The pastor Doug Pagitt launched the organization Vote Common Good to make the religious left more visible, and he hopes to help Democrats learn how to court evangelical voters. Photograph by Mark Ralston / AFP / Getty
“Robb Ryerse, a self-described former fundamentalist pastor and the political director of Vote Common Good, opened the meeting with a tip. ‘Trying to memorize John 3:16 in the car on your way to the event and then quote that is probably not the best way to connect with faith-based voters,’ he said. He had seen a candidate try this trick on the way to a rally in Kansas and then struggle to remember the phrase onstage.”
—From “Teaching Democrats to Speak Evangelical” in The New Yorker