christian nationalism, whose followers blend sexism, racism and hostility to non-White immigrants in a quest to create a White Christian America. But Wallis has been warning people about the dangers of White Christian nationalist beliefs long before the term became popular. You write that White Christian nationalism is not new, and that it’s a form of heresy. This [White Christian nationalism] is an old idea from the Doctrine of Discovery, which says that this country was for people who were White Americans. Tom Brenner/ReutersWhat’s the difference between patriotism — believing that the US is an exceptional country — and White Christian nationalism?

Persons: Jim Wallis, Marx, Wallis, ” Wallis, “, Obama, White, ” Wallis ’, Jesus, You’ve, Donald Trump, Tom Brenner, Pete Seeger’s, It’s, Trump, that’s, it’s, don’t, they’re, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Adolf Hitler, Michael Gonzalez, haven’t, Let’s, I’ve, Martin Luther, King didn’t, he’s, King, Michael Nigro, Mark Twain, Hitler, —, didn’t, you’ll, John Blake, ” Organizations: CNN, ”, White, Christian America, New York Times, Macmillan “, MAGA, Faith, Justice, Georgetown University, Commission, White Americans, Reuters, Pastors, Candler, Emory University’s Candler, of Theology, Cornerstone, Justice Department Locations: Vietnam, Detroit, America, Washington, Circleville , Ohio, Atlanta , Georgia, German, Germany, Quemado , Texas, Southern, That’s, Pittsburgh, Blacks, White, Hungary, Turkey, Black

☆ Evangelical America Is More Divided Than You Think - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( David French | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I’m afraid that an exit poll question has confused America. But in other ways, this exit poll identity misleads us about the nature and character of American evangelicalism as a whole. It’s far more diverse and divided than the exit poll results imply. In reality, American evangelicalism is best understood as a combination of three religious traditions: fundamentalism, evangelicalism and Pentecostalism. These different traditions have different beliefs, different cultures and different effects on our nation.

Persons: they’re Organizations: Republicans, Democratic

☆ More Voters Shift to Republican Party, Closing Gap With Democrats
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Ruth Igielnik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the run-up to the 2020 election, more voters across the country identified as Democrats than Republicans. But four years into Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presidency, that gap has shrunk, and the United States now sits almost evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans have made significant gains among voters without a college degree, rural voters and white evangelical voters, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. At the same time, Democrats have held onto key constituencies, such as Black voters and younger voters, and have gained ground with college-educated voters. The report groups independents, who tend to behave like partisans even if they eschew the label, with the party they lean toward.

Persons: Joseph R, Biden, ’, pollsters Organizations: Republicans, Pew Research Center Locations: United States

☆ Super Tuesday may underline Trump’s transformation of the GOP
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Ron Brownstein | Analysis Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

His performance so far reflects his success at transforming the Republican Party in his image. The most important message from the primaries is the most straightforward: Trump’s coalition is the dominant faction in the GOP. Like McConnell’s announcement, the choices by GOP elected officials in the primary contest signal their acknowledgement of the party’s direction. The share of GOP elected officials who have endorsed Haley isn’t anywhere near as large as her share of the total vote. But a deeper factor also explains the imbalance in support among GOP elected officials.

