Tim Kaine’s Jesuit spirituality just might appeal to ‘nones’
By Elizabeth Drescher | July 25, 2016
(RNS) Tim Kaine, who describes himself as “boring,” may not be the running mate choice for Hillary Clinton that Democrats on the far left wanted. But his Jesuit spirituality may make him an ideal candidate for one crucial progressive Democratic constituency: the ‘nones.’
‘Nones’ are people who tell pollsters they have no institutional religious affiliation. Since they emerged in the election of Barack Obama as an important voting bloc, politicos have been struggling to figure out how to mobilize them. They comprise some 20 percent of registered voters and more than 25 percent of registered voters who favor Democrats. The Pew Research Center recently reported that nearly 70 percent of nones support Hillary Clinton.
That’s good news for Democrats. That is, if nones get to the polls on voting day, which is by no means a sure thing for a population more opposed to Trump than for Clinton. Keeping nones plugged into the election is strategically important for the Clinton campaign.
Here’s the rub: most nones don’t think religious views of political candidates matter. They’re far less likely than the religiously affiliated to think organized religions can “contribute to solving social problems,” according to Pew. Given this, candidates seeking to mobilize them based on their non-religious status face challenges that those courting evangelicals and other religiously affiliated voters don’t.
http://religionnews.com/2016/07/25/tim-kaines-jesuit-spirituality-just-might-appeal-to-nones/
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