Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

December 2, 2008 7:56:22 PM CST

Learn about Newser Points »

« Back to the grid | Next story »

How Did Dems Inherit Ozzie & Harriet Mantle?

Posted Sep 5, 08 5:31 AM CDT in Politics,  Arts & Living 

(Newser) – The enthusiastic evangelical reaction to a working mother with an unwed pregnant teenage daughter on the GOP ticket highlights the dramatically changing face of conservative Christian America and could spell trouble for the Dems, Hanna Rosin writes in Slate. Evangelicals now actually score worse than the rest of America on the traditional values that preachers and conservative pundits laud, with families often failing to resemble the "oh-so-perfect" Obamas.

The Palin clan's flaws may boost the candidate's  working-class Christian cred, Rosin argues, pointing to figures that show the divorce rate has sunk among the college-educated and soared among evangelicals. "Since the '70s, evangelicals and the coastal elites have effectively switched places," Rosin concludes. "An intact happy marriage that produces well-behaved children, it turns out, is becoming a luxury of the elites—bad news for the Obamas."

Source Slate

3 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon

Related Newser Stories

  • Evangelicals Sway Toward the Center

    May 21, 07 5:34 AM CDT
    Evangelicals Sway Toward the Center The once hard-right Evangelical Christian movement is waxing centrist, the New York Times reports, as a new breed of religious leaders breaks from an abortion-and-sexuality-obsessed old guard to tackle broader nonpartisan issues like AIDS, and even liberal-leaning ones like Darfur and global warming.  More »

Barack Obama waves to the crowd as he is joined by his family at the end of his speech at the Democratic National Convention at Invesco Field last week.   (AP Photo )
Joe Biden kisses members of his family, before departing his home in Greenville, Del., en route to join Obama in Illinois.   (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
Barack Obama, his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia, 10, second from right, and Sasha, 7, take the stage after his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.   (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Barack Obama. talks with a young boy as he campaigns door-to-door with his wife, Michelle, and daughters, Malia, right, and Sasha, in Elkhart, Ind., earlier this year.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Bristol Palin walks with her beau as they await the arrival of John McCain at the Republican National Convention. Bristol's pregnancy may have boosted GOP working class cred, according to Slate.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

So cavalier are conservatives about Sarah Palin's wreck of a home life that they make the rest of us look stuffy and slow-witted by comparison. - Hanna Rosin

To any religious conservative, Palin, with all her contradictions and hypocrisies, is a very familiar type in this peculiar moment in evangelical history. - Hanna Rosin

The stereotype we associate with evangelicals—intact marriage, wife at home, teenage daughter saves it for marriage—actually applies only to the small minority who attend church weekly. - Hanna Rosin

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Our editors also recommend:

Threads (
1
 of 5)

Tags

Sarah Palin • abortion • evangelicals • religious right • conservatism • Christians • family values


Loading...

Premium Articles from HighBeam

Find more articles like this

Today's Most Popular

Loading...

Other Arts & Living Stories