Persons: Donald Trump, He’s, Ronald Reagan, Nikki Haley, –, Trump, Reagan, Bob Dole, George W, Bush, Mitt Romney, Whit Ayres, Democrat Grover Cleveland, Republican Benjamin Harrison, ” Ayres, Ayres, Grover Cleveland, ” Chris Wilson, Ron DeSantis, “, ”, Gary Langer, he’s, Kyle Kondik, “ It’s, William Mayer, George H.W, George H.W . Bush, Democrat Al Gore, Haley, Dwight Eisenhower, Sen, Robert Taft, Mitch McConnell, Haley isn’t, Chris Sununu, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Liz Cheney, Wilson, Mike Johnson, McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Jennifer Horn, Biden, William Galston, Galston, ’, ‘, Kristen Soltis Anderson, isn’t, Eisenhower, “ Trump, ” Galston, ” Trump, Missouri GOP Sen, Eric Schmitt, wouldn’t, he’d Organizations: CNN, Republican, Republican Party, South Carolina Gov, GOP, Washington, Trump, Veteran GOP, White, Democrat, Democratic, Florida Gov, ”, ABC, University of Virginia’s Center, Politics, Northeastern University, Republican internationalists, Republicans, Chicago Council, Global Affairs, Trump’s GOP, New Hampshire Gov, South, Brookings Institution, Biden, Republican National Committee, Missouri GOP Locations: Sunday’s, Iowa , New Hampshire, South Carolina, Michigan, George H.W ., Southern, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oakland, Washtenaw, Kent, Ukraine, Trump’s, Missouri

☆ Exit polls: South Carolina Republican presidential primary
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Ariel Edwards-Levy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The electorate for the South Carolina Republican primary looked much more like the one for January’s Iowa caucuses than for the New Hampshire primary, the early exit poll found. As in Iowa, well over 4 in 10 South Carolina primary voters describe themselves as affiliated with the MAGA movement. Exit polls are a valuable tool to help understand primary voters’ demographic profile and political views. The exit poll for South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary was conducted by Edison Research on behalf of the National Election Pool. It includes 1,990 interviews with Republican primary voters across 40 different polling places on Election Day.

Persons: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, they’d, Haley –, –, MAGA, Joe Biden, Biden’s, Trump, Haley, Ron DeSantis Organizations: CNN, Republican, Voters, Trump, South Carolina Republican, New, South Carolina, Florida Gov, Haley, GOP, Trump . South, Trump . South Carolina GOP, South, Edison Research Locations: South Carolina, Iowa, New Hampshire, South, Trump ., Trump . South Carolina

Yet large numbers of Americans believe the founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation, and many believe it should be one. The idea of a Christian America means different things to different people. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, said he doesn’t identify as a Christian nationalist, but does believe America was founded as a Christian nation. Six in 10 U.S. adults said the founders intended America to be a Christian nation, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey. About 45% said the U.S. should be a Christian nation.

Persons: Donald Trump, God, it’s, Trump, ”, Eric McDaniel, McDaniel, “, ” Trump, Mike Johnson, Thomas Jefferson, Johnson, Steve Bannon, Jerusalem ”, Charlie Kirk, Robert Jeffress, “ I’m, I’m, shouldn’t, John Jay —, —, ” Jeffress, doesn’t, ” Anthea Butler, Butler, John, Joe Biden, John Jay, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Jesus, George Washington Organizations: U.S, Republicans, Constitution, Pew Research Center, University of Texas, America, Republican, Washington Metropolitan Area, Vocal, Trump, Kentucky Republican, Baptist Church of, Supreme, University of Pennsylvania, Blacks, Native, John Fea, Messiah University, Democratic, Religion Research Institute, Fea, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: Independence, U.S, America, Washington, Jerusalem, ” Recent Texas , Oklahoma, Baptist Church of Dallas, Mechanicsburg , Pennsylvania, Brookings

Many Americans believe the United States was founded as a Christian nation, and the idea is energizing some conservative and Republican activists. What does it mean to say America is a Christian nation? Was it only conservatives citing the idea of a Christian nation? Forty-five percent said the U.S. should be a Christian nation, but only a third thought it was one currently. ___Sources: Pew Research Center; Public Religion Research Institute/Brookings; “Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?” by John Fea.

