Creeping Christian Rightism in the Democratic Party

The executive director of a DC group with deep roots in the Democratic faith outreach schemes of a decade ago, has a regular column at Time.com.  His latest is titled, "John Kasich Could Be the GOP’s Pope Francis Candidate." In it, Christopher Hale of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good compared Ohio Gov. John Kasich to Pope Francis.

   

At times during the first GOP debate on Thursday night, it was hard to tell who was talking: Pope Francis or Ohio Governor John Kasich.

I'll leave it to others to speak to Kasich's record --  but here is Hale's hosanna to Kasich.

It isn’t just Kasich’s words that connected him with the 78-year-old Bishop of Rome. Kasich’s policy decisions during the past five years have reflected the pope’s plea that politicians be “genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor.” Most noteworthy was the governor’s courageous decision to break with his Republican colleagues and support Medicaid expansion in the state of Ohio. When conservatives pushed back on his decision, Kasich asked his fellow Republicans to understand that poverty is real. “When you die and get to the meeting with St. Peter, he’s probably not going to ask you much about what you did about keeping government small. But he is going to ask you what you did for the poor. You better have a good answer.”

Pope Francis would most certainly agree. He has derided trickle-down economic systems that cut social programs as having a “crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power,” and has lamented that “the excluded are still waiting.”

But even if one says that maybe Hale has a point and that Kasich, (who was raised Catholic, but who is now a member of a tiny Anglican breakaway from the mainline Episcopal Church) is just taking his faith seriously -- Hale has a tell:

Hale favorably compares George W. Bush with Gov. Kasich.

Kasich’s performance Thursday night was reminiscent of the George W. Bush era of “compassionate conservatism.” Bush defined this governing philosophy in simple terms: “It is compassionate to actively help our citizens in need. It is conservative to insist on accountability and results.” The philosophy proved successful for Bush. But can Kasich follow suit?

Bush, of course, never delivered on his promise of compassionate conservatism -- as exposes by top officials of his office of Faith Based Initiatives, John DiIulio and David Kuo later made clear.