Weekend Plug-in 🔌

Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” meets readers at the intersection of faith and news. Click to join nearly 10,000 subscribers who get this column delivered straight to their inbox. Got feedback or ideas? Email Bobby Ross Jr.

(ANALYSIS) For a journalist, Election Night typically means tight deadlines and pizza.

And, in my case, an occasional cake with lighted candles.

I celebrated my first birthday — although I don’t recall it — on Nov. 5, 1968. 

That same Tuesday, Republican Richard Nixon defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey to win election as the nation’s 37th president.

I celebrated my 29th birthday on Nov. 5, 1996. 

I do recall it: My wife, Tamie, brought a vanilla sheet cake with stars-and-stripes icing to The Oklahoman’s newspaper office in Oklahoma City as I covered state House elections that night.

“Happy birthday, Bobby!” it read.

That same Tuesday, incumbent Democrat Bill Clinton — the nation’s 42nd president — won re-election over Republican Bob Dole and independent Ross Perot.

Lord willing, I’ll celebrate my 57th birthday on Nov. 5, 2024. Wow, where did all the time go?

This Tuesday marks the third presidential election of my lifetime to coincide with my birthday. Lucky me!

As in 1968, the 2024 race got a jolt when an incumbent Democrat dropped out: Lyndon B. Johnson then and Joe Biden now. 

In each case, a sitting vice president entered the campaign late: Humphrey then and Kamala Harris now.

And as a Washington Post story recently noted, “there were two assassinations that year — Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy — and two attempts on (Republican Donald) Trump’s life this year.”

READ: In The Race For President, Why Are We Talking About McDonald’s?

In the 2024 contest, Harris and Trump — the 45th president — vie to succeed Biden and become the 47th president.

I asked Matthew Wilson, a political scientist and director of Southern Methodist University’s Center of Faith and Learning in Dallas, to offer insight on the elections I cited.

Wilson’s analysis is, as always, fascinating:

1. “1968 and 2024 really stand apart from 1996: 1968 and 2024 are both marked by turmoil, social polarization, political violence, partisan realignment — and high voter turnout.

“1996, by contrast, was a relatively boring election — and I say that not necessarily as an insult (a lot of people today yearn for more boring politics!). It was marked by generally civil, centrist candidates (Bill Clinton and Bob Dole), was neither especially close nor a historic blowout (Clinton won solidly but not overwhelmingly), occurred during a time of relative peace and prosperity and featured the lowest voter turnout in modern history.”

2. “An interesting commonality in those three elections: All featured a candidate who was or would have been impeached: Nixon, Clinton and Trump. Given that only three American presidents have ever been impeached (Andrew Johnson, Clinton and Trump — Nixon resigned in the face of looming inevitable impeachment), this is quite a coincidence.

3. “All three elections featured significant elements of populist insurgency challenging the party establishments: George Wallace in 1968 and Ross Perot in 1996 ran independent populist campaigns. Today, of course, Trump and his populist insurgency have actually taken over the Republican Party.”

4. “All three elections occurred during eras of close partisan balance: This as opposed to one of the long periods in American history when one party or the other was clearly dominant. 

“Nixon was elected in 1968 alongside a Democratic Congress; Clinton was elected in 1996 alongside a Republican Congress; and whoever wins this time faces a strong possibility of having at least one house controlled by the other party (Harris especially — the Senate is highly likely to go Republican).”

5. “1996 and 2024 both featured candidates credibly accused of sexual misconduct: In both cases the vast majority of their co-partisans were willing to overlook it. Perhaps that speaks to changes in our society since 1968.”

In case you missed it, Wilson was an extremely helpful source in a Religion Unplugged feature I wrote a year ago on the 60th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy assassination.

That story highlighted the striking parallels between some of the hateful, divisive political rhetoric then and now.

READ: Sermons On Hate Still Resonate 60 Years After JFK’s Assassination

Looking ahead to Tuesday’s big vote, politics obviously matter. So, too, does religion, just as it did four years ago. And, for what it’s worth, just as it did 20 years ago.

What do the 2024 candidates say about their faith? Religion Unplugged’s executive editor, Clemente Lisi, offers a primer.

How might America’s religious communities sway the election? ReligionLink’s Ken Chitwood delves into the question.

Where do various faith groups stand on Harris and Trump? The Pew Research Center’s Gregory A. Smith analyzes survey data.

What’s my prediction for the outcome? It’s too close to call.

It could be a long night. Anybody want to bake me a cake?

Inside The Godbeat

Sophie Carson covers religion, immigration and breaking news for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

I enjoyed seeing her at the 2024 Religion News Association meeting in Pittsburgh.

The Milwaukee paper did an interesting Q&A with Carson to help readers get to know her better.

The Final Plug

A blind farmer.

A motorcycle-riding nurse.

The story of the late Bob and Helen Bland is as ordinary as it is extraordinary, right down to their last name.

I traveled to Colorado to report it for The Christian Chronicle.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for Religion Unplugged and serves as editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 18 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.