Persons: ”, couldn't, Let's, It's, Benjamin Franklin, Jesus, deists, Franklin D, Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr, Christ, John Organizations: Republican, Congregational Church, American, Christian, Soviet Union, National Council of, Pew Research Center, Pew, Constitution, Religion Research Institute, Public Religion Research Institute, Brookings, “, John Fea, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: United States, U.S, Connecticut, Massachusetts, America, Israel, Christianity, Rhode, Independence, Christian America, Soviet, USA, Brookings

☆ The relentless focus on White Christian nationalism is spreading a racist myth
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

That’s how critics have described White Christian nationalism, a deviant strain of religion that has infected the political mainstream. But there is another cost to the spread of White Christian nationalism that no one mentions. The relentless coverage of White Christian nationalism is spreading a racist myth: that Whiteness is the default setting for evangelical Christianity. In a February 2023 survey, nearly two-thirds of White evangelical Protestants qualified as sympathizers or adherents to Christian nationalism. However, he rejects the political beliefs associated with White Christian nationalism.

Persons: CNN — It’s, ”, Pastor Peter Lim, ” Lim, he’s, “ It’s, It’s, White, Carolyn Chen, Ella Sophie Bessette, you’re, “, Walter Kim, Tom Lin, William Barber II, Chen, Trump, John Minchillo, browning, — it’s, John C, Richards, Jr, Jim Crow, Mark Noll, ” Richards, “ I’m, John Onwuchekwa, Lyndon B, Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Edward Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Onwuchekwa, ” Maria Antonetty, Tina Fineberg, don’t, Lim, William J, Barber, Oliver Contreras, We’re, John Blake Organizations: CNN, White, Christianity, of Atlanta, Berkeley Center, Republican, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Oral Roberts University, National Association of Evangelicals, InterVarsity, USA, Christian, MLK, Saint Mark Baptist Church, White Americans, Liberty, New, Southern Baptist Convention, Cornerstone Church, Primitive Christian, Washington Post, Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative Locations: America, White, American, Korean, Taiwanese, Asian, Africa, Silicon Valley, Taiwan, Korea, Mexico, Little Rock , Arkansas, Georgia, New York, New York City, Crete, Atlanta, Asia, Washington , DC

☆ Evangelical Christian voters say supporting Trump is all about abortion. It's more complicated than that.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Evangelical Christian voters often cite abortion as a key reaosn for supporting Trump. Experts say evangelical Christians appear to be motivated by their declining influence in the US. But increasingly, for those who identify as evangelical Christians, abortion is not at the top of the priority list, experts said. Even though, according to Burge, "immigration is as important as abortion for evangelical voters." AdvertisementWhen it comes to abortion, Trump did deliver on one of his biggest campaign promises: overturning Roe v. Wade.

Persons: Trump, —, Donald Trump, that's, Ryan Burge, Burge, Roe, Wade, it's, He's, he's, Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Bob Vander Plaats, Michael Wear, Barack Obama, Tucker Carlson, RNS, Samuel Perry, Bruge Organizations: Evangelical, Trump, Service, Republicans, Eastern Illinois University, Supreme, Florida Gov, The Washington Post, Religion News Service, Fox News, University of Oklahoma, NPR Locations: Florida, Iowa, America

☆ Everything you need to know about the 2024 New Hampshire Republican primary
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Polls show Trump still has a double-digit lead ahead of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. AdvertisementNew Hampshire is only the second state to vote in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, but some of former President Donald Trump's foes already look desperate. Iowa's Republican caucuses were the first contest, but New Hampshire has gone to great lengths to ensure its primary election is always the first primary. The biggest difference is that unlike Iowa, New Hampshire has a more open primary system. New Hampshire also doesn't have anywhere near the number of white evangelical conservatives that vote in the Republican primary as Iowa does.

