Politics and Religion

David Domke from Washington University gave a lecture on politics and religion on Wednesday the 17th of September. He described how the Republican party is viewed as the 'daddy' party and the Democrats are the 'mommy' party. He also explained that when the US as a whole is worried about the economy the Democrats tend to do better in the polls, whereas when the US feel unsafe or threatened, such as in 9-11 the Republicans do better. He also talked about the current political situation. For example Hilary Clinton was running essentially as a 'man' hoping to get people to see her as a strong figure that they would want to vote for, as we know that didn't work out the way that she thought it might. Palin on the other hand doesn't have to put up the 'manly' front because she is already in the 'daddy' party. He also suggested that because she presents a mothering attitude(she has five kids)she and McCain make the perfect 'father/mother' running team. The discussion went on to suggest that women tend to do better in the polls for elected offices when they have children however having children also makes them much more accountable than men who may also have children. For example people don't usually have a problem with male politicians being away from their children to focus on their careers, however if a woman is away from her children for any length of time she can be considered a bad mother. This was an extremely interesting lecture and really made me think about some of my political stances.