Republicans think pols aren’t doing it enough, according to a recent Pew poll (the same one showing how self-pitying white evangelicals are). Christopher Ingraham elaborates:
Fifty-three percent of Republicans say that political leaders are talking too little about their faith, compared to less than a third of Democrats. Again, while Democrats have remained consistent on this measure since 2010, Republicans have shifted nearly 10 percentage points. For reference, in September, the word “God” has been spoken on the House and Senate floors 75 times, “Christian” 65 times and “Jesus” 10 times. Democrats and Republicans seem to use these words at similar rates.
Paul Waldman remarks, “I actually don’t have a problem with it on an individual level, much as I might bristle at the endless Prayer Breakfasts”:
The reason politicians don’t do it more isn’t because there’s some kind of stigma associated with proclaiming your piety, because there isn’t. They don’t do it more because they know it comes off as exclusionary. If you ran a campaign under the slogan, “John Smith: Because we need more Baptists in the Senate,” everyone who wasn’t a Baptist would think you won’t care about them and their concerns, and that isn’t something too many candidates want to risk.
Politicians don’t want to draw those stark lines, which is why there are only a few (who come from homogeneous districts) who talk publicly in religious specifics, like mentioning “Jesus” as opposed to just “God.” Likewise, they want the churches’ help, but they could probably do without direct church endorsements, because then it would look like they’re the candidate of one particular sect. Which is to say that even if lots of voters express the opinion that they’d like to see more religious involvement in partisan politics, what they have right now is probably all they’re going to get. And that’s plenty.
The Dish 