Kaine Likely To Expand Faith Offensive As DNC Chair

Barack Obama's decision to tap Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine to be the next Democratic National Committee chairman is a sign that the party will very likely continue and perhaps expand on the unprecedented faith outreach initiatives that Howard Dean launched during his tenure as chair.

Kaine's 2005 run for governor was one of the few statewide races in the year following the Democrats' landslide defeat among so-called values voters, and his bid became a test case for many of the faith-based tactics that have now become commonplace among Democrats.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[GeorgeKaplan]

Yeah thats the ticket - Republican-lite.

[Big0725]

What's happening to my Democratic party? Where does an agnostic / atheist go for representation? Apparently the Democratic party respects my donations by not my beliefs. It's quite apparent that they have abandoned the GLBT and far left crowd. Jesus Christ, it's starting to look like the fu*king Republican party before Reagan.

[joethevoter]

exactly, we win and then they morph

[ssgman]

Oh please, Atheism is as much a religion as any of them. Please stop acting like Atheism is any thing other than a faith based belief.

[GeorgeKaplan]

Huh?

[Hirnlego]

Fooolish.
There is no word for not believing in fairies. Why should there be a word for not believing in any deity (which we have invented lots of)

If atheism is a religion then abstinence is a form of sex.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0A4_bwCaX0

[kathy001]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism

Maybe you should take a look at the definition of atheism.

[Catothemuchyounger]

Actually, most of these religious orientated voters were Democrats before the Dems went over board on the social progressive stuff. I have similar people in my family. They do not trust the Republicans, who they have always viewed as the rich man's party. But the Republicans appear to respect their beliefs, while the Democrats insult them by calling them bigots while expecting to buy them off economically. If the Dems ever get these people back, they will deal a lasting blow to the Republican party. But yeah, it means moderating what are seen as Democratic positions on a lot of social issues.

If the Dems can lock up the black churchgoers, the white evangelicals, and the social gospel Catholics, they will hit the Republicans where it hurts. If you don't think the Dems are willing to throw over their more progressive elements for that kind of a coalition, you are kidding yourselves.

[JulieSA]

The Dem party was never the party of atheism. There are atheists in both both parties and religious folks in both parties. The proportions are a little different is all.

[Hirnlego]

Atheists in both parties? Where? If they are there then they're closeted and have to lie about believing.

[HWNA]

Ugh.

[ramblingjohnny]

When are they going to reach out to the atheist? We had to support enough religious pandering to all sorts of wackos for the last eight years to fill a lifetime. It time for these nutjobs to sit down and shut-up!

[ssgman]

Oh, Give me a break. All they are trying to do is recapture Christian repubs that really have no reason to be repub in the first place. And BTW, Atheism is a religion.

[clevelandchick]

Atheism is not a religion. It is the absence of religion.

[FlamingLibrul]

You keep lashing out at people who are making statements supportive of atheism. That's a funny way of trying to get your view across.

[Rex11]

Sorry, forget what I said about Dean.

[Rex11]

Screw faith and religion.
It has no place in politics or the Democratic process. It does nothing but cause division, hatred, and war.

If people want to be ruled by faith based initiatives, than head East - the Middle East that is.

Free people should not be denied freedoms or rights, or be given special preference based on they're religious beliefs or lack there of.

However, if you've chosen to go down the dark path of pandering to religious zealots and power-christ brokers in this country, you better pander to all of them buddy!

Theocracy is not Democracy. Go back and take a civics class Kaine. Somebody please bring Dean back!!!

[Retrofuturistic]

I guess this means I will have to leave the Democratic Party. I will support no party that panders to religion. None.

Can't people see that wealthy far right religious groups are turning this country fascist? Promoting "faith-based initiatives" will just exacerbate the process.

[ThePeacemakers]

Nothing against giving some kind of grant (like NEA does for the arts) to churches with proven records of social service and programs that have helped...
But for our elected officials to form religious cliques within the DNC or RNC or wherever..­.yeah, we're not too far away from becoming like the Middle East.

[Sweetbay]

Oh, my. Everyone's in a dither about faith based initiatives. This is nothing more than partnering with churches who do outreach. Remember, that's how O succeeded in community organizing. He organized the churches to perform grassroots projects. That's what this is. O has said sometimes the problems are too big for government to fix and government doesn't always do the best job.

