Kindness Is Not A Strategy

Pastor says Harris could get 'the highest level of evangelical support since Carter'https://t.co/qvOmpsDsgY

— Raw Story (@RawStory) August 25, 2024

"On the trail in 2020, 2022 and this year, I’ve gleaned the reason many evangelical and Christian voters ultimately leave Trump: his obvious lack of kindness," Pagitt writes. "A poll that my organization Vote Common Good commissioned in 2020 showed that in swing states, Trump’s lack of kindness was driving evangelical and Catholic voters away in large enough numbers to potentially affect the outcome of the election."

But "kindness" is not a strategy, is it?

One way to do that, Pagitt suggests, is by implementing a strategy similar to one Vote Common Good made ahead of the 2020 presidential election in Kent County, Michigan.

"We held voter rallies and roundtables; put up billboards juxtaposing the words of Jesus Christ with those of Trump; sent thousands of postcards to evangelical voters; and trained multiple local Democratic candidates on how to engage with faith voters," Pagitt writes. "Our message to the 25% of the Kent County electorate that identified as evangelical was simple: Trump lacks kindness and it’s OK not to vote for the Republican."

Pagitt notes "Trump beat Clinton by 3 points in Kent County in 2016," but due to Vote Common Good's election efforts, "In 2020, he lost to Biden there by 6 points, a 9-point swing." 

Some of those evangelical preacher/Trump supporters wouldn't know the words of Jesus if you wrote 'em on their hands. People in the pews might know a bit better