To make the Democratic Party everything it can be, we need to win back as many of the "Bush Christians" as we can. Winning them back will be vastly easier with a good working knowledge of their codes, memes and frames. Clinton knows this. MLK knew this. Bush sure as hell knows it.
I firmly believe that the hero of the Gospels is Bush's true political nemesis.
Here's a suggestion that I hope you all take seriously: get out a good version of the Bible, like the NIV, and read the Gospels (the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) through a political frame. Jesus was one of the most effective political motivators of time. He led, he dodged bullets, he promoted social causes, he framed the debate, he turned his opponents back on themselves. I'm not proselytizing (at least not intentionally); I really think this is a useful thing to do, and it only takes a few hours to read on the top narrative level. Read on and I'll tell ya why.
IMO, the key to 2006, 2008, and beyond is not to demonize the "Jeebofascists",
the key is to get Bush Christians to stop making their Christianity their primary political identifier, and this can be done by reframing their political interests in terms of their Christianity. (E.g., pointing out that abortions went UP under Bush, then asking WWJD?) Every Bush Christian is also an American who has health issues, who may outlive his working years, who may get drafted or know someone who is drafted. Most Bush Christians also care about the environment, care about our reputation in the world, and rebound in horror at the tales of Abu Ghraib. We need their votes. We've had them before and we can have them again. It is not a monolithic bloc. It is not an uneducated bloc. It is usually not a bloc at all.
But I believe in my heart of hearts the key to understanding and winning back the more reachable segments of this bloc is to know their codes, their concerns, and their hero: Jesus.
After the Good News, guess what Jesus talked about more than any other topic: MONEY. Guess the main topic after that? SOCIAL JUSTICE. What was the chief sin of the Pharisees (the Jewish keepers of the law)? HYPOCRISY. Time and again the apostles asked him when he was going to take up the sword and drive the Romans out, and time and again he put their eyes back on the ball and got the message out. The parables of Jesus are among the most concise, powerful, universal stories ever told. And most of them are exceptionally applicable to the questions facing us today: terrorism, gay marriage, employment, health care, Social Security. I'm telling you, it's all in there. Pay particular attention to the part where the disciples ask why Jesus insists that marriage is forever, even though under Old Testament law divorce was easy to get -- IMO, it's the key to the gay marriage counter-assault.
So there's the Blueprint -- written about 1,950 years ago in Greek. I'm not saying it's our Whole Plan for winning in 2008, but if we don't make it PART of our Plan, if we don't make it part of our knowledge base, if we don't identify the memes, recognize the frames, and learn the code, then we're leaving ammo on the table.
Take the poll, then get to your reading. Bestselling book in the world; free online in any language you like.