{"id":136813,"date":"2018-06-22T07:58:47","date_gmt":"2018-06-22T13:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=136813"},"modified":"2018-09-05T18:17:11","modified_gmt":"2018-09-06T00:17:11","slug":"ideals-pragmatism-and-the-evolving-gop-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/06\/22\/ideals-pragmatism-and-the-evolving-gop-vote.html","title":{"rendered":"Ideals, pragmatism, and the evolving GOP vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article discusses how (many, not all) evangelical types in Nevada are rallying around a notorious brothel owner who has won the GOP nomination for a seat in the state legislature.<\/p>\n

❝ “This really is the Trump movement,” Hof, 71, told Reuters in an interview at Moonlite BunnyRanch, his brothel near Carson City in northern Nevada that was featured on the HBO reality television series “Cathouse.” “People will set aside for a moment their moral beliefs, their religious beliefs, to get somebody that is honest in office,” he said. “Trump is the trailblazer, he is the Christopher Columbus of honest politics.”<\/i> ❞<\/p>\n

The immediate reaction is to point fingers and talk about hypocrisy. This guy, like Trump, embodies all sorts of non-Christian ideals, but conservative Christians are turning out to support him. What a bunch of maroons!<\/i> But I think there's more to it than that, and not necessarily a bad more-to-it.<\/p>\n

❝ “People want to know how an evangelical can support a self-proclaimed pimp,” Fuentes said in an interview at his home in Pahrump, an unincorporated town of 36,000 people that is the largest community in the sprawling, rural district where Hof is favored to win in November’s general election.<\/i><\/p>\n

He said the reason was simple. “We have politicians, they might speak good words, not sleep with prostitutes, be a good neighbor. But by their decisions, they have evil in their heart. Dennis Hof is not like that.” The pastor said he felt Hof would protect religious rights, among other things.<\/i><\/p>\n

In Hof’s Republican-leaning district, seven evangelicals said they voted for him because they believed that he, who like Trump is a wealthy businessman and political outsider, would also clean up politics and not be beholden to special-interest groups and their money.<\/i> ❞<\/p>\n

Politics is about compromise. It's trying to balance the needs of multiple constituents, multiple interests. It's about being willing to take a candidate who is imperfect, but the better (or less worse) choice.<\/p>\n

In a sense, this shift is a sign of maturity by evangelicals, an acknowledgment that no candidate is perfect, that no person<\/i> is perfect, and that even a sinner can do good, can serve the public, can advance a healthy change. <\/p>\n

Of course, I also think this particular application of this tolerance is delusional. Coupling "Trump" with "honest politics" is crazy. Assuming that wealth makes one a "political outsider" and therefore will lead to a clean-up of corruption is also myopic, to say the least. Hof sounds like a dubious candidate for change, except for change that lines his own pocket, and Trump seems to have demonstrated that his devotion to evangelical causes is solely occasional throwing of bones, whereas his central agenda strikes me as actually opposed to Christ's preaching.<\/p>\n

But while the application is wildly misguided (and a bit desperate), the principle behind it is not altogether out of whack. Refusing to vote for your interests because a candidate imperfectly represents your ideals sounds kind of good on paper, but generally speaking means you won't be represented at all. Figuring out what level of imperfection and compromise is tolerable is a pain in the ass and an uncomfortable thing to do, but it's also a sign of growing up.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/a>
\nIn age of Trump, evangelicals back self-styled top U.S. pimp<\/a><\/span>
\nHe styles himself as America’s best-known pimp, a strip-club owner who runs multiple brothels and looks set to win a seat as a Republican in the Nevada legislature with the blessing of many conservative Christian voters.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Original Post<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article discusses how (many, not all) evangelical types in Nevada are rallying around a notorious brothel owner who has won the GOP nomination for a seat in the state legislature. ❝ “This really is the Trump movement,” Hof, 71, told Reuters in an interview at Moonlite BunnyRanch, his brothel near Carson City in northern … Continue reading “Ideals, pragmatism, and the evolving GOP vote”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,109,533,1140,110,1071],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-church-state","category-demographics","category-elections-2018","category-religious-zanies","category-trump"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":131800,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/10\/15\/on-the-religious-right-and-trump.html","url_meta":{"origin":136813,"position":0},"title":"On the Religious Right and Trump","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 15-Oct-16 4:22pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't agree with most of Ross Douthat's points here -- that older social conservatives were more enthusiastic about Ted Cruz than Donald Trump doesn't make me think better of them; quite the opposite. But it's worth noting that he makes a few good observations. Not all religious conservatives are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":137722,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/01\/27\/the-trump-administration-will-protect-religious-discrimination-by-health-care-workers.html","url_meta":{"origin":136813,"position":1},"title":"The Trump administration will protect religious discrimination by health care workers","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 27-Jan-19 6:23pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Think those lesbians are nasty sinners who are going to fry in hell so why should you have to provide nursing services to them? Convinced that a woman who gets an abortion is an unclean baby-killer and your checking her blood pressure will make you complicit? Think that transgenderism is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17983,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/07\/29\/unblogged-bits-thu-29-jul-10-1402.html","url_meta":{"origin":136813,"position":2},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Thu. 29-Jul-10 1402)","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 29-Jul-10 12:02pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... White House proposal would ease FBI access to records of Internet activity - One of the more disappointing aspects of the Obama Administration has been its continued vigorous push for federal authorities to gather\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130995,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/07\/05\/the-evangelical-adoption-of-donald-trump.html","url_meta":{"origin":136813,"position":3},"title":"The Evangelical Adoption of Donald Trump","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 5-Jul-16 11:32pm","format":false,"excerpt":"If Christians want to support Donald Trump despite their religion, I can understand that -- it's worth some debate, but that's the nature of the intersection of politics and religion and society, and how we all pursue, prioritize, and compromise on ideals.If Christians want to support Donald Trump because they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":134599,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/09\/07\/trump-sessions-justice-dept-files-brief-favor-anti-gay-baker.html","url_meta":{"origin":136813,"position":4},"title":"Trump \/ Sessions Justice Dept. files a brief in favor of anti-gay baker","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 7-Sep-17 10:05pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Because of course they did. 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