Our editor Terry Mattingly already wrote today's definitive GetReligion post on evangelicals and the #NeverTrump movement.
If you haven't already, check it out:
But I couldn't resist pointing out the latest media schizophrenia on whether evangelicals/social conservatives/whatever you want to call them will rally to support Donald Trump now that he's the presumptive Republican nominee.
Over at NPR, the news of the day is that many evangelicals can't bring themselves to jump on the Trumpwagon:
But if you believe the front page of the New York Times, social conservatives are "warming to the idea of Trump":
Anybody else's head spinning yet? (Besides Jose Bautista's, I mean.)
So who should readers believe: NPR or the Times?
NPR quotes a handful of pastors and other church folks in Iowa. The Times quotes a handful of national-level activists. So maybe give the Old Gray Lady the slight edge.
Still, both stories are heavy on anecdotal evidence — not exactly the Holy Grail of Authoritative Journalism.
Both reports repeatedly use the term "many" — as in many evangelicals, many social conservatives and many Republicans — in lieu of cold, hard, quantifiable numbers.
My advice? Hold on to that #NeverTrump hashtag, but don't be surprised if #MaybeTrump starts trending, too.