I’ve worked in a bipartisan way all my life. But Trumpism now dominates the Republican Party, and congressional Republicans have repeatedly voted as a bloc in this Congress against programs to reduce hunger and poverty. They also voted as a bloc against a bipartisan investigation of the January 6 riot and against legislation to protect voting rights in future elections.
So I am making bigger political contributions than ever before, and it’s all focused on electing Democrats. Since I retired from Bread for the World, I’ve learned more about electoral politics. Today’s electoral campaigns depend heavily on television advertising and social media, which cost money. Yet only 15-20 percent of Americans contribute any money to candidates, PACs, or parties. Corporations and high-income people provide nearly all the funding for political campaigns. Campaign finance reform could change this reality, but the Supreme Court has blocked campaign finance reform for now. So the rest of us need to step up.
The two parties are evenly divided, and they point our nation and the world in very different directions. If we want to provide help and opportunity to people struggling with hunger in our country and around the world, the most powerful action we can take right now is to give money to Democratic candidates - especially for Congress. It’s also super important to defeat the Republican candidates for governor and attorney general who seem willing to overturn election results they don’t like.
Active involvement in elections is an important aspect of Christian discipleship, and political contributions can be a powerful form of Christian charity.
