Posted on 10/30/2004 5:35:57 AM PDT by Ginifer
The Amish, plain-dressed fiercely traditional Christians who normally don't even register to vote, are showing unusual interest in presidential politics this year.
The distinctive Amish bonnets and beards have been evident at Lancaster County rallies for President Bush.
Writers in The Diary, an Amish newsletter, urge a vote for Bush.
And Daniel Riehl of Lancaster, who maintains close ties with his Amish family, said he even saw a large hand-lettered Bush sign on an Amish farm near Intercourse.
Politicking on Amish land is something "I have never seen before," said Riehl, 26.
A majority of Pennsylvania Amish will shun the polls Tuesday, predicts sociologist and Elizabethtown College professor Donald Kraybill. But, he said, Amish voters could double or quadruple their usual numbers.
That could mean as many as 5,000 votes for Bush. "If the Amish do vote, they would vote Republican," he said.
Kraybill, an expert on the Amish, estimates an adult population of 23,000 to 25,000 Amish in Pennsylvania. Fewer than 5 percent typically vote in presidential elections, but that could jump to 10 to 20 percent this year, he estimates.
Their religion forbids holding political office or engaging in campaigns, but does not forbid voting, says Kraybill. But as pacifists, Amish typically think it's "inconsistent to turn around and vote for commander-in- chief," he said.
Susie Riehl, 56, of White Horse, Daniel's Amish mother, says she's seen warnings in Amish newsletters that "if you don't vote for Bush that's the same as voting for Kerry and he's for gay marriage and abortion."
She calls that "scare tactics." Riehl isn't registered to vote and hasn't been for years.
"Myself personally, I think how can you vote for somebody that's in war and we don't believe in war?" she says.
Another Amish voter, a middle-aged man from Gordonville who did not want his name to be used, cited Bush's visit to Lititz on Wednesday as an example of plain speaking.
"He walked up to the podium just like a Lancaster County farmer. He said 'good morning' to everybody, and he thanked all the politicians, he laid his notes on the podium there, and then away he goes.
"Here you see a man with integrity, Chrisian principles. On Sept. 11, we saw what he was made of. All the Christian churches in the United States see that. People in all walks of life are inspired by Mr. Bush."
The Amish are farmers and small-business owners who organize their community around their church and draw sharp boundaries around it. They don't drive cars, attend school beyond eighth grade or use electricity.
Amish newsletters provide the voices of "scribes who write community letters," Kraybill says, and they've been conducting a debate about whether it's right to vote this year.
At communion one recent Sunday, Susie Riehl's bishop said he and other local bishops had decided to "discourage voting," she says. "The way they put it down is that it's the concern of the world, and we should concern ourselves about spiritual things."
Amish lay leaders from around the country also declared after a recent meeting that they are "not encouraging voting," Kraybill says. Still, he says, Pennsylvania has more than 300 Amish congregations, and each will be influenced by its own leadership.
As conservative, rural, religious people, Amish align with Republicans, Kraybill says. He says there was a spike in Amish voting when John Kennedy ran, because they didn't want a Roman Catholic president.
This year, abortion and gay marriage "have been used by Republicans," he adds. "Both are frightening things to the Amish."
Chad Weaver, co-chairman of the Bush campaign in Lancaster County, says there's been no "formalized, mobilized outreach" targeting Amish. They are attracted to Bush for the same reasons as Roman Catholics or evangelicals, he says, citing abortion and gay marriage, among other issues.
Bush opposes abortion, while Democrat John Kerry supports abortion rights. Both men have said marriage is between a man and a woman, but Bush endorses a constitutional amendment defining marriage and Kerry does not.
Faith and family are the foundation of Amish life. No way could any Plain vote for Kerry.
On an earlier post this week someone from PA told me that the Amish vote in PA would only total about 5,000. That's smaller than I expected but hey, every little bit helps.
Hmmm...the opening statement in this article takes me by surprise. I have visited Lancaster County annually and sometimes more over the last 20 years. On more than one tour of Amish traditions and practices which I have taken in my earlier years there, it was stated quite clearly that the Amish are very big on getting out and voting in elections. The reason given is because laws and lawmakers affect their farming and they want to make sure they have a hand it that. Perhaps they vote mostly in local elections and not so much in the national ones, but they would still have to be registered to do that.
BTW, what is the Amish population in Ohio?
I'll take 5000, you are right, every vote helps.
Maybe this will offset the felon turnout by Fast Eddie Rendell's get out the prison vote effort.
There are Amish, and lukewarm Amish, in lots of states who will also vote republican I would bet.
That was my response too. My husband and I used to live in Lancaster County and I was under the impression that they voted as well. One of them who did work for us, told me they vote Republican because even though they are pacifists, the Republicans will leave them alone and let them be what they are, so they figure they should support that.
Well that's it then! Plain, wrinkled, mutilated, tattooed...whatever. Amish votes for Bush accepted here.
Try to picture Kerry in his spandex windsurfer outfit managing a horse and buggy...with Osama by his side.
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