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August 15, 2006

A Letter to the Waterbury Republicans

The Waterbury Connecticut Republicans, engaging in grassroots McCarthyism, could probably use a reminder that atheists visit the ballot box (despite Bush Sr.'s hesitancy on the topic - good thing I was a Catholic back then).

In the linked bit of mindless editorializing, they make it quite clear that not only does Democrat Ned Lamont have some left-wing nuts hanging from the family tree, but those nuts were... get this... godless!

I'm not sure if I should be more concerned that these pandering fools are trying to conflate the horrors of communism with atheism, or if quite a few Republicans are probably dimwitted enough to buy it and then go put on some Toby Keith tunes.

So, hey, Republicans - even though I've known since the Terri Schiavo debacle that your "big tent" is naught but a lean-to - I'm an atheist, and I vote. Sometimes, when the issues demand it, I vote for Republicans.

Although it would appear you are doing your best to make sure that changes.

(via Ace, by way of RWS)

Update: RWS says:

No offense to andy and BigDog, but NRO just had a thing on atheists and how very few there are of yall and that you really don't make much of a difference as a voting bloc.

Here's the Podhoretz NRO bit, if you're interested.

According to Gallup, the number of self-described atheists in America is astoundingly small. In the latest Gallup poll, only 3 percent of Americans say there is no God, while another 4 percent say God probably does not exist — that's a total of 7 percent in the atheist camp. Only 5 percent say "God maybe exists," so there are your agnostics. So if the Right is doing something to turn off atheists and agnostics, it clearly can survive their disaffection.

In an election that isn't close, I would agree with Podhoretz completely. In one that is close, 7-12 percent of the population is pretty significant, particularly in light of the evidence that the non-religious are, according to several polls and studies, more intelligent than the people filling the pews*.

Although, I suppose pandering works best on the not-so-bright, so maybe they don't want to work for our vote after all.

* The exception, of course, would be the guy at the front of the church. He's clearly brilliant in that he's getting a lot of folks to throw money at him each week. I wish I had thought of that!