CTindex - Christian Today UK Interactive Catalogue
World

Obama targets religious voters in America

Posted: Saturday, June 28, 2008, 8:12 (BST)
Font Scale:A A A
Barack Obama is targeting voters, particularly young people, whose political decision-making is influenced by their religious beliefs as his presidential campaign seeks to shatter the myth of "Godless Democrats", a senior advisor on religious affairs said on Friday.

"The campaign is reaching out to a number of faith communities. It's not just targeting one or two. They have a staff of six or seven people doing various kinds of outreach, and if you were to add it all up, it would cover most American faiths," adviser Shaun Casey said.

"This is...an expansive and inclusive religious outreach strategy," Casey told Reuters in a telephone interview from Nashville, Tennessee, where he is attending a conference of Christian scholars at Lipscomb University.

In the United States, many people regularly attend religious services and most Americans surveyed say they believe in God. A majority of the population is Christian.

To connect with religious voters, politicians often visit church congregations, pepper their speeches with Biblical references and discuss ways their faith has shaped their views and actions.

In recent election cycles, the Republican Party has galvanised white conservative evangelicals by playing up candidates' positions on social issues like abortion.

Arizona Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for the November presidential election, is regarded with suspicion by this base for a number of reasons, including his past criticism of conservative evangelical leaders.

Obama's support for abortion rights and his voting record in the US Senate means the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee will likely make few in-roads with conservative evangelicals who have begun to attack him.

But analysts have said Obama, who would be the first black president, can woo more centrist evangelicals and Catholics, whom polls suggest have been moving from the Republican camp into the growing independent ranks.

Young religious voters are a group that the Obama campaign will target with a grassroots project.

"That is a tool the campaign will use to reach young, religiously motivated voters...He (Obama) has energized that under-30 generation and a lot of those folks are in fact religious themselves," Casey said.



continue to read > 1 | 2
© Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
Have your say on this article
Christian Today Twitter
Google Advertisement
Externally generated - Report offensive links here
Scripture Union
World Headline
Korean Christian leaders declare 2009 a year of unity

Korean Christian leaders declare 2009 a year of unity

South Korea’s Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant leaders have together declared 2009 as the Year of Prayer for...
Sponsored Features
Order books for all ages commending the free and sovereign grace of Almighty God.
01582 765448 For holidays and retreats in the Scottish borders. Whitchester Christian Guest House 01450 377 477 Friendly printing company for churches, charities and businesses nationwide!
Sanct Maria Abbey, NUNRAW
Cistercian Monastery and Guest House
Bookings: 01620 830 228
Email: nunraw.abbot@yahoo.co.uk
Google Advertisement
Externally generated - Report offensive links here