Dems put faith front-and-center on the campaign trail
Minggu, 13 April 2008
(CNN) -- In a forum airing on CNN, Hillary Clinton again criticized recent comments made by Barack Obama, saying "the characterization of people in a way that really seemed to be elitist and out of touch is something that we have to overcome."
At a religion forum Sunday, Sen. Hillary Clinton renewed criticism of a comment from her Democratic rival.
The two Democratic presidential hopefuls are being questioned separately in a forum on faith and politics airing tonight on CNN. Sen. Clinton won a coin toss and chose to be questioned first. Her first question concerned recent controversial comments made by Sen. Obama.
Last Sunday, Obama said some small-town Pennsylvanians are "bitter" people who "cling to guns and religion." On Saturday, he further explained those comments.
Obama said he regretted offending anyone with his wording. "The underlying truth of what I said remains, which is simply that people who have seen their way of life upended because of economic distress are frustrated, and rightfully so," he told a North Carolina newspaper.
Clinton, speaking in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday, said she was "taken back" by what she referred as "demeaning remarks" about "small-town" Americans.
"Sen. Obama's remarks are elitist and out of touch. They are not reflective of values and beliefs of Americans, certainly not the Americans I know, not the Americans I grew up with, not the Americans I lived with in Arkansas or represent in New York," the senator from New York said.
Obama's campaign would take issue with Clinton's assertion. It 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.
So which Democrat has been winning the battle for religious voters? God only knows.
So far this year, 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 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.
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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.
Tonight, after a tumultuous campaign season where religion -- both rumor and reality -- has had a starring role, Clinton and Obama, again venture onto terrain that has been dominated by Republican candidates. The pair are discussing faith, politics and policy tonight on CNN at a forum co-sponsored by Faith in Public Life. The event, which began at 8 p.m. ET, is in progress.
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.
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.
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