Iowa Christians and the Race for the Oval Office

Next month, voters in Iowa will officially launch the 1988 presidential election season. Candidates have been campaigning there for months, hoping to make a good showing at the February 8 party caucuses.

The candidacy of Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has placed many Christian activists in the spotlight. But interviews with Christian leaders from across the state suggest that Robertson does not monopolize the evangelical vote. Indeed, several candidates are reaching out to—and receiving support from—Iowa Christians.

The Republicans

Observers agree that Robertson has brought new people, mostly conservative Christians, into the political process. John Miller, Robertson’s Iowa campaign office director, said a “main focus” of their effort is the nearly 40,000 names collected last year in a petition drive. Many of those names were obtained through church directories and Christian organizations.

Robertson’s largest and most fervent support comes from charismatic churches. Richard Hardy, business administrator for First Assembly of God in Des Moines, said Robertson “epitomizes for most evangelicals what they’d like to see in a President.” But Hardy admits the Christian broadcaster “doesn’t have by any stretch of the imagination all the evangelicals in Iowa supporting him.”

Terry Graham, pastor of an independent Full Gospel church near Sioux City, said he believes Robertson is “brilliant and fully qualified.” But he added that he has concerns “about seeing Pat leave the ministry to pursue politics, unless God has specifically directed him to do so, which he says.” Graham said he is “impressed” by the number of people he has met at Full Gospel conventions and ministerial conferences who share his reservations.

Jack Kemp, another Republican candidate who describes himself as an evangelical, is receiving considerable support from Iowa’s conservative Christians as well. To advance that effort, Kemp’s Iowa office has assigned a staff member to serve as special liaison to prolife groups and the Christian community. Campaign workers are sending out “believers’ brochures” to people listed in church directories. The brochures outline Kemp’s positions on such issues as the war on poverty, economic growth, traditional family values, “fighting for freedom,” and the sanctity of human life. Kemp is a long-time opponent of abortion.

Like Kemp and Robertson, U.S. Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.) has targeted the Christian community in Iowa, according to Beverly Tauke, cochair of Dole’s Iowa campaign. Tauke said that within the Christian community the campaign is emphasizing Dole’s endorsement by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), a politician popular among “born-again” Christians.

“We are working to convey to the Christian community in Iowa that the character, commitments, and values for which Bob Dole stands have been scrutinized by people like Chuck Grassley,” Tauke said. In addition, Dole’s wife, Elizabeth, has spoken to many Iowa groups about her Christian faith.

Tauke’s husband, U.S. Rep. Tom Tauke (R-Iowa), is cochair of George Bush’s Iowa campaign. Bush has not “gone after the Christian community as a separate group,” Tom Tauke said. “But clearly, the Bush campaign is very sensitive to the fact that there is going to be heavy participation from the Christian community in the caucus, and that there is a special challenge due to the Robertson effort in the state.” The congressman said Bush appeals to “those members of the Christian community who have traditionally been more active in politics.” Bush’s national campaign has appointed a staff member to act as liaison with Christian groups.

The Democrats

Several Democratic presidential candidates have also garnered support from Christians in Iowa, with Jesse Jackson appearing to be the leader in this category.

“Jesse believes Romans 13, that government is God’s servant for good, … to do justice for all and not just for the United States,” said Eugene Westra, a Christian schools consultant. Westra is a member of Religious Leaders for Jackson, an interdenominational group formed to crystalize church support for the Baptist clergyman and civil rights activist. Westra said that in addition to a strong showing from black churches, the group has “fully as many nonblack persons and clergy [from] almost all the mainline denominations, as well as Catholic and Bible churches.”

Other Democratic candidates have not made concerted efforts to gain the backing of Iowa’s Christian community. But some have the support of individual Christians. Gregory Davis, a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, backs U.S. Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.), a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Davis said he agrees with Simon’s view of national defense.

“In supporting a government that supports the taking of life through our military machinery and the terrorization of other countries,” he said, “we’re supporting elements of death rather than life.” Davis believes Simon would stop “draining money for [the military] and use it to do things like feeding hungry people.”

The Siouxland Chapter of the Association for Public Justice (APJ), a Christian citizens’ group, has sponsored a series of forums featuring candidates from both parties. “We’re trying to educate Christians about the campaign and help them evaluate the candidates on principles of biblical justice,” said APJ regional coordinator Joyce Campbell.

Tim Vos, president of the Siouxland APJ, is working as a volunteer for former Arizona governor Bruce Babbitt. “My own Christian public philosophy calls for certain public policy stands which go along with Babbitt’s stands on many occasions,” Vos said. He acknowledged that he is “bothered” by Babbitt’s support of abortion. But he said he likes the way the former governor would address “related issues like welfare reform and child care, which would make abortion less of an option.”

The Abortion Issue

Prolife and prochoice activists alike have sponsored efforts to educate Iowa voters. Five of the six Republican candidates favor a constitutional amendment to ban abortion. The sixth, former U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig, says he opposes federal funding of abortion, but does not support a constitutional amendment against abortion.

All of the Democratic candidates oppose a constitutional amendment banning abortion, but they part company on whether federal funds should pay for abortions. The National Abortion Rights Action League says only Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, Simon, and Jackson fit their definition of a “fully prochoice” candidate.

Planned Parenthood has launched an effort to encourage advocates of abortion to attend party caucuses and counteract prolife efforts. At the same time, the Iowa Right to Life Committee is educating people and urging them to attend Iowa caucuses to vote for prolife delegates, and to attempt to get prolife planks included on party platforms.

Another prolife group, Iowans for Life, picketed the Democrats’ Jefferson Jackson Day dinner last fall in Des Moines. Carolyn Thompson, founder of the group and a Democrat, said prolife Democrats “feel disenfranchised from the party.”

Political Questions

Many observers question what will happen to the new Christian activists, particularly the Robertson supporters, after the November election. An official in the Kemp campaign said he is concerned that many will leave the process if they fail to win approval for some of their issues, or if they encounter hostility. But Robertson campaign officials say they are optimistic the majority of their people will remain active in politics after the election.

With the increased visibility of Christian political activism, some church leaders are concerned that Christians are identifying too closely with a particular political ideology. “I feel that is counterproductive to our kingdom concerns,” said William Larson, pastor of Union Park Baptist Church in Des Moines and president of the Iowa Association of Evangelicals. “There are many evangelicals in the Democratic party, not just in the new, visible [movement within the Republican party].”

Rockne McCarthy, dean of social sciences at Dordt College, agrees that too much attention is being paid to the new Christian activists in the Republican party. “In the past there hasn’t been as much ‘God talk’ coming from the candidates,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean the politics in Iowa has ever been far removed from fundamental issues of right and wrong, economic justice, family concerns, and stewardship issues. Things obviously reflective of a Judeo-Christian environment have always been right there.”

By Kim A. Lawton, in Des Moines.

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