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In a CBN News exclusive uncut interview, Capitol Hill Correspondent David Brody sat down with the Democratic Party Chairman to discuss the Democrat’s new outreach to conservative Christians.

CBN News Politics

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Howard Dean: Democrats Have Much in Common with Evangelicals

By David Brody
Capitol Hill Correspondent

CBN.com – (CBN News) - Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean told CBN News that his party has a lot in common with the evangelical community. With the 2006 midterm elections creeping closer, CBN News sat down with Dean to discuss the Democrat’s new outreach to conservative Christians.

Dean said that "one of the misconceptions about the Democratic Party is that we're godless and that we don't have any values."

The Vermont liberal is trying to change that. Dean wants evangelicals and other conservative Christians to know that Democrats have something to offer them.

"The truth is, we have an enormous amount in common with the Christian community, and particularly with the evangelical Christian community,” Dean said. “And one of the biggest things that Democrats worry about is the materialism of our country, what's on television that our kids are seeing, and the lack of spirituality. And that's something we have in common."

But the Democrats’ record on hot political issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and separation of church and state don't match up with that of evangelicals. Still, Dean said that evangelicals do not need to be scared off by Democrats.

He said, “I'm a Democrat because of my values. My values include inclusiveness -- they include not leaving more debt to our kids than we have ourselves. My values including wanting our values to drive our public policies. My values include not having kids going to bed hungry at night. Now those are values that I bet I share with the vast majority of evangelicals.”

CBNNews asked Dean about other values that the evangelicals speak out a lot about, such as abortion and also gay marriage, and how he can reach them when Democrats don’t necessarily share those same positions.

“Well, let's discuss abortion first,” Dean said. “I think what we have in common with the evangelical community is that we ought to have a lot fewer abortions than we do. The abortions have actually gone up in the last few years. We should have far fewer abortions…we ought to make sure that there's not just abstinence, but family planning used to get rid of abortion, and that is something that we share. Now the difference is that we don't think making criminals out of doctors and women is a good idea.”

He added, “The Democratic Party platform from 2004 says that marriage is between a man and a woman. That's what it says. I think where we may take exception with some religious leaders is that we believe in inclusion, that everybody deserves to live with dignity and respect, and that equal rights under the law are important.”

“I'm not saying we're going to agree with everything, between the more conservative evangelicals and the Democrats, but there's a lot more common ground than most people realize, and we're willing to work with the evangelical community,” Dean said.

That work has already started. Since Dean has come on board, he has started a program called The Faith and Action Initiative. It is an effort where the Democratic Party in each state works closely with religious leaders from all faiths to explain how the Democrats’ values are in line with the views of many Christians.

In the wake of the 2004 election, where values voters played a key role, the strategy seems to make sense.

CBN News asked Dean, how important is it to tap into this value voter/evangelical community to win in 2006?

" I think it's important, and I think it's a good idea for the Democratic Party anyway," Dean said. "Even if we didn't even need evangelicals to win, we ought to be communicating to the evangelical community for two reasons. First, you shouldn't [exclude them], and [if you do], you're not going to do a good job. You shouldn't govern if you're ignoring a whole section of the population."

He continued, "The second reason is that Democrats need to talk about their values. Values motivate lots of voters, not just evangelicals. Values motivate all kinds of voters. People want to know who you are."

Dean and the Democrats hope that evangelicals will begin to see them in a new light. Time will tell if they are successful.

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