5M New Christian Voters Can Decide 2012 Election, Group Says
A non-profit group in liberal Silicon Valley is seeking to register 5 million new Christian conservative voters from across the country, who according to its research, can decide the 2012 presidential election and bring the biblical worldview to the forefront of American life and politics.
Of the estimated 60 million Christians in the United States, only 30 million vote in any given election. The rest do not realize the power they hold in one single vote, says United in Purpose, a group backed by a few Silicon Valley venture capitalists that is running a project called “Champion the Vote.”
The group found that the voting margin between candidates was far lower than the number of registered Christian voters. For example, the two main candidates in Missouri in 2008 had a margin of a mere 3,903 votes while the number of unregistered Christian voters was 102,522. Similarly, North Carolina’s voting margin was only 14,177 votes with 281,212 unregistered voters.
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“We have researched 21 states and have concluded that getting 5 million new registered Christians will decide an election,” says the Champion the Vote website. “On Nov. 6, 2012 we will have the opportunity to decide who runs our United States of America.”
The group, in partnership with Christian organizers and conservative groups, aims to have 100,000 “Champions,” Christians talking to other Christians about registering and voting. It is putting together a database of all evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics in the country who have not registered.
“Our goal is to raise up a body of believers and that they elect a lot of godly leaders,” The Los Angeles Times quoted Bill Dallas, chief executive of United in Purpose, as saying. Dallas said his group would not promote any particular party or candidate. “We’re about the agenda of the lamb, Jesus Christ.”
But the group’s efforts are clearly going to help Republican candidates. The organization’s issues include right to life, religious freedom, traditional marriage, God and government, morality and ethics, voter registration, and prayer in the public arena.
The falling popularity of President Barack Obama is giving hope to Christian groups. “Obama has awakened the sleeping giant of the social conservative vote,” Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition, was quoted as saying. “Whether every lofty plan to register and educate evangelical and Catholic voters comes to fruition or not, the multiplicity and intensity of the efforts underway suggest Obama and the Democrats will compete on a much more even playing field than they were in 2008.”
“I have the audacity to believe that we can be an influence on both parties,” technology entrepreneur Ken Eldred, a Republican donor who is also funding Champion the Vote, was quoted as saying. “I personally believe that someday we’re going to stand before God, and he’s going to pull out a ballot and say, ‘How did you vote in this election?’ And there are going to be people who say, ‘Why do you care about that, God?’ And he’s going to say, ‘Because I created that country and I put you in charge.’”
Over the next 10 years, the United in Purpose group aims to mobilize 40 million evangelicals in the United States to vote. American Christians have the responsibility to honor both the Cross and the flag, says the project’s website.
