The men and women of the cloth have political as well as religious views, particularly about the upcoming Presidential election. Conventional wisdom from Washington has long seen the clergy as giving more to Republicans. Supposedly the social conservative "values" have been drawing them to the side of the elephant. Now in the 2007-08 cycle, things are beginning to change....for the better.
From The Carpetbagger Report:
In three of the last four cycles, clergy have backed Republicans in greater numbers than Democrats. The lone exception, 2004, was practically even.
But this year, clergy contributions are going to the Dems by a wide margin — according to the data from the Center for Responsive Politics, 56% is the strongest percentage Dems have had with clergy donations in two decades.
As for the specific candidates receiving checks from the clergy, the race isn’t even close:1. Barack Obama: $110,000
2. Mitt Romney: $39,000
3. Mike Huckabee: $23,000
Obviously, as the figures show, clergy aren’t going to compete with oil company executives any time soon when it comes to bundling and/or hosting lucrative fundraisers.
Well of course they can't compete dollar for dollar with big oil, but when people see how they give, that says a lot more to average people than an oil executive. Members of the clergy are beginning to understand that the Republican party is full of false promises, one that lies for your vote and continues to send our troops to a fruitless war in Iraq.
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