Democratic Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is openly gay and Christian, a combination that's unprecedented among past serious contenders for the Presidency.
Writing in the Washington Post, conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin notes that his expression of faith is one way to counter the noxious parts of Trump's agenda.
Trump might be a favorite of the Christian Right, but as Rubin points out, his agenda runs against the tenets of Christianity, leaving Democratic challengers like Buttigieg an opening to appeal to America's better values.
"In short, Buttigieg is telling Democrats that they should concede nothing to Republicans on the topics of faith and values, not because (or not only because) Trump is a miserable person, but because Democrats advance policies that happen to be consistent with our deepest faith traditions — the obligation to look after children (no child separation), to treat the sick (including treating addiction as a disease, not a crime), to welcome the stranger (no, we are not “all full”) and to care for the planet (e.g., fighting climate change)," she writes.
The GOP is in a far worse position.
"Republicans right now are severely handicapped in responding to this sort of argument, both because their policies are often based on cruelty (e.g., child separation), racism (the entire immigration issue, voter suppression) and lack of empathy (e.g., threatening to leave millions without health care), and because the narcissistic president and his apologists cannot even fathom why they should be guided by these values," she writes.
"They operate in a soulless, faithless cult of Trumpism in which stirring up hatred and divisiveness is an end unto itself and the only “value” one applies is whether a statement or action helps or hurts Trump. Buttigieg is taking a leap of faith that voters ultimately don’t want that, but instead want government that is in sync with their basic values."
Rubin concludes that Buttigieg stands against everything Trump represents. "For the religious or the religious voter, there is some reassurance in knowing that his policies are grounded in something more than whether it’s good for Pete Buttigieg. That alone makes him about as un-Trumpian as you can get."