BOSTON (ABP) — Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts capped a political convention that saw Democrats emphasizing faith and moral language with a call to progressive values and religious voters.
“[I]n this campaign, we welcome people of faith,” Kerry told a cheering crowd of about 20,000 delegates, guests and journalists in his acceptance speech July 29 at the convention in Boston.
Kerry also cautioned delegates — in what many observers interpreted as a critique of President Bush's regular use of religious language — that “I don't wear my religion on my sleeve.”
“But,” the lifelong Catholic continued, “faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday. I don't want to claim that God is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side.”
The speech came at the end of a convention in which religious language and imagery enjoyed a level of prominence unusual for Democrats in recent years. The convention's associated events included the first-ever meetings of two groups — one of progressive religious leaders and another of young Democrats — designed to help find ways for Democrats to better convey the religious and moral motivations for their policy stances. And speaker after speaker employed appeals to religious and moral language.
In his speech introducing Kerry, former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland — like Kerry, a Vietnam veteran — quoted Jesus in describing Kerry's war service as a Navy boat captain.
“The Bible tells me that no greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends,” Cleland said. “John Kerry's fellow crewmates that I'm honored to share the stage with tonight are living testimony to his leadership, his courage under fire, and his willingness to risk his life for his fellow Americans.”
Kerry also attacked what Democrats throughout the week described as the Republican Party's attempt to narrow all moral and religious discussion in politics to issues of abortion and human sexuality.
“For four years, we've heard a lot of talk about values,” Kerry told the delegates. “But values spoken without actions taken are just slogans. Values are not just words…. And it is time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families.
“You don't value families by kicking kids out of after-school programs and taking cops off our streets so that Enron can get another tax break,” Kerry continued, beginning a litany of critiques of Bush's economic, educational and social policies.
“We believe in the value of doing what's right for everyone in the American family. And that is the choice in this election,” he concluded.
However, other convention speakers spoke in favor of positions widely criticized by religious conservatives. Several speakers opposed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and others argued for abortion rights. And a featured speech by Ron Reagan, son of the late president, urged support for embryonic stem-cell research, which many conservatives oppose as immoral.
Kerry himself — who does not support gay marriage but opposes amending the Constitution to ban it — criticized Bush and his party for pushing the issue.
In one of the biggest applause lines of his nominating speech, Kerry said, “I want to address these next words directly to President George W. Bush: In the weeks ahead, let's be optimists, not just opponents. Let's build unity in the American family, not angry division. Let's honor this nation's diversity. Let's respect one another. And let's never misuse for political purposes the most precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States.”
Bush supporters attacked Kerry's speech, including the talk about values.
“On the cultural side he says he's for traditional American values,” said Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) on a July 30 conference call with reporters arranged by the Bush campaign. “He doesn't support the Defense of Marriage Act, which passed with 80-plus percent of the vote. And now he says he's for what the Defense of Marriage Act would have in fact accomplished. The list goes on and on and on.”
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