During an iconic scene in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia, viewers watch for two minutes as a mirage off in the desert expanse transforms into a man dressed in black and riding a camel, who then shoots Lawrence’s guide for drinking from the rider’s well. The victim had watched the mirage, wasting time before running to grab his gun too late.
The slain man might capture the feeling of people who confidently proclaimed over the last couple of months that Vice President Kamala Harris would make inroads with evangelical voters and therefore ensure Donald Trump would not return to office. Last week’s election results proved otherwise. The alleged evidence of evangelicals turning from Trump proved to be a mirage that instead materialized — again — into his strongest religious base of support. (The metaphor might also help the president-elect read this piece since Trump staffer-turned-critic Anthony Scaramucci recalled that during the last Trump presidency he had to talk about the plot of Lawrence of Arabia to get Trump to pay attention to a Middle East policy discussion.)
More than 8 in 10 White evangelicals voted for Trump last week. That number should spark as little surprise as Trump winning Oklahoma. It’s essentially the same level of support Trump received from White evangelicals in 2016 and 2020 (and in numerous polls over the last several years).
For many viewers of Lawrence of Arabia, the sense of impending doom builds during the mirage scene, even without the usual directorial trick of music to guide our emotions. But the 2024 presidential campaign wasn’t like sitting down to watch Lawrence of Arabia when it first came out; it should’ve been like watching the movie for at least the third occasion (though who has time for that). You know how the mirage scene is going to end. You know it’s going to bring danger. Just like everyone should’ve known White evangelicals were going to back Trump bigly.
Yet, there are some who thought it would end differently. White evangelicals dominated campaign coverage over the last few months. And some progressive activists spent lots of money on campaign efforts to turn this slice of the electorate. Only to watch it all slip away like sand.
It didn’t have to be this way. All the attention — by activists and reporters —could have instead gone to the voters who explain how Joe Biden won while Hillary Clinton (and now Harris) lost. It wasn’t evangelicals who put Biden in the White House. And they were never the best path for Harris, as last week proved. So this issue of A Public Witness looks at the failed efforts to convert White evangelicals in the ballot box and what it means going forward.
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