Howard Dean: Democrats Have Much in Common with Evangelicals

Remember that kid in high school who always talked about how cool he was, or the guy at parties that mentions how successful he is and we all have heard the jock who spouts off his great achievements in athletics. All these people have one thing in common, everyone knows they're full of bologna. Such is the case with Howard Dean, DNC Chairman who is telling evangelicals how the Democratic Party is really into the god and values thing.

In an interview with The Christian Broadcasting Network he details all the commonality the Democrats have with evangelicals such as with abortion and gay marriage.

"Well, let's discuss abortion first," Dean said. "I think what we have in common with the evangelical community is that we ought to have a lot fewer abortions than we do. The abortions have actually gone up in the last few years. We should have far fewer abortions…we ought to make sure that there's not just abstinence, but family planning used to get rid of abortion, and that is something that we share. Now the difference is that we don't think making criminals out of doctors and women is a good idea."

He added, "The Democratic Party platform from 2004 says that marriage is between a man and a woman. That's what it says. I think where we may take exception with some religious leaders is that we believe in inclusion, that everybody deserves to live with dignity and respect, and that equal rights under the law are important."

Any discussion of abortion that does not address the moral issue of the right to life is meaningless to evangelical Christians. The reason the Democrats fail to impress evangelicals with their values on abortion is because they view it as a health care concern while evangelicals view it as a respect for life question. There can be no common ground when there is no common value underlying the discussion.

As for gay marriage he may point out the platform states that marriage is between an man and a woman, but the practice is to the contrary. Actions skeak louder than words. His statement says as much. The cluelessness really comes out most vividly in his declaration that Democrats have values just like the evangelicals.

He said, "I'm a Democrat because of my values. My values include inclusiveness -- they include not leaving more debt to our kids than we have ourselves. My values including wanting our values to drive our public policies. My values include not having kids going to bed hungry at night. Now those are values that I bet I share with the vast majority of evangelicals."

Dear Howard, everybody has values, but just having them does not automatically mean they have merit. Wanting your values to drive your public policies is not a value, it is the basis of all decision making. One chooses how to solve problems based on what they believe. Evangelicals have a problem with the Democratic Party not because it has no values, but because of the values it has. When one has to tell another how compatible they are it's usually because the other already knows they are not. From your statements I assume you are either clueless on what evangelical values are or you think evangelicals are clueless so you can snow them just by using the right words.

Christianity politics pro-life religion