I guess Obama will address those bitter people of faith.
Dems put faith front-and-center on the campaign trailBy Rebecca Sinderbrand
CNN
(CNN) -- Which Democrat is winning the battle for religious voters? God only knows.
So far this year, Hillary Clinton has maintained an edge among Roman Catholics, many of them the Hispanic and working-class white voters who have been among the most loyal members of her base.
Thanks in large part to that support, many surveys had also given her a slight edge over Barack Obama among white Democratic voters who attended church of any kind regularly.
But in exit polls, the category of regular church-goers -- those who attend services at least once a month or more -- were more likely to choose Obama. That category in many states was dominated by African-Americans, who have overwhelmingly backed the Illinois senator's candidacy.
For years, the evangelical community has largely supported Republican presidential candidates.
Conservative Christian activists, drawn by the party's stands on abortion, gay marriage and other social issues, have been among the GOP's most reliable foot soldiers.
But this year, evangelical leaders have split over presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, who is struggling to mend fences with some evangelical luminaries like James Dobson who have expressed disappointment with his selection.
During the primary season, former Baptist minister Mike Huckabee appealed directly to evangelicals as one of their own -- but in opinion polls conducted early in the primary season, those voters preferred either Democrat to the former Arkansas governor.
Last summer, in one of the first Democratic events of its kind, the party's leading presidential candidates discussed their faith and how it has spared their policy positions in a forum co-sponsored by CNN.
On Sunday, after a tumultuous campaign season where religion -- both rumor and reality -- has had a starring role, the two remaining White House hopefuls, Clinton and Obama, again venture onto terrain that has been dominated by Republican candidates.
It's a risk-filled journey for both.
Clinton's problem was crystallized in a March editorial in Christianity Today, titled "Hating Hillary: Getting to the bottom of a cultural trend that has seeped into the church."
Obama's campaign has been plagued by false rumors that he is a Muslim, and controversial remarks by his former minister, Jeremiah Wright.
So both have put their own faith front-and-center on the campaign trail.
Clinton has told interviewers that she has felt the presence of the Holy Spirit on many occasions, and that she believes the resurrection of Christ is a historical fact; Obama regularly mentions his faith in his stump speech, and has made religion a major element of his appeal in many states.
Obama's campaign has sent out literature that describes him as a "committed Christian," relates his first religious experience and pictures him at a pulpit, in front of a cross.
Winning over religious voters, especially evangelicals, is still an uphill climb for any Democrat -- but for the first time in recent memory, the party believes its next nominee may have a prayer.
Watch the Democrats discuss faith, politics and policy tonight on CNN at a forum co-sponsored by Faith in Public Life. The event will air beginning at 8 p.m. ET
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/13/forum/index.html
