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WASHINGTON -- Significantly more monthly churchgoers are supporting the Democratic nominee -- Sen. Barack Obama -- in this year's presidential election than in the 2004 election cycle, according to a new poll.

hancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. often says Liberty University students are the best — and the results of his campus-wide campaign to register student voters locally is giving him one more reason to believe it. As of Monday’s 4 p.m. registration deadline, LU Commuter Affairs officials had collected and submitted 4,200 forms to the Lynchburg, Va., city registrar. “I’m proud of the students for stepping forward and registering and showing an interest in what’s happening in government. I think it’s a testament to how committed our students are to making a difference,” said Falwell Jr. Falwell is still receiving several links...

By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News wslater@dallasnews.com AUSTIN – In a significant shift in party support from four years ago, monthly churchgoers are backing Democrat Barack Obama in this year’s presidential race, according to a new poll. Mr. Obama, who has tried to tap faith-based voters, has the support 60 percent of Americans who attend religious services once or twice a month, according to the survey for the nonpartisan group Faith in Public Life. Also Online Evangelical right slow to support McCain Democrat John Kerry lost that group in 2004. At the same time, Mr. Obama has made...

Amid a blizzard of disheartening polls a month out from the general election, the John McCain-Sarah Palin Republican ticket got some great news this afternoon: A clear go-ahead signal to millions of evangelicals across the country from Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of FocDr James Dobson founder and chairman of Focus on the Family who radio program and newsletters reach millions of evangelicals approves a vote for the Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palinus on the Family, to vote for the GOP ticket. It couldn't have come at a better time given more polls showing a Democratic...

A northern Minnesota preacher's presidential endorsement from the pulpit of Republican John McCain over the weekend is part of a national challenge of federal restrictions on such political expressions. The Rev. Gus Booth of Warroad Community Church made his endorsement Sunday as part of the Alliance Defense Fund's "Pulpit Freedom Sunday." The fund said Booth and other pastors around the country were exercising "their First Amendment right to preach on the subject, despite federal tax regulations that prohibit intervening or participating in a political campaign." Booth, a delegate to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, said Monday he did...

Up front, this is a vanity post. Vanity in that this is my personal "heart" regarding the current time in which we live. I welcome your feedback and comments. The 2008 election is one that according to who you listen you "The most important election in our history". On one side, Barack Obama & Joe Biden. On the other John McCain and Sarah Palin. One candidate believes the "He is a symbol". The other believes he has a duty to protect and defend American. On one side you have a vp candidate with 30+ years experience in politics. On the...

The 72-year-old senator from Arizona is a lifelong gambler, who favours the craps tables, and continues to play today, the New York Times reported. Former campaign officials said they were alarmed that his behaviour would be deeply unpopular with the Christian base of his party. Mr McCain's habit, which appears to take the form of a monthly binge rather than a daily addiction, has never before percolated into standard descriptions of his life and career. However, it could now prove damaging in a very close contest with his Democratic rival Senator Barack Obama. The evangelical wing of the Republican Party...

I waited an hour for CBS to post the video. No luck. I’m uploading my own cut so stand by for that; when their version goes up, I’ll swap it in. In the meantime, here’s the transcript. Remember, the rap on Palin is that she’s supposedly a “Christianist” nut ready to impose theocracy at the first opportunity. Here we learn that she supports contraception; doesn’t want to punish abortion with jail time; supports teaching evolution as “an accepted principle” and may very well oppose teaching creationism (it’s ambiguous); and reaffirms that she doesn’t judge gays, partly because she’s had a...

In a white-steepled church along a stretch in picturesque canyon country, the preacher laid out the basic blueprint of a godly marriage: Husbands lead, wives submit. Speaking recently before hundreds of worshipers at Placerita Baptist Church in Newhall, guest preacher Chris Mueller affirmed the view that loving male headship and gracious wifely submission are God's plan for spouses. Placerita, like many conservative Christian churches, teaches that a wife's role is to be her husband's helpmate (Genesis), "workers at home" (Titus) and submissive to her husband in everything (Ephesians). So how do these congregants square such teachings with their support for...

Lynchburg, VA (LifeNews.com) -- For the new Barack Obama "faith tour" to have any success, it needs to be able to draw young and evangelical voters. Yet, at its first stop in the Virginia back yard of well-known pastor Jerry Falwell, just 15 people showed up for the event.The Obama campaign has signed up evangelical author Donald Miller, Pepperdine University professor Doug Kmiec and former Indiana Congressman Tim Roemer, for the "Barack Obama: Faith, Family and Values Tour."The trio made a stop at Liberty University, which is home to over 10,000 evangelical students from across the county and a...