Persons: Nikki Haley's, —, Donald Trump's, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Trump, Haley, Chris Sununu, Joe Biden's, Sen, John McCain, It's, Chris Christie, DeSantis Organizations: Trump, Former UN, Service, Republican, UN, Press, Democratic National Committee, New, New Hampshire Democrats, New Jersey Gov Locations: Tuesday's, Hampshire, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Granite, Dixville, Iowa, Iowa ? New Hampshire, American, Iowa , New Hampshire, In Iowa, . New Hampshire, Granite State, New Jersey, — Iowa, New Hampshire , Nevada

When Nikki Haley was a South Carolina legislator, she backed budgets boosted by federal aid. Now, Haley is running against Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination saying he is an agent of chaos. The daughter of Indian immigrants, she defeated a 30-year legislative veteran in the Republican primary. As governor, Haley had disputes with fellow Republicans that often seemed personal. But she reminds Republican primary voters that the deals were always for non-union shops.

Persons: Nikki Haley, Haley, Donald Trump, ”, Doug Brannon, “, Bill Clinton, Slick Willie ”, Trump, Roe, Wade, I’m, Rob Godfrey, ” Godfrey, ” Haley, Hillary Clinton, Gresham Barrett, Whit Ayres, Barrett, Sarah Palin, ” Ayres, Palin, Mitt Romney, Romney, “ She’s, Kay Koonce, Haley burnished, Godfrey, Godfrey said, Koonce, Barack Obama’s, Obama, Florida Sen, Marco Rubio, Jan, Ayres, Chris Christie’s, ’ ” Ayres, Christie, Haley “, “ Chris Christie, ” Koonce, ’, Holly Ramer Organizations: Trump, GOP, firebrand, Republican, today's Republican Party, Fox, New York Times, U.S, Rep, Wall Street titans, Gubernatorial, Democratic National Committee, Conservative, House Republicans, Republicans, Florida, Capitol, New, Associated Press Locations: South Carolina, Washington, Charleston, New Hampshire, Columbia, China, New York, Trump, Iowa, New Jersey, Concord , New Hampshire

☆ Turnout drops and voters get more conservative in Trump’s decisive Iowa victory
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Zachary Wolf | Analysis Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Two-thirds of Republican voters don’t think President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory was legitimate, despite all evidence to the contrary. Iowa caucusgoers, unlike most of the country, overwhelmingly support banning most or all abortions nationwide. Iowa voters could be asked on the general election ballot to make clear there is no right to abortion guaranteed in their state’s constitution. While Trump held a commanding lead among Iowa caucusgoers without college degrees, college graduates were more closely divided among Trump, former South Carolina Gov. But she made clear this week that she would ultimately support Trump if he’s the nominee.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, MAGA, Trump, Joe Biden’s, caucusgoers, Biden, Sen, Ted Cruz, Ariel Edwards, Levy, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, ”, Republican caucusgoers, it’s, Jack Smith, Kim Reynolds, “ I’m, Chris Sununu, Haley, Sununu, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, he’s, “, – there’s, Chris Christie, DeSantis Organizations: CNN, Iowa Republican, GOP, Republican, Trump, Republicans, Voters, Iowa’s Republican, Iowa, GOP CNN, South Carolina Gov, Florida Gov, White, Iowa Gov, Fox News, New, New Hampshire Gov, New Jersey Gov Locations: Iowa, Ted Cruz of Texas, Caucusgoers, Washington, DC, New Hampshire, New Jersey

☆ Takeaways from the Iowa Republican caucuses
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Eric Bradner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The former president won the Iowa Republican caucuses by an unprecedented margin, kickstarting his bid to win his party’s third consecutive presidential nomination. He did so despite skipping the GOP primary debates and eschewing the retail politicking grind typically demanded by Hawkeye State voters. Here are six takeaways from the Iowa GOP caucuses:‘Very smart, very capable people’Trump speaks at his caucus night watch party in Des Moines. “I can safely say, tonight, Iowa made this Republican primary a two-person race,” she told supporters. Video Ad Feedback GOP strategist on what Iowa caucuses result reveals about Republican voters 00:50 - Source: CNNTrump remains hard to beatEntrance polls showed the breadth of Trump’s support across the GOP’s key constituencies.

