Ales Rarus

The Politics of Partisan Neutrality
Louis Bolce and Gerald De Maio
Copyright (c) 2004 First Things 143 (May 2004): 9-12.

"Americans who want to understand conflicts between Democrats and Republicans during the election season have received precious little help from the media. While reporters usually recognize that there is some sort of problem about 'values' and about 'faith-based' principles, and that the Democrats and Republicans are often on opposite sides, writers and editors tend to publish news and analysis as if the situation were as follows: The Christian right, having infiltrated the Republican Party, is importing its divisive religious ideas into our public life, whereas the Democratic Party is the neutral camp of tolerant and pluralistic Americans."

This gives me some insight into what's happened to the Democratic Party. I was raised by staunch Democrats and I voted as a Democrat for 7 years. Now I'm independent and I register either Republican or Democrat depending on which primary is more crucial to my beliefs (such as the Toomy vs. Specter race). I used to the think Republican party was just a bunch of redneck Evangelical yahoos. I'm starting to understand why so many of my Christian brethren vote Republican. The party still does things that disgust me, so I won't declare myself a Republican anytime soon, but I'm more open to their point of view.