Death Bed Conversion

To appreciate the shallowness of the Democratic Party these days, one only has to read Eleanor Clift's piece explaning how to win elections again, Democrats will have to start faking religious faith.

"I talked to him [Howard Dean] over the holidays," [author Jim] Wallis says. Both men are regulars at Renaissance, the New Year’s gathering of intellectuals and politicians pioneered by the Clintons. "I explained Job wasn't in the New Testament. He was grateful for that advice, and he won't make that mistake again.

The worst thing is being inauthentic, Wallis continued, and that's how Dean appeared when he called upon Job as evidence of his religiosity, and got him in the wrong Testament. "If you're motivated by religious values, let it shine through," says Wallis. But if you’re not, don’t be a phony. Dean was raised as an Episcopalian, and more recently has attended a Universalist church in Vermont. His wife is Jewish. Like most New Englanders, he is not accustomed to discussing his religious faith in a political context. "Dean talks about community and that's a value," Wallis says to reassure the crowd that the new Democratic leader can hold his own. "So let's hope for the best with Howard Dean."

And so, Dean needs to start pretending better.

Oh, and by the way, there's nothing especially religious about attending a Universalist church.