Persons: Donald Trump, it’s, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Haley, ’ Trump, Brian Snyder, Trump, DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, couldn’t, “ It’s, ” Trump, Ramaswamy, It’s, hasn’t, “ We’ve, He’s, ”, bode, Joe Biden, Biden, Jeenah, “ Trump, Alyssa Pointer, he’d, he’s, DeSantis ’, Grassley ” —, Republican Sen, Chuck Grassley, Kim Reynolds, Bob Vander Plaats, who’d, Pete Buttigieg, Vermont Sen, Bernie Sanders Organizations: CNN, Republican Party, Iowa, Hawkeye State, Florida Gov, South Carolina Gov, Trump, Iowa GOP, Reuters, Republican, CNN Trump, College, Biden, West Des Moines, Nevada GOP, South Carolina, DeSantis, GOP, Des Moines Register, Democratic National Committee Locations: New Hampshire, Iowa, Des Moines, Florida, South Carolina, South Carolina –, West Des Moines, West Des, Nevada, Vermont, demote Iowa

☆ Even the Battle for Second Turned Out Well for Trump in Iowa
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Nate Cohn | More About Nate Cohn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Better still for Mr. Trump, neither Mr. DeSantis nor Ms. Haley posted a strong second-place showing that might have bestowed clear momentum for future races. He also excelled among white evangelical Christians and self-described “very conservative” voters — two groups that held him back here eight years ago. Mr. DeSantis was dealt a serious setback to his already ailing candidacy. No upcoming contest plainly offers Mr. DeSantis a better chance of victory, and his poll numbers are even weaker in the states ahead. Either way, Ms. Haley has overtaken Mr. DeSantis as Mr. Trump’s nearest, if still distant, rival.

Persons: Trump, DeSantis, Haley, DeSantis’s, Trump’s, playbook, he’s Organizations: Iowa Republican Locations: New Hampshire, Iowa, state’s, Johnson County

☆ Why Trump’s hold on evangelicals is so hard for DeSantis and Haley to break
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Ron Brownstein | Analysis Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Beyond Trump’s strong overall lead, the survey showed the former president attracting 51% support from Iowa evangelicals, far more than he drew in 2016. But Trump won the state by capturing 44% of evangelicals without a degree, double his share among the South Carolina evangelicals with a degree. This year, DeSantis will likely need to shake Trump’s hold on evangelical voters if he is to finish well enough in Iowa to remain a viable candidate after Monday. Asked if DeSantis can win evangelicals in Iowa on Monday, Vander Plaats pointedly responded: “I think he’ll do very well.”Compared to DeSantis, Haley isn’t betting on evangelical voters nearly as heavily in Iowa. Even in the most optimistic scenario for DeSantis or Haley, Trump’s hold on evangelicals without a college degree looks like a rock in the road for them.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, –, Texas Sen, Ted Cruz, Ron DeSantis, Cruz, DeSantis, Trump, ”, Gary Bauer, Nikki Haley, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Huckabee, Santorum, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Romney, Gary Langer, Trump’s, “ There’s, ’ ”, Bob Vander Plaats, Vander Plaats, Haley isn’t, Rubio, Haley, Robert P, Jones –, “ Trump, ” Jones, Jones, “, ” Bauer, you’ve Organizations: CNN, Yorker, Trump, Texas, Florida Gov, GOP, Des Moines Register, NBC, South Carolina Gov, Republican, McCain, ABC News, Edison Research, –, Public Religion Research Institute, Survey, College, New York Times, The New York Times, Democrats Locations: Iowa, Florida, The Iowa, Nevada , Missouri , Alabama, Georgia , Tennessee, Virginia , Michigan , Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Carolina, New Hampshire, American, America

DES MOINES, Iowa—As they have crisscrossed the Hawkeye state, the major 2024 Republican presidential candidates have paid special attention to churchgoers and their leaders. Some white evangelical conservative voters, who are influential in Iowa’s Jan. 15 caucuses, weren’t yet sold on renominating former President Donald Trump, according to recent interviews conducted by The Wall Street Journal for its “Chasing the Base” podcast.

