Clinton’s critical mistake: Ignoring evangelicals
(WNS)–Reflecting on Democrats’ stunning loss on Nov. 8, the former faith outreach director for President Barack Obama’s successful 2012 campaign said Hillary Clinton’s campaign made a critical mistake in ignoring evangelical voters. “We asked for the votes of evangelicals and the Clinton campaign didn’t,” Michael Wear, who also led evangelical outreach for the faith-based office at the Obama White House, told me. “It’s a campaign, you ask for people’s votes. And Hillary asked for just about every vote except this group of voters.” White evangelicals make up about a quarter of the electorate, and exit polls showed they voted for President-elect Donald Trump over Clinton 81-16 percent. That’s certainly not the only explanation for Trump’s political upset, but it’s one piece. Obama won 26 percent of the white evangelical vote in 2008 and 20 percent in 2012.
Trump routs Clinton, wins presidency
(WNS)–In a stunning rebuke of polls and pundits, business mogul and reality television star Donald J. Trump has won the presidency of the United States. Despite predictions that Democrat Hillary Clinton held an Electoral College advantage heading into Election Day, the Republican nominee swept a bevy of key swing states and picked off Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to prevail with at least 276 electoral votes. Clinton was mum on election night, perhaps holding some thread of hope that two decades spent in the halls of government power hadn’t finished suddenly with a thud. But by the time Trump took the stage in front of a euphoric crowd in New York City, Clinton had called him to concede.
Conservative leaders jubilant over Trump victory
(WNS)–Conservative leaders from a bevy of activist groups arrived Nov. 9 at the National Press Club exhausted from watching the previous night’s election returns but most could hardly contain their glee over the outcome. “Yesterday’s election result was the opening battle of an American political revolution,” said Richard Viguerie, Conservative HQ chairman. Voters electing Donald Trump as their new leader means Americans want nothing to do with President Barack Obama’s policies, agenda, or legacy, he said, a big smile spread across his face. Trump’s upset win resets the playing field for conservative ideas, Viguerie added. He issued a warning for anyone unprepared: “Capitol Hill Republican leaders who cannot help implement the Trump agenda should get out of the way and resign.”
Study: Celebrities influence out-of-wedlock births
(WNS)–Fifty years ago, only about 8 percent of babies in the United States were born to single women. Today that figure is over 40 percent. Although sociologists point to many reasons for the disturbing trend, a new study just presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, indicates the huge increase of babies born out-of-wedlock may, at least in part, be due to the way in which mainstream media portrays the lifestyles of the rich and famous. According to the study, celebrity lifestyles have had a huge impact on social norms and the makeup of the traditional American family. Hanna Grol-Prokopczyk, the study’s author and a sociologist at the University at Buffalo, analyzed nearly 400 cover stories from People magazine between the premier issue in 1974 and the present to learn when interest in celebrity pregnancies began and how the magazine changed the way it presented the family over time. Grol-Prokopczyk found that in the earlier years, although unmarried celebrities usually did not apologize for getting pregnant, the family model still encouraged couples to marry by the time the baby was born.