Barack Obama is not giving up on faith-based voters. While polls seem to show voters stuck in same pattern as 2004, despite the Democrat's persistent outreach and God talk, the campaign is redoubling its efforts and rejecting suggestions that the Palin Effect has caused them to bail on the religious community. Obama's two top lieutenants in faith outreach came out to address dozens of reporters at the annual Religion Newswriters Association conference in Washington late this afternoon to pitch the campaign's new Faith, Family and Values Tour, which will launch next week with aides and representatives for the campaign (including...

Despite an unprecedented ramped-up faith outreach campaign in the last few years that many see as unprecedented for Democrats, Barack Obama has so far made few inroads with one of the main groups the Democratic Party has been hoping to budge -- white evangelical Protestants -- according to a poll released today. The poll was done by the University of Akron, which has been tracking the presidential preferences of voters by faith for the last five presidential elections. It was conducted between June and August of 2008 and involved a random sample of 4,017 adult Americans. Overall, it showed Obama...

John C. Green, the University of Akron political scientist who is the nation's most prominent scholar of how religious affiliation affects voting behavior, is just releasing new survey data showing that, even before John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, Barack Obama was failing to move evangelicals into his camp. Green, releasing initial results of his quadrennial survey of religion and politics at the annual convention of the Religion Newswriters Association, said the most surprising result of his survey was how little had changed since 2004. "The divisions based on religious affiliation are very deep-seated in the United...

Sarah Palin, a working mother-of-five whose down-to-earth appeal has electrified the Republican Party's bid to retain the U.S. presidency, reflects a new attitude toward women in America's religious right. Analysts say Palin, the nominee for vice president who has galvanized the party's conservative Christian base, highlights how the movement has evolved from its staunchly anti-feminist roots in the 1970s as it tries to broaden its appeal. The movement, which has no formal structure but includes a number of prominent Christian groups, has a big influence on Republican politics. It has become younger, more female and less white-dominated and extended beyond...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The "Palin factor" may have boosted support for Republican presidential contender John McCain among evangelical Christians but he should not bank on the religious right putting him in the White House as it did George W. Bush in 2004, analysts said Tuesday. White evangelical Christians were key in getting Bush elected to a second term in 2004, but the US political landscape has changed for this year's contest, analysts from the Pew Research think-tank told reporters at a forum in Washington. For a start, fewer voters, including evangelicals, align themselves with the Republican party. "Since about 2005...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barack Obama chastised fellow Democrats on Wednesday for failing to "acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people," and said the party must compete for the support of evangelicals and other churchgoing Americans. "Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation. Context matters," the Illinois Democrat said in remarks to a conference of Call to Renewal, a faith-based movement to overcome poverty. ... "It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering the phrase `under God,'"...

EP News--- Family Research Council Tony Perkins said, “It’s obviously an outstanding choice. Very smart. Very strategic. Those who might have voted for Obama only because they wanted to be a part of something historic can now vote for the Republicans for the same reason.” Richard Viguerie, the conservative icon who has been brutally critical of McCain, was even more effusive, “She’s perfect.” Setting aside the doctrine of original sin for a moment, religious conservatives do think the selection of Sarah Palin as the vice presidential candidate is pretty near perfect. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- New polling data shows if Catholic voters knew Barack Obama voted against a measure to offer medical protection for unborn children they would be more likely to vote against him. The same poll also showed Catholics who are active churchgoers are more likely to oppose abortion and support pro-life candidates. The survey found that, if pro-life groups continue to drive home the point that Obama voted against a bill in the Illinois legislature to protect infants, they could make a dent in his support between now and the elections. The poll, conducted by the National Scientific...

"...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16 Is it all just a coincidence that Sarah Palin was picked for VP? Was it nothing but a smart political move? Or did God intervene in the mind of a man?All across the nation Christians are beginning to wake up and press in with prayer and fasting. Sept 28 to Oct 4 is a week set aside to pray and fast for our nation! Please consider joining with us that week for revival in America and the future of our nation!John Hancock: • “In circumstances as dark as...

All year, Sen. Obama has worked hard to win evangelical voters. They’ve run campaign ads, distributed literature about being a “committed Christian,� and offered numerous outreach events at the Democratic convention. At stake are about six million voters - moderate evangelicals who voted for George W. Bush last time but were intrigued by Sen. Obama.Several things have battered Sen. Obama’s standing with moderate evangelicals:1) His poor performance at the Saddleback candidates forum, especially (or perhaps entirely) his comment about it being “above my pay grade� to know when life begins. 2) The selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, an appealing...

