There's something of a consensus forming, and very likely a correct one, that in addition to the legacy of Warner, what won the election for Tim Kaine was was his sincere and oft-mentioned faith. Good to hear it. But these discussions always worry me a bit. It's not that I necessarily feel qualified to dispute their conclusions, but the premise, and the implications, are troubling. It's bad enough that Democrats believe they've got to fake faith these days, transforming casual spiritual commitments into essential components of our beings. Worse, however, is that these theological costume parties come off as obviously inauthentic, meaning Democrats who want to compete in certain races simply have to be longtime believers, sincere theists like Kaine or Clinton. That's a worrisome precedent.
Political office should not be restricted to anyone, not veterans, not believers, not men, and not Democrats. Quite a few folks in this country have a casual relationship to religion and that shouldn't be a disqualifier for office nor a negative when the DCCC or DSCC goes out scouring the countryside for potential candidates. Worse then losing some elections is celebrating the idea that we can win them by just nominating enough altar boys who never hung up their frocks. And while that's not what folks are explicitly saying, it's bubbling just beneath the surface. Democrats need to find a way to overcome the religion gap by delegitimizing a private issue as a relevant litmus test for success in the public sphere. I don't know how to do that, and you certainly can't tell anyone that the beliefs they live by aren't important enough to vote on, but it's something to think about.
As it is, I can't help feeling Kaine's successful invocation of his missionary experience is much more troubling than heartening. Celebrating that the a deeply religious Democrat was able to prove his faith strikes me moving the goalposts so far down field that we're scoring in the other team's end zone. The fact is, he should never have had to do that. An anti-death penalty position is no more moral if rooted in biblical verse than in a self-constructed or philosophically adopted ethical structure. That Kaine had to deploy Jesus to deflect attacks is, in fact, a bad thing. His positions should be able to stand without the son of god propping them up. Tim Kaine without the church-going background should be as appealing as Tim Kaine with it. That it's not so is a precedent we should be giving serious thought to.
