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Zogby's Purple People Poll

by Marcia Ford 09-30-2008
While most political junkies were distracted by the big news of the week - the economic meltdown, the first presidential debate - the good people at Zogby Internatio

Minor Party Pros and Cons

by Marcia Ford 08-26-2008

If you're among the growing number of voters who are disenchanted with both major parties, you may be considering a move to a third party. You're not alone. Some minor parties have seen significant growth in recent years; Oregon's Independent Party likely holds the record, with nearly 24,000 registered members since its inception a mere 18 months ago.

But before you make the leap to any third party, here are some questions you need to think about:

How important is winning to [...]

Good News in Pew's Latest Survey

by Marcia Ford 06-26-2008

Whenever I hear those three little words -- "the latest poll" -- I generally tune out. Pollsters and survey-takers seldom ask the right questions, I've found, so the responses they get are less than reliable. One exception is the surveys conducted by The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, and the organization's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, released Monday, June 23, proves why.

The Pew survey [...]

Political Labels and the So-called 'Religious Left'

by Marcia Ford 06-11-2008

Recently I served on a panel at BookExpo America that explored evangelicals' changing attitudes toward politics. As each co-panelist spoke, I mentally applauded his assessment of how evangelicals are responding to, and changing, the current political climate. While there were some areas of disagreement, there was a much greater area of common ground among the four of us.

Except when it came to [...]

What Will Dobson Do Now?

by Marcia Ford 04-01-2008

Over the weekend, James Dobson backed off his earlier assertion that he would not cast a vote for president this year if John McCain clinched the GOP nomination. Voting is a "God-given responsibility," Dobson told host Sean Hannity Sunday night on Hannity's America, and one that he plans to [...]

We the Purple

by Marcia Ford 02-28-2008

A few weeks ago, as I was reading David Kinnaman's book unChristian-a look at the way late teens to 30-year-olds perceive Christianity-I found myself nodding in agreement. Not only did I fully understand this younger generation's negative attitudes, I've also harbored many of those same opinions over the years. And today, in no arena of life is this more evident than in the political sphere, where partisanship in the church has repelled [...]