I teach at a Catholic university. I study and write about evangelical Protestants. I have no religious convictions of my own. This bothers people who insist that if you are not yourself religious you cannot possibly "get" religion. I leave it to others to decide whether my lack of faith helps or hinders my capacity to understand the subject. But I do know one thing. Because of where I teach and who I study, I have come across some remarkable people I otherwise would never have met. Familiar with the Catholic tradition, I cannot say I am surprised to meet...

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Undaunted by questions about Sarah Palin's political resume and family, evangelical Christians at the Republican National Convention are cheering the choice of the Alaskan governor for vice president, saying she will energize social conservatives critical to the party's success in November. "I've seen a resurgence of enthusiasm from our evangelical base in the party," said Minnesota GOP chairman Ron Carey, himself an evangelical. "She is a woman who believes in family values, traditional conservative values," said Nancy Haapoja, a Minnesota delegate and local director of a Christian youth organization. Sen. John McCain's selection of Palin as...

Last week, while the media focused almost obsessively on the DNC's spectacle in Denver, the country's most influential conservatives met quietly at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis to get to know Sarah Palin. The assembled were members of the Council for National Policy, an ultra-secretive cabal that networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy. CNP members have included Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Grover Norquist, Tim LaHaye and Paul Weyrich. [ snip ] I learned of the get-together only through an online commentary by one of its attendees, top Dobson/Focus on the Family flack...

Evangelical Christians living in Jerusalem on Sunday voiced unflinching support for presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, and heaped praise on his surprise selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. "McCain has a depth of understanding of foreign policy - including in the Middle East - which makes him the best choice for Israel," said Michael Mott, a native of Colorado who has lived in Israel for the past 12 years. McCain's choice of Palin was a "strategic move" that "blew away" last week's Democratic National Convention, he said, adding that it was certain to win him more...

Call it the Palin effect -- John McCain's choice of Alaska's governor Sarah Palin has motivated many conservatives previously reluctant to support his candidacy to surrender their enthusiastic support. Notably among them is Dr. James Dobson, the very influential conservative leader, who heads the nationwide Focus on the Family organization. Dr. Dobson, who has flatly declared that he would not vote for McCain now says he will, and attributes his change of mind to the senator's choice of solidly conservative pro-life Gov. Palin to be his running mate. Earlier this year, Dr. Dobson had announced on the nationally syndicated “The...

A few short weeks ago, several thousand Christians from around the nation joined together on the Mall in Washington DC for a single day of prayer and fasting! Yesterday, Senator McCain picked Governor Palin, a conservative Christian who has now excited and energized his campaign, for his VP pick! For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, EPH 6:12.This is not the time for the church to sit back and relax! We need to continue the good fight!Sept 28 to...

[snip] Conservatives say that's not the point. They say Ms. Palin's traditional Christian roots and strong family credentials – she's got five kids, including an infant – will instead make inroads with the suburban "soccer mom" vote, a constituency that now favors Mr. Obama in the polls, and helped in President Bush's re-election four years ago. "Women, particularly those with kids, are all looking for someone who can kind of have it all," said stay-at-home mom Patricia Neerman, 33, whose husband chairs the Dallas County Republican Party. "It will definitely help invigorate women who might have been apathetic or on...

Wow. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is John McCain's pick for Vice-President. Folks, this is s close to a game changer as you can get. Let me give you some instant reaction. I can tell you that The Brody File has been talking to multiple sources in the conservative Evangelical community and the reaction has been EXTREMELY POSITIVE. As a matter of fact, I am told that when conservative leaders heard the news this morning at a meeting at the Council for National Policy, one attendee told me that there is "nothing but elation. People are giddy. They are energized and...

Earlier this year Dr. Jim Dobson, President of Focus on the Family made news when he announced on “The Dennis Prager Show” that he “cannot and will not vote for Senator John McCain.” Today, on The Dennis Prager Show, the conservative leader changed course and announced his enthusiastic support on the heels of the announcement by Senator McCain of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. Dennis Prager: I have a guest here who’s extremely significant in American life, whether you call it American political, certainly American religious life, one of the best known Christians in America—...

  Dr. James Dobson: McCain’s Choice of Palin 'Outstanding'   Focus Action founder cites 'bravery and integrity' of Alaska governor Colorado Springs, Colo. – Focus on the Family Action founder and chairman James C. Dobson, Ph.D., issued the following statement today after learning that Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, had selected Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate:“Sen. McCain’s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is an outstanding choice that should be extremely reassuring to the conservative base of his party. She is a strong executive who hates corruption and puts principle above politics.  After floating the...

