Columns
No Retreat for Christian Conservatives
In trying to explain the results of two consecutive presidential defeats, some Republican strategists privately blame Christian evangelicals for the perceived decline in their political participation. Conventional wisdom argues, unconvincingly, that three factors make the once mighty movement of “Born Again Christians” a spent force in American Politics. First, such voters seem to comprise a declining percentage of the electorate. Second, they may have lost their enthusiasm for the GOP and felt particular...
Read MoreA Fifth Passover Question: Why Bother?
GUEST COLUMN BY DIANE MEDVED Here we are on the eve of Passover 5774, (the year according to the Jewish calendar), and the celebration of the traditional Seder, a meal rife with symbolism. After ridding the house of leavened products, bringing in Passover food and preparing the important meal, parents and children both delight at the table as each family’s youngest members sing the famous “four questions” that ask why this night of Passover is different from other family dinners, and...
Read MoreHollywood’s Unexpected Religious Awakening
The movie NOAH drew publicity for its box office success and eccentric adaptation of Biblical material, while two smaller religious movies drew eager audiences with their more traditional messages. The little-known stars in GOD’S NOT DEAD told a moving story about a courageous student standing up to a bullying professor trying to force his class to affirm atheism. This message movie spent three weeks in the box office top five, drawing $35 million—many times its miniscule budget. Meanwhile,...
Read MoreFailed “Reform” Means More Money in Politics, Not Less
In response to the Supreme Court’s McCutcheon decision striking down aggregate limits on donations to political candidates, liberals decry the collapse of campaign finance reforms from the post-Watergate era of the 1970’s. But these laments never acknowledge that if these rules are meant to lessen the influence of money on politics then they have failed completely: campaigns raise and spend vastly more money than 40 years ago, much of it by shadowy “independent” PACs designed to circumvent idiotic...
Read MoreAbsolute Power Corrupts California Dems
National media gave abundant attention to humiliating video of a married GOP Congressman kissing one of his aides while a far more serious Democratic scandal unfolded in California with scant press attention. Three State Senators faced devastating criminal charges: one for soliciting bribes and trafficking in arms to the Philippines, another for taking bribes and doing favors for federal agents posing as Hollywood executives, and a third convicted of voter fraud and perjury. The state Senate majority administered...
Read MoreGOP Can Win as the Party of Personal Change
What’s the most reliable way to overcome obstacles to personal progress: to change your own behavior, or to get other people to change the way they treat you? Contemporary liberalism emphasizes the transformation of institutions and organizations, rather than of individuals. This badly mistaken stress gives conservatives a precious opening to identify themselves as the only true advocates of plausible, personal, growth and change. Anyone who has ever confronted some form of economic, social or family adversity...
Read MorePassion of Obama Opponents Spells Doom for Dems
In using public opinion polls to predict electoral outcomes, it’s crucial to consider not only what people feel but how strongly, how passionately they feel it. In that context, a new AP-GfK survey of 1,012 adults taken between March 20th and 24th delivers more than a warning for President Obama and his allies; it provides undeniable indications of sweeping rejection that could result in a tidal wave election seven months from now. Most headlines regarding the poll emphasized the broad dissatisfaction with the...
Read MoreThank the Godless
In trying to explain two consecutive presidential defeats, some Republican commentators blame Christian evangelicals for the perceived decline in their political participation. But 2012 exit polls showed 26% of all voters identifying as “White Evangelical/Born-Again Christians” – a significant increase from the 23 percent who described themselves that way in 2004, the last time a Republican won. Moreover, that winning candidate, George W. Bush, did no better among his fellow evangelicals than did the...
Read MoreIn Jeb vs. Hillary, It’s Obvious Who’s the Fresh Face
Looking toward the next presidential race, many commentators groan at the prospect of a tiresome dynastic war between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Jeb Bush. Conventional wisdom sees both candidates as too shopworn to inspire enthusiasm, but Jeb Bush is hardly as familiar a celebrity as Secretary Clinton. He’s never run a political race outside of Florida and he doesn’t sound or look at all like his older brother: Jeb is four inches taller than George W, and he’s a Catholic convert, not a Christian...
Read MoreJewish Holiday of Purim: Quick Reversals and the Importance of This Moment
GUEST COLUMN BY DIANE MEDVED I still haven’t put away my ridiculous red and yellow Jester costume from our synagogue Purim party. Purim is the Jewish holiday celebrating the events in the Book of Esther, an Alice-in-Wonderlandish tale where things really weren’t what they seemed (thus the custom of wearing costumes), as a seemingly secure future for the Jews in Persia in about 450 BC pendulum’d from certain death to triumph. In politics, world events and personal lives, reversals teach the...
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