Son of a Preacher Man

Like me, Poynter's Steve Buttry grew up Baptist. He makes an excellent point, that if conservatives voted for "morality" when they voted for Bush, they certainly didn't when they voted for Reagan:

I'll tell you something I've learned about conservatives: They are as likely to be hypocrites as liberals are.

Many of the same conservative voters who chose George W. Bush on Nov. 2 because of his faith and "family values" chose Ronald Reagan 24 years ago over Jimmy Carter. That was a decision of pure politics. Ronald Reagan was a divorcee who impregnated Nancy Davis before they married, was largely alienated from his children, and seldom went to church when he was governor, a presidential candidate, or president. Jimmy Carter was a born-again Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher who lived his faith more consistently than any public figure of our time, stayed married to the same woman for 58 years, and was as attentive a father as any president we've had.

Now, it may be that the concerns for "morality" were exaggerated or miscalculated in this past election, but since folks like Bob Jones and Pat Robertson clearly believe Bush has some sort of spiritual mandate, this point may need to be revisited regularly over the next few years.