Emmanuel Parisse of the Agence France-Presse published an article concerning the religious leanings of the GOP candidates as showcased in a debate on November 19th. The candidates were asked how religion affected them personally and each one shared a story of how their lives had been influenced by a religious moment. Bachmann referred to her conversion to Christianity and used that to add to the central conversation of the debate, family values. Bachmann's consistent support of conservative social ideology was encouraged and allowed to blossom throughout this debate. She reiterated her beliefs on keeping marriage between a man and a woman and gave a convincing image of a woman devoting her political platform to Christian values (a phrase which has become somewhat interchangeable with "family values" in the political realm).
The massive amount of support Bachmann initially got during her campaign came from those who believed in re-instituting Christian values into American government. AFP quotes one strong supporter:
"I would have to say that basically it's nice to know that the contenders are very God based." Thom Moore, 34, told AFP. "Our country is faced with a situation where we're losing our Christian background. It's simply nice to know that they'll put it in there after having such a jerk as president. I'm not a happy person about Obama."
Watching the U.S. suffer a horrible recession has given both conservatives and hopeful liberals a scapegoat for our failures as a country, and many voters are facing increased turmoil in their personal lives that they want to see corrected. In times of crisis, it's know that people tend to become desperate or in some cases religious, so for desperate Americans to turn to a highly socially conscious Bible-thumper is perfectly understandable, but not all logical. A candidate's morality is an important issue, and for some people that means being religious, but for Michele to win, even before Rick Perry came into a race was a long shot, mainly considering her socially-centered campaign.
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ReplyDeleteI think you bring up an interesting issue, the relationship between economic distress and religious observance. The popularity of religious observation and participation has been positively correlated with periods of economic distress throughout history. Simply put, people turn to God when poor economic conditions cause the standard of living to fall. Perhaps Bachmann is a political incarnation of this phenomenon.
ReplyDelete-Madison Friedman