Evangelicals say one Clinton is enough
Issue date: 12/30/07 Section: Divine Intervention
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WASHINGTON - Liza Kittle voted twice for Bill Clinton in the 1990s, but now the stay-at-home mom from Augusta, Ga., has no interest in another Clinton White House.
"Hillary Clinton just represents that '70s radical feminism that doesn't speak to evangelical women," said Kittle, 49, who began to lean Republican after a return to her Christian faith.
Women like Kittle, a self-described former feminist, are a problem for Clinton's presidential campaign. Evangelicals - especially women - find much to dislike, including her support of abortion rights, her 'takes-a-village' approach to child rearing, her liberal politics, and raw political calculation in sticking by her husband. Clinton may be the one candidate who could unify dispirited evangelical voters - against her.
All of which prompts the question: Where does the evangelical anti-Hillary hostility come from? Paul Kengor, author of "God and Hillary Clinton: A Spiritual Life," has a few ideas:
1. Her failed health care reform, which many conservatives saw as a massive big-government power grab.
2.The 1994 National Prayer Breakfast, at which Mother Teresa condemned abortion to loud applause while the Clintons sat on their hands.
3. Her 1995 imaginary conversations with Eleanor Roosevelt, suggested by spiritual adviser Jean Houston and chronicled by journalist Bob Woodward.
4. Her 1998 charge that a "vast right-wing conspiracy" was trying to sink her husband's presidency.
Clinton's campaign says she is simply misunderstood. "As Hillary Clinton often says herself, she is probably the least well-known, well-known person in America," said Burns Strider, head of faith-based operations for her campaign. "That is why we are reaching out to people of faith to join her campaign, including evangelical voters, so they are informed about her positions on the issues."
In a bid to recast her image among skeptical fellow Christians, she mused about "prayer warriors" in a forum hosted by Sojourners magazine and talked about "works without faith" at Rick Warren's California megachurch.
"Hillary Clinton just represents that '70s radical feminism that doesn't speak to evangelical women," said Kittle, 49, who began to lean Republican after a return to her Christian faith.
Women like Kittle, a self-described former feminist, are a problem for Clinton's presidential campaign. Evangelicals - especially women - find much to dislike, including her support of abortion rights, her 'takes-a-village' approach to child rearing, her liberal politics, and raw political calculation in sticking by her husband. Clinton may be the one candidate who could unify dispirited evangelical voters - against her.
All of which prompts the question: Where does the evangelical anti-Hillary hostility come from? Paul Kengor, author of "God and Hillary Clinton: A Spiritual Life," has a few ideas:
1. Her failed health care reform, which many conservatives saw as a massive big-government power grab.
2.The 1994 National Prayer Breakfast, at which Mother Teresa condemned abortion to loud applause while the Clintons sat on their hands.
3. Her 1995 imaginary conversations with Eleanor Roosevelt, suggested by spiritual adviser Jean Houston and chronicled by journalist Bob Woodward.
4. Her 1998 charge that a "vast right-wing conspiracy" was trying to sink her husband's presidency.
Clinton's campaign says she is simply misunderstood. "As Hillary Clinton often says herself, she is probably the least well-known, well-known person in America," said Burns Strider, head of faith-based operations for her campaign. "That is why we are reaching out to people of faith to join her campaign, including evangelical voters, so they are informed about her positions on the issues."
In a bid to recast her image among skeptical fellow Christians, she mused about "prayer warriors" in a forum hosted by Sojourners magazine and talked about "works without faith" at Rick Warren's California megachurch.
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