New video feature will zero in on the issues and events - an online video series to keep you up to date on the election. Host Stuart Shepard gets insights on the presidential race from Tom Minnery, senior vice president of government and public policy at Focus Action. Family advocates from across the nation will appear in upcoming episodes. "This is a challenging year for Christian conservatives to sort through where the leading candidates stand on pro-family issues," Shepard said. "We'll cut through the hype and the campaign ads and shine a light on how they view the sanctity of...

No Theocracy Here: Saddleback Does What American Christians Have Always Done John Mark ReynoldsPolitics 08.21.2008 And lo it is a few days after the Saddleback Civil Forum and the republic is still safe. Extremists on both sides of religion and government issues are deeply disappointed. The thin slice of religious people in America who are theocrats have long viewed Warren as an enemy. The Civil Forum confirmed their worst fears. Warren held a civil conversation with people whom he is not in agreement. He was polite to the “enemy” and yet he has not yet been smitten with boils or...

Watching the two presidential candidates court "evangelicals" by way of the Saddleback Church Civil Forum Saturday night was an exercise of perplexing proportions. While both senators clearly have very distinct delivery styles and vastly different approaches to addressing the issues of our day, John McCain undoubtedly restored faith among the faithful. As eloquent and smooth as Barack Obama can be (and he had his impressive moments that left me moved), his vague and ambiguous answers to the most innocuous questions on faith and American politics were at best disappointing. The forum's audience consisted of a voting bloc Mr. Obama needs...

Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who is a close friend and traveling companion of Mr. McCain, raised the idea of a running mate who supports abortion rights last week when Mr. McCain met with social conservatives in Birmingham, Mich. Mr. Graham asked if the group would rather have a running mate who opposed abortion but caused the Republicans to lose or a running mate who supported abortion rights and caused the party to win, recalled James Muffett, a social conservative who attended the meeting. Quite a few people, said Mr. Muffett, said they preferred to lose. Some Republicans...

Anyone who still doubts that the evangelical Christian world is going through a political revolution was not watching Pastor Rick Warren's presidential forum over the weekend. The era of reducing Christianity to a narrow set of ideological commitments is over. Just a few years back, who would have imagined that Barack Obama and John McCain would hold a discussion of this sort in a church? Who would have thought that the session would be moderated by an evangelical pastor who was emphatic in counting both the Democrat and the Republican as his "friends"? Who would have predicted that in such...

The hands-down winner of Saturday evening's Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency was John McCain. The loser was American secularism. As for Barack Obama, well, let's just say it was his most_Dukakis-y performance_yet. While commentators have made much of how "nuanced" Obama was in his responses to Pastor Rick Warren's prompts, I think it would be better to describe him as "calm, even subdued." And let me not mince words: being nuanced, calm and even subdued is not necessarily the winning formula in front of a megachurch full of Evangelicals. In mainstream Evangelical culture one testifies to the Glory of...

Rev. Barry Lynn is the self appointed watch dog who runs “Americans United for the Separation of Church and State”; a well funded 501 c3 exempt public policy and educational organization. I am well acquainted with Rev. Lynn. For years, while I served as the first Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), in the 19990’s, a public interest law firm committed to an authentic view of religious freedom, we crossed paths quite a few times. He still regularly debates my friend, the Chief Counsel for the ACLJ, and noted Supreme Court Advocate, Jay Sekulow. I...

Senators Barack Obama and John McCain West Chester, Aug 17, 2008 / 12:28 pm (CNA).- Saturday night, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain responded to questions from Dr.  Rick Warren, author of “A Purpose Driven Life,” and pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.  Following the two hour event, evangelical leaders from across the United States gathered to discuss their reactions to the presumptive presidential candidates’ responses.During the forum, Dr. Warren first posted questions to Sen. Obama covering the topics such as his personal values, abortion, marriage, education, stem cell research, and his vision for the United States;...

As NewsBuster Brad Wilmouth has noted, over the weekend NBC News political director Chuck Todd, previewing the Saddleback forum, suggested it represented an opportunity for Obama to forestall "personal hatred" of him by evangelical Christians. Todd has now contacted NewsBusters to express regret over his choice of words. Todd's initial remark was made to Andrea Mitchell during a pre-game special edition of Hardball on Saturday: CHUCK TODD: It's just not, it's just not his comfort zone. So it's a huge opportunity for Obama tonight to at least not be hated by the evange-, look, these folks are not going to...

When Barack Obama and John McCain offered their sharply divergent views on abortion this weekend at an Orange County church, it was a rare chance to hear the presidential rivals address one of the most contentious issues in American politics. Each has sought to steer clear of the often fierce disputes between their parties on abortion, relegating it to the low ranks of campaign quarrels. With the election being fought largely over centrist voters, the White House hopefuls have tried to reach out to those who disagree with their views on abortion. Obama, a Democrat who supports abortion rights but...

