Analysis
This story ran in the religion section of the Grand Rapids Press looking at the role of religious beliefs for people who will be voting for either Granholm or DeVos. Several voters are cited in the story, 2 who said they will vote for DeVos and one who will vote for Granholm. Both candidates are cited as well, with DeVos getting the final comment in. The article also cites some poll data with EPIC/MRA, EPIC/MRA spokesperson Ed Sarpolous, a Hope College Professor, Gary Glenn with Campaign for Michigan Families and a representative with Catholics in the Public Square. Both of the last 2 groups could be seen as conservative. One is endorsing DeVos and the other is critical of Granholm. Does this constitute bias in this news story?
Article Text
Faith matters greatly to Marge Palmerlee, and that includes the faith of the candidates who get her vote.
“To me, that’s paramount,” said Palmerlee, executive director of Degage Ministries in Grand Rapids. “It speaks to someone’s character.”
The character of Dick DeVos, and his stands on faith-related issues, are just as important in winning her vote for governor as his cures for the economy, adds Palmerlee, an evangelical Protestant.
But Gov. Jennifer Granholm will get Maureen Slade’s vote not because Granholm is Catholic, as is Slade. In politics, it should be all about the issues, says the Grand Rapids social activist.
“I support her because she is very strong on policies that are social justice issues,” said Slade, a member of St. Andrew’s Cathedral. “I wouldn’t care what religion she is, honestly.”
But many voters do care about the faith of the candidates, even in an election campaign that mostly has been about jobs, observers say.
In a very tight election, some say the faith factor could make the difference.
“The pocketbook issues are the driving thing, but, in the end, there will be people sitting on the fence,” said Ed Sarpolus of the EPIC/MRA polling firm. “It’s the fence-sitters that will look at other issues by which to make their decision” — issues such as abortion, stem-cell research and intelligent design.
A close race
“Every little thing can matter,” including a candidate’s faith, adds Hope College political scientist Douglas Koopman.
“Voters feel they can get a sense of the morality or integrity of the person,” Koopman said. “It could make a very large difference.”
Even so, some political pundits are concerned the candidates are ignoring faith-related issues by focusing too intently on the economy.
About the only faith issues to have hit the headlines so far, and then only briefly, have had to do with teaching intelligent design in public school science classes and using embryonic stem cells in research.
Gary Glenn, chairman of the Campaign for Michigan Families, a conservative, pro-family lobby, said he would like to see the candidates, and especially DeVos, “address social and cultural values rather than almost exclusively focusing on the economy.”
Spokespeople for both campaigns say the candidates are not dodging the faith issue. Rather, they say DeVos and Granholm see the economy as the main issue on the mind of the electorate.
Polls suggest they’re right. A recent EPIC/MRA survey found 50 percent of respondents most concerned about the economy and jobs, while only 4 percent named “morality and family values.”
Strong convictions
DeVos grew up in the Christian Reformed Church and attends nondenominational megachurch Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, according to spokesman John Truscott. Granholm was raised Presbyterian and converted to Catholicism when she married.
Granholm says her faith compels her to work for society’s most vulnerable. That includes protecting the rights of the elderly in nursing homes, ensuring adequate health care for the poor and pushing job training programs for the unemployed.
“My emphasis is to make sure that government has a safety net for those who are most vulnerable,” she said recently in Kalamazoo.
But some have problems with how the governor lives out her faith, especially on right-to-life issues.
“Clearly, we feel that the real Jennifer Granholm should stand up. You can’t be Catholic and pro-abortion at the same time,” said Marlene Elwell, president of Ferndale-based Catholics in the Public Square.
Granholm’s veto of a bill to outlaw partial-birth abortion flies in the face of Catholic teaching that opposes taking the life of an embryo for any reason, Elwell said.
Granholm has said she personally opposes abortion but doesn’t believe she can impose her beliefs on others, particularly since the U.S. Supreme Court continues to allow the right to choose.
Though DeVos, in this week’s debate, called Michigan abortion law sufficient, he said Thursday he would be “thrilled” if the 1973 Supreme Court ruling is overturned, thus restoring a state ban except to save the mother’s life.
As for stem cell research, Granholm said she favors research on those embryos that fertility clinics would otherwise discard.
“If you are using the embryo to try to save a life, that is both pro-cure and pro-life,” she said. DeVos said stem-cell research holds “great promise” but should be limited to adult stem cells.
A Sept. 14 EPIC/MRA poll found more voters feel Granholm better reflects their views on abortion, stem-cell research and the legal status of gay couples, but more trust DeVos to create jobs.
Granholm used a free moment at the first debate’s end to talk about her family’s faith ties, including that her brother Bob is a Mennonite minister and her husband, Daniel Mulhern, once considered the priesthood. DeVos spoke of competing in three triathlons.
A revealing exchange
“She (in effect) said, ‘Dick, I’m not afraid to talk about my faith convictions,’ ” implying that DeVos was, Sarpolus said.
He believes DeVos has avoided talking about faith-related “wedge issues” for fear potential supporters will see him as being too far to the right.
“He has to be able to say ‘These are my convictions of faith,’ but he can’t give (voters) they impression he’s closed to their point of view.”
Hope’s Koopman disagrees, saying DeVos doesn’t need to talk about faith-related issues because the voters for whom they are key already quietly work on his behalf.
“You’re not going to change somebody’s mind on abortion in a political campaign,” Koopman said. “You find who agrees with you and network them in.”
When asked about his faith, DeVos declines to describe himself as a “religious conservative” or a “cultural conservative.” Rather, he is a “practical conservative” who sees and respects the “bright line in this country between faith and politics,” DeVos said recently. “I certainly respect that line.”
The candidate credits his strong faith as being the result of growing up in a home where his parents “even in the most private moments were completely consistent in what they believe.” DeVos says that religious faith for him is “very important and it is very personal.”
“It’s something that guides and informs me,” he said. “But I also respect others who have differing faith perspectives or none.”
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