The presidential election of 2016 came to be known as "The Flight 93 Election" after Michael Anton’s searing essay in the Claremont Review of Books urging a vote for Donald Trump.
"Charge the cockpit or you die," Anton wrote in early September 2016, recalling the September 11, 2001, flight whose passengers fought back against the al-Qaida hijackers. "You may die anyway. You — or the leader of your party — may make it into the cockpit and not know how to fly or land the plane."
Trump proved a competent pilot for much of his administration.
By now, though, he’s in danger of making the Flight 93 metaphor a little too apt, leaving the Republican Party and the country wrecked like an airliner down in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
It’s early, but not too early, to ask by what name the next presidential election will be known. It’s not too early, either, to venture a first, speculative call: 2024 might turn out to be the Psalm 121 election.
That was the Psalm that the governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, mentioned on Friday, March 31, in remarks at the Prince William County Adult Detention Center, explaining why he and his wife Suzanne are donating to the Good News Jail and Prison Ministry the salary he earned as governor in the first three months of the year.
"I’m inspired in the mornings with my favorite psalm, Psalm 121," Youngkin said. "That I frequently go to because, yes we all need help, and most days I feel like I need more than my fair share."
The verses of the Psalm that Youngkin cited were the first two, "I turn my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth."
Whether Youngkin winds up entering the race or not, the way the rest of the Republican presidential field is shaping up, there’s a strong likelihood that religious themes will play an important part in the election.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., is a two-term governor.
Like Youngkin, he is basketball player. In February 2023 remarks at Bob Jones University, where Hutchinson went to college, the politician said that while serving in the Department of Homeland Security during the George W. Bush administration, he was often asked how he could sleep at night with the responsibility of protecting America from a terrorist attack.
Hutchinson said he replied, "I believe in God, who reigns in the affairs of men, and he is providential over everything that happens. And I do my best, I work hard at it, but God is in control."
Explained Hutchinson, "You understand humility." He spoke of what he called, "servant-leadership," and of the importance of "civil discourse and respect for those you disagree with," of, "bringing out the best of America and not appealing to our worst instincts."
Trump wasn’t mentioned, but the contrast was clear.
The humility applies not only to the role of the politician, but to the role of the state. As Hutchinson put it, "The church is more powerful than the government. And so when we want to make a difference in our culture, the government is not usually the best answer."
If not from Youngkin or Hutchinson, the religious themes on the Republican side in 2024 may come from former Vice President Mike Pence, whose recent memoir was recently titled "So Help Me God," and who, in explaining his actions in the closing days of the Trump administration, has said, "Psalm 15 says he who keeps his oath even when it hurts."
Outside the Republican Party, religious themes might also come in a presidential campaign by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va.
Manchin’s Senate website features an article headlined "Deep Faith Long a Big Part of Manchin’s Life," quoting the senator to the effect that, "When you see a strong community, you see a faith-based society.
"They will partner up and fill in the gaps. Government can’t start up and run all the social programs that are needed. Faith-based communities can still reach them."
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, R-Ariz., a graduate of Brigham Young University, has warned against "politicians using religion as a tool to divide people."
She’s also noted, though, that, as in the Civil Rights movement, religion can help bring people together.
For a glimpse of that unifying potential, watch Neshama Carlebach, the daughter of an Orthodox rabbi, appearing in a Reform synagogue in Manhattan, alongside the Green Pastures Baptist Church Choir, singing those lines from Psalm 121.
Turn aside all those polls showing declines in American belief in God, in church membership, and in religious service attendance.
Look, instead to the mountains.
Psalm 121 is, after all, a song of ascents.
Ira Stoll is the author of "Samuel Adams: A Life," and "JFK, Conservative." Read Ira Stoll's Reports — More Here.
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