Persons: Hawkeye, Iowa’s, Donald Trump Organizations: DES, Wall Street Locations: DES MOINES, Iowa, Iowa’s Jan

☆ Opinion | The Greatest Threat Posed by Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( David French | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

In December, I wrote about the moral devolution of Rudy Giuliani and of the other MAGA men and women who have populated the highest echelons of the Trump movement. I live in the heart of MAGA country, and Donald Trump is the single most culturally influential person here. It is common for those outside the Trump movement to describe their aunts or uncles or parents or grandparents as “lost.” They mean their relatives’ lives are utterly dominated by Trump, Trump’s media and Trump’s grievances. But never before have I seen extremism penetrate a vast American community so deeply, so completely and so comprehensively. They went from least likely to most likely to excuse the immoral behavior of politicians.

Persons: Rudy Giuliani, MAGA, Trump, Donald Trump, It’s, “, ’, He’s, —, Trump’s, Hillary Clinton —, that’s, Iowa Republican caucusgoers Organizations: Trump, Trump Americans, Des Moines Register, NBC, Iowa Republican Locations: American, Iowa, America

☆ How American Evangelicalism Became ‘Mister Rogers With a Blowtorch’
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Jennifer Szalai | More About Jennifer Szalai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

THE KINGDOM, THE POWER, AND THE GLORY: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, by Tim AlbertaWhat would Jesus do? It’s a question that the political journalist Tim Alberta takes seriously in his brave and absorbing new book, “The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory,” pressing the evangelicals he meets to answer a version of it — even if a number of them clearly do not want to. This phenomenon, Alberta says, cannot simply be a matter of evangelicals mobilizing against abortion access and trying to save lives; after all, they have kept remarkably quiet when it comes to showing compassion for refugees or curbing gun violence, which is now, as Alberta notes, the leading cause of death for children in the United States. What he finds instead is that under the veneer of Christian modesty simmers an explosive rage, propelling Americans who piously declare their fealty to Jesus to act as though their highest calling is to own the libs. No wonder the popular image of evangelicalism, according to one disillusioned preacher, has devolved into “Mister Rogers with a blowtorch.”

Persons: Tim Alberta, “, thrall, Donald Trump, impenitent, Trump, Ted Cruz, Ted, piously, Jesus, Mister Rogers, ” Organizations: THE, Republican, Iowa Republican Locations: “ The, Alberta, United States

☆ Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis Confront a Ticking Clock - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Michelle Cottle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Iowa is make or break for Mr. DeSantis, who has gone all in on the state. This makes it especially unsettling for his team that Ms. Haley has caught up with him there in recent polling. Mr. DeSantis has long benefited from the belief by many in the G.O.P. That said, Team DeSantis is determined not to get outworked — which is also something Iowans take very seriously. Playing to the coalition of Trump-skeptical Republicans and independents, she is walking a clearer, cleaner path than Mr. DeSantis.

Persons: DeSantis, Haley, Trump, DeSantis’s, MAGA, Tim Scott’s, Ron, “, ” Tom Vilsack, ”, Kim Reynolds, à Organizations: Trump, New Hampshire —, Politico, Republican, DeSantis Locations: Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida, Granite

Bob Vander Plaats, an influential Iowa evangelical leader, endorsed Ron DeSantis for president Tuesday, boosting the Florida governor as he goes all in on the leadoff caucus state in an effort to trip up Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Vander Plaats is the second major backer DeSantis has picked up in Iowa this month, joining popular Gov. “I think America would be well served to have a choice, and I really believe Ron DeSantis should be that guy,” he said. Vander Plaats, who is prominent in the anti-abortion movement, has questioned the former president's commitment to an abortion ban. He met with Vander Plaats earlier this year in Tallahassee, the Florida capital.

