I always look to my family for insights into the pulse of the country. My extended family is close and it is huge. My family is very, very diverse; politically, economically, educationally, ethnically and religiously. The only time my family ever agreed in high numbers and were completely wrong was the 2004 election, which was why I had no doubt there would be a big Kerry win. Anyhow, what does my family insight tell me about the Evangelical vote this midterm? I have no idea. It depends which kind of Fundamentalist are more common. I would like a sense of which kind you-all are more familiar with.
I am going to assume the group the right is most concerned about now are the ones Rove call the "nuts". You know, the ones who might care about a sexual predator and the "Tempting Faith" book, or everything might be that amoral Clinton's fault.
I have 2 bona-fide nuts in my family: my sister and my sister-in-law.
I want to start with my sister-in-law. She got saved in the mid 1970's when she was in her early 20's and she promptly moved her family to Kansas to be closer to God. She literally knelt before the TV to pray with the 700 club for at least an hour a day, until she had kids and got rid of the TV as not to corrupt (until my brother decided that his family had become completely crazed and he backed off of the zealot attitude). If you saw her on the street you would swear she was a Mennonite. She does not believe in dinosaurs and thinks they are a hoax put around by the evil atheist scientific community.
Until 2004 she divined all of her political beliefs according to her minister. 2004 brought the realization that just because you say you are a Christian, there comes a point when you have to act like a Christian. I was so proud of myself for pounding, cajoling and reasoning this point into her head. Weirdly, she decided this meant the Apocalypse was near and Bush was the anti-Christ and even if Kerry was such an ooky (her word) person, she could not vote for the anti-Christ. She also was suppose to vote according to her minister. So, after days at prayer she decided God wanted her to vote for Kerry and her poor minister was blinded. This time, it is the midterms, which she does not consider very important and all the republicans who are morally corrupt confuse her.
She will not vote.
Now for my sister...oh where to begin? About 8 years after my brother and sister-in-law moved to Kansas, my sister found Jesus and had to move there to be closer to God too. If you talk to my sister on any one issue she is possibly even left of me. She is a socialist in her ideals, but she only votes extreme right-winged Republican. When I speak to her about it, she sticks her fingers in her ears and says she is a Conservative (all who love Jesus) and not an evil Liberal (all who love the devil). All liberals will rot in hell. There is no reasoning with her on any subject. She will never see the conflict between her beliefs and reality. Here are 2 examples of her lack of any kind of cognitive reasoning that stand out in my mind.
Grandma was put in a nursing home because her dementia was worsening. Grandma was about 4 minutes from my house so I went to visit almost every single day. I was extremely aware of all aspects of her care and of her moods. My sister came to visit and when she got back to Godland she called to say Grandmas quality of life was so bad we needed to consider pulling the plug. THERE WERE NO FUCKING PLUGS TO PULL! (beg pardon). Grandma liked being visited everyday (when she could remember), and she liked lying in bed most of the day watching TV and she liked being waited on. She liked having someone bring her all of her meals and stay to jolly her into eating. To be truthful, Grandma always did like being the center of attention. Well, about 2 weeks later the Terri Schiavo tragedy/debacle hit the news and I called just to hear her thoughts. Of course, "thank the good Lord for such a godly government who will try and protect life."
The other example involves my 23-year-old son. My vegetarian-tree hugging-politically involved-atheist son. He has already traveled the world and has seen and done things most of us will never have the chance to. He has helped set up an NGO for African refugees and has actually worked in camps in both Botswana and Zambia. He has a job that works to secure women's rights around the world. He has volunteered in homeless shelters, at food banks and has done volunteer tutoring. My son is a true humanitarian. My sister says that he would be a fine young man is he ever found Jesus. Go figure.
She will vote and she will vote straight Republican, no matter what.