He actually praised Bush's support for faith based initiatives and said he would like to continue them.

What's wrong with working with organizations that already know how to get stuff done at the local level? Churches are just another type of organization, but many of them do good work.

This is also part of the service he has asked us to get involved with. If you belong to your church you are probably already doing this. O's plan is just to expand what some are already doing.

[Retrofuturistic]

It is NOT "nothing more than partnering with churches who do outreach." It is using the money of taxpayers of many or no religions to support Christian-only endeavors. Last time I looked, THAT was illegal.

All you are doing is coming up with some bogus excuse to undermine the separation of church and state. Skip the religious tracts and read some history.

[Sweetbay]

Wow. Why so angry? A church gets some taxpayer money to feed the homeless, or to provide after school care for children. The churches already have the facilities and can provide a public service without regard for religious affiliation. This reduces costs and the services are provided by volunteers usually.

I don't get your outrage over something so sensible. Nobody's requiring anyone to join the church or to believe in G.od.

As for "some bogus excuse", well, no I wasn't trying to do that at all.

[larry278]

It could be that a Democratic Party faith offensive becomes a toxically offensive movement & gets tossed out before or after the faithful blow an election, their candidates & ideas are resoundingly rejected by voters. The fundies place in the GOP for '09 & beyond is far from clear. The so called religious revival may have ended. America has had a number of religious revivals that petered out. We could well do without the fundies & their ideas for 20 to 50 years. Let the fundies go back to their sawdust trails, tents, megachurces, tele-evangalists & their limited niche market. The years in the spotlight have shown the deep & widening flaws in the fundie mini-world. The fundies need a rest, a very long rest.

[AlwaysaLiberal]

The GOP got their power by reaching out to churches and such. I don't think there's anything more than that going on here. Reaching out to faith groups does not mean they are going to infringe on the seperation of church and state.

[JohnFromCensornati]

I know what you mean. The people they are "reaching out to" don't want anything in return for their cooperation!

[clevelandchick]

They don't want anything but billions in 'Faith Based Initiative' money. Oh and to keep gay people from getting married, women from having reproductive choice and science curriculum in public schools. But aside from that they really don't want anything. Right.

[kathy001]

I'm going to stay positive, I'm going to stay positive, I'm going to stay positive, I'm going to stay positive, I'm going to stay positive, I'm going to stay positive, I'm going to stay positive, I'm going to stay positive.

If I can just keep repeating that maybe I'll be able to really feel it. I believe Obama's plan ot reaching out to all factions is a good one and probably the only one that will work. But I'm beginning to get really, really nervous with all this faith-based activity going on. From where I sit, it just looks like more and more bible-thumpers are getting the power to run my life according to their God.

[JoeSausage]

Kaine Likely To Expand Faith; Offensive! Your headline needs proper punctuation. While I understand that believers are citizens, I don't think that the U.S. understands that not all citizens are believers. Religious people of all faiths have the Constitutional right to practice their religion. That's what Freedom of Religion is. It you want to worship an old boot, that's your right. Or some guy from a scinece fiction novel, or some some holy ghost. I don't care how absurd it is. It's your constitutional right. But what about my rights? What if I don't believe in that vengeful man up in the sky who smites everyone. Isn't that my right? Why should my life be dictated by the people who believe in that hocus pocus crap? I'm not saying they don't have the right to believe it. But my life shouldn't be guided by someone else's fantasies, and my government DEFINITELY shouldn't be guided by them either. Freedom of Religion means that you have the freedom to practice your religion. It DOESN'T mean that you get to dictate public policy, or force your religious beliefs on all of the other citizens. So much for separation of Church and State. Obama takes America one step closer to Theocracy. How very disappointing.

[Retrofuturistic]

Well said.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

"Faith" and "Offensive" in the same headline about politics?
Works for me.

[TexasDem0]

Well said.

[MontereyDean]

Didn't we already see this movie?

[clevelandchick]

We sure did MD. Of course we'll hear from the Dems that since Obama is Prez we shouldn't be worried about the melding of church and state. Whatever. I'm so done with the Dems, Obama and it all right now. They're just the same side of a different coin.