Persons: Bob Vander Plaats, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Vander Plaats, DeSantis, Kim Reynolds, he'll, Bret Baier, “, ”, Trump, Vander, Trump's, “ Kim Reynolds, Ron DeSanctus, Reynolds Organizations: Republican, Gov, Iowa's Republican, Trump, Iowa, Fox News, Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research Locations: Iowa, Florida, Iowa's, U.S, Tallahassee

☆ The Social Gospel movement is changing our politics and reshaping our perspectives
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Fain’s sermonette underscores a trend that has largely gone unnoticed: The Social Gospel movement is making a comeback. Jemal Countess/Getty ImagesIt might sound like hyperbole to say that this resurgent form of the Social Gospel is changing our politics. He reached deep into the Social Gospel throughout the UAW strike, routinely deploying what one commentator called “strikingly Christian rhetoric.”Christopher H. Evans, author of “The Social Gospel in American Religion: A History,” said he heard the Social Gospel in Fain’s UAW speeches. “It (The Social Gospel) won’t have the institutional muscle it had before, but you could still have these voices and followers.”The climate in contemporary America seems ripe for the Social Gospel message. And the soaring optimism of old Social Gospel reformers may now seem as outdated as wobbly black-and-white silent films.

Persons: CNN —, Shawn Fain, Fain, ” Fain, Matthew, Jesus, ”, Moses, Paul, Stellantis, Fain’s sermonette, don’t, Frederic J . Brown, John D, Rockefeller, “, pulpits, didn’t, Charles Sheldon, Fain’s, that’s, Democratic Sen, Raphael Warnock, Cornel West, William Barber II, Liz Theoharis, Matthew Desmond, Martin Luther King, William Barber, Jemal Countess, ” Christopher H, Evans, Heath W, Carter, Luke, Sen, Warnock, Barber, Desmond, Amir Levy, it’s, ” It’s, you’re, ” Evans, Dom Helder Camara, Rebecca Cook, Reuters “ There’s, won’t, —, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Big Three, United Auto Workers, UAW, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Chrysler, Writers Guild of America, UPS Teamsters, UPS, Getty, Democratic, US, Big Tech, Boston University, ” Mining, Library, “, Princeton Theological Seminary, Yale Divinity School‘s Center, Public Theology, Ivy League, The New York Times, Social, Reuters, Teamsters, Screen Actors Guild Locations: Jerusalem, America, Los Angeles, AFP, Washington, Kingston , Pennsylvania, Chicago, ”, American City, American, Lower Manhattan, New York City, Brazilian, Detroit

☆ White Christian evangelicals: What it would take for them to leave the bubble
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Manav Tanneeru | John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —If you don’t realize how powerful White Christian evangelicals have become, consider this:A White Christian evangelical, who has been described as “the embodiment of White Christian nationalism in a tailored suit,” is now second in line to the presidency. White evangelical Protestants make up only about 14% of Americans, and that number has been steadily shrinking. The media tends to depict White evangelicals as foaming-at-the-mouth Christian insurrectionists like some of those who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The new speaker of the house is a White Christian evangelical and is second in the line for the presidency. Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesYou seem leery of using the term ‘White Christian nationalism.’ Am I correct?

Persons: Mike Johnson, Roe, Wade, Trump, Jon Ward, Ward, George W, Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, “, ”, ” Ward, White, Ward’s, there’s, Johnson, Chip Somodevilla, ’, I’m, it’s, George Brich, You’ve, ‘, It’s, Joe Raedle, Nikki Haley, Haley, that’s, we’ve Organizations: CNN, Capitol, Yahoo, Air Force, Trump, ” CNN, White Christian, Jesus, South, Democrat, Republican Locations: White, America, Los Angeles, Miami , Florida, South Carolina, Trump, evangelicalism

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