Could Evangelicals Give Kamala an Edge? Inside the Biblical Pitch and Push for Harris

Since Kamala Harris stepped in to become the Democrat nominee for president, she's enjoyed a wave of positive poll numbers and huge crowds at rallies. If she's to carry that momentum into the fall, however, tapping into the Christian vote could potentially take her to the White House. 

As vice president, she's spoken about how the Bible informs her worldview. "The Bible teaches us so much about what we must do to be dutiful," she told those gathered at the National Baptist Convention nearly two years ago. "Understanding we have a duty to our God and to one another." 

Raised as a Baptist in the San Francisco Bay area, Harris' faith is rooted in what is commonly known as the 'Social Justice Gospel.' This human rights approach centers more on Jesus' teaching of compassion for those less fortunate rather than a fundamentalist viewpoint.

The quest to promote that message to Christian voters is well underway. The group Evangelicals For Harris hosted a Zoom call earlier this month that drew tens of thousands, with the leader of the session exclaiming, "Vice President Kamala Harris is a fellow Christian." 

The group's founder is Reverend Jim Ball, a former head of a Christian environmental organization. He tells CBN News the plan is to reach beyond a progressive audience. "We're trying to reach out to as many conservative folks as we can," Reverend Ball says. "We try to reach out to websites that are highly visited by Trump supporters, by so-called MAGA Republicans." When asked if he thinks there's an opportunity to attract some of them, he responds emphatically, "We do." 

The group's 200,000 members are growing daily, and the effort is focused mainly in key swing states. They're planning to spend more than one million dollars on video ads targeting specific Christian households on places like YouTube, Hulu, Apple TV, Google, Facebook and other spaces. Their first ad went after Donald Trump, using clips of him in the past saying he doesn't bring God into the picture when asking for forgiveness. While taking on Trump could be a tall order, they believe there's an opening. 

According to Pew Research, among Donald Trump's base of white evangelical Protestant voters, 37 percent see Trump as a "great" president and 37% say a good one. The window of opportunity may be the fact that 9 percent consider him average, 6 percent poor and 10 percent say terrible. Those three categories total 25 percent of conservative evangelicals who could potentially be difference makers. 

That's what happened for Barack Obama in 2008 when he received 26% of this key group and won. It happened again in 2020, as Joe Biden received 24% and also won. However, in 2016, Hillary Clinton lost after receiving only 16% support from conservative evangelical voters. The conventional wisdom suggests that if Kamala Harris can get over 20% or more of Trump's evangelical base, she's in business. 

"We're hoping that we'll have an historic amount this time, so we'll see," Reverend Ball tells CBN News. Could they potentially reach Obama levels of support? "Yes, Obama levels, that's right so we're hoping for that," Ball says. 

Evangelicals For Harris will have allies joining with them, such as the group Faithful America, which bills itself as the largest online community of Christians. Black Church PAC is also active, holding a recent Zoom call that attracted 16,000 churchgoers and raised a half million dollars toward voter outreach. Then there's Christians for Kamala. 

Senator Cory Booker and CNN's Van Jones are some of big names focusing on getting progressive Christians to mobilize. "I always say before you tell me about your religion, first show it to me in how you treat other people," Senator Booker explained on the Zoom call. Van Jones extolled her compassionate policies. "Her agenda is to stand for what Jesus called the least of these: the addicted, the convicted, the afflicted, the evicted." 

Conservatives say evangelicals shouldn't fall for this worldview which they believe is Christian socialism, leftist thought, identity politics and Marxist-driven Liberation Theology all rolled into one. They see this effort as offensive. 

Bible Scholar Robert Gagnon calls Evangelicals For Harris "an oxymoron, indeed an insult to our intelligence." The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission weighed in as well saying, "Unfortunately, the positions that Harris has a track record of supporting and advocating for, would lead to a devaluing of marriage, the deaths of the preborn, and a restricting of religious liberty for people of faith." 

Of course, her opponent Donald Trump has had a few things to say too. "How any Christian can vote for a Democrat, Christian or person of faith, how you could vote for a Democrat is crazy," Trump said recently. It's crazy. They've got to stop."  Reverend Ball responded to the critique saying, "If folks are wondering, how can somebody vote for one party or the other, I'd say, first of all, center it in Jesus' lordship. And then ask who was Jesus concerned about? Jesus was concerned about the vulnerable, and which party is taking care of the vulnerable?" 

Texas State Representative James Talarico is currently in seminary and on board with Evangelicals for Harris. "You know, when I was a kid growing up here in Texas, I remember people wearing those bracelets with the letters WWJD, What Would Jesus Do?" Talarico tells CBN News. "I think that's the question we need to ask ourselves when we go into the voting booth this November." 

But conservative Christians are quick to point out Harris' extreme positions on abortion, marriage and gender identity. Trump's campaign believes the former president's traditional policies in those areas will resonate much more with evangelicals. Talarico isn't so sure and wants to send a message. "Donald Trump is taking your vote for granted," he says. "He thinks he's got it in the bag...and honestly, I think Donald Trump does not represent Christian values."

In a nutshell, that's why this effort is focused squarely on the "Love Thy Neighbor" biblical commandment when it comes to the Harris agenda ahead. Plus, it should be noted that it worked for Obama back in 2008. "Throughout the history of Christianity, there have been progressive Christians, those who pushed this world to more fully realize the gospel of Jesus Christ," Talarico tells CBN News. "Martin Luther King Jr, Cesar Chavez, Dorothy Day, Jimmy Carter, Mr. Rogers. Progressive Christians aren't anything new. We've been here all along."  

The question now is will Kamala Harris join that list? Christians, both left and right will provide the answer in short order.  

NOTE: CBN neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate. Our goal is to cover the news because truth matters. Please join with us in prayer for God to use CBN News to share the truth from a Christian perspective. God bless you!