Washington Post Picks Up On Young Evangelical Shift

An op-ed by Michael Gerson in the Washington Post picks up on the shift in evangelical voters that Zack Exley has been following for months now.

Republicans should take note, because they have growing problems among the post-religious-right generation of evangelicals. An analysis by the Pew Research Center found that 55 percent of white evangelicals ages 18 to 29 identified themselves as Republican in 2001. By 2007, that figure had dropped to 40 percent. This generation is not turning into liberal Democrats -- it is more pro-life, for example, than an older generation of evangelicals -- but it has become more loosely moored to the GOP.

These trends highlight a simple fact: Many evangelicals are center-right voters who respond to a message of social justice and community values, not only to a message of rugged individualism and unrestricted markets. Over the years, religious conservatives have made common cause with movement conservatives within the Republican Party -- but they are not identical to movement conservatives.

That last paragraph is particularly important. We've let the media take away from the Left any claim to speak for religion or people of faith. It's gotten to the point where pollsters don't even ask Democratic voters whether or not they are evangelicals. But there are many intersections between the teachings of the Church and Democratic policies. Messaging around social justice issues and the common good is a strong way to create inroads and alliances with evangelicals - particularly young evangelicals - and work together to bring about positive change we all want to see on the environment, poverty, and a number of issues.

More on how evangelical youth are abandoning Republicans here.