Tom Christian is the kind of religious voter John McCain and Barack Obama were courting when they went to church this weekend. Conservative. Republican. But open to either of them. If his reaction after watching them this weekend is any indication, Obama impressed people with his ease talking the language of faith, no small feat for a Democrat. But McCain may have shored up support from this critical group. "When I hear Obama, I think, yeah. McCain comes across as a grouchy old man. But the contrast on the issues eventually becomes clear," Christian said after watching the two candidates...

No rational person could believe that John McCain did himself any harm at the Saddleback Forum on Saturday night. In fact, he did himself a lot of good with conservatives. With the spiritual qualifications of Commander in Chief on the line, the back-to-back interviews of Obama and McCain was like comparing John the Baptist to Johnny Fever. McCain talked assertively and crisply about his moral failings, his moral compass, and the source of his moral strength, Jesus Christ. It was all done in the quintessential self-deprecating manner that Americans have become comfortable with. Saturday night was the best example of...

The two-hour event, attended by nearly 5,000 church members in the main auditorium and remote overflow venues, began with Warren posing questions first to Sen. Obama, as determined by a coin toss, after which the two candidates met on stage and embraced in one of their last appearances prior to their respective conventions. The second half of the program featured the same questions directed to Sen. McCain by Warren, who stressed that the candidate had been placed "under a cone of silence" prior to his turn on stage. Warren organized his thoughtful, yet hard-hitting line of inquiry into four categories,...

At a town hall meeting with several hundred union members, Obama said he had a great conversation with McCain at the forum at Saddleback Church sponsored by the popular evangelical pastor Rick Warren. The two candidates shook hands, briefly hugged and stood onstage with Warren, the first time they appeared together in public since the end of the primary season. But Sunday, after praising the Arizona senator as a "genuine American patriot," the Democratic presidential hopeful got back to business -- methodically tearing into McCain's health care, tax and energy policies and criticizing his advisers. "McCain says 'Here's my plan,...

Obama says McCain camp paints Obama as the Anti-Christ POSTED August 17, 12:59 PM Immediately after Obama's appearance with the reverend Rick Warren, the Democrats' presumptuous nominee was interviewed by CBN News Senior National Correspondent, David Brody. Among other things Brody asked Obama whether the McCain campaign is purposely using imaginary to scare people about him being the anti-Christ. Obama answered yes. You can watch and read a partial transcript of the interview here...

In the “message” room afterwards (“message” being a churchly word for spin), Gary Bauer, for McCain, having described the candidate’s performance as “a grand slam home run,” told me that “all this talk that Barack would peel off a significant portion of [the evangelical] vote--there’s not a chance of that after today.” “All this talk,” of course, was a reference to the Obama strategy of appealing to (well, peeling off) evangelicals who are less conservative than, say, James Dobson, or tired of Bush, or both. Shaun Casey, the evangelical outreach man for Obama, and a professor at Wesley Theological Seminary...

Now we know why the Obama campaign has been so reluctant to put their candidate on the same stage as John McCain. The difference between the two last night was striking. While Senator Obama punted on questions of great importance to the American people, and sidestepped even simple questions about whether the United States must defeat evil, John McCain offered the straight talk voters expect of a candidate for President. Senator McCain's responses reflected his long record of bipartisanship, the anecdotes accumulated from a lifetime of service to this country, and the depth of his experience on matters of...

West Chester, Aug 17, 2008 / 12:28 pm (CNA).- Saturday night, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain responded to questions from Dr. Rick Warren, author of “A Purpose Driven Life,” and pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. Following the two hour event, evangelical leaders from across the United States gathered to discuss their reactions to the presumptive presidential candidates’ responses. During the forum, Dr. Warren first posted questions to Sen. Obama covering the topics such as his personal values, abortion, marriage, education, stem cell research, and his vision for the United States; before asking Sen. McCain the same...

Casting aside the hostilities that have marked their contest recently, the two senators endeavoured to woo evangelical voters, a crucial voting bloc that was instrumental in electing George W Bush twice. They were brought together by prominent evangelical Rick Warren, pastor at the huge Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. He quizzed each of the candidates separately for an hour on election issues and moral concerns, and brought them together briefly in the middle of the meeting. As a regular church-goer comfortable talking about his faith, Mr Obama is ostensibly better placed than most recent Democratic candidates to win over...

LAKE FOREST, Calif. — Until recently, an event like this would have been unimaginable: The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees meeting at a megachurch to face questioning from an evangelical preacher. ... But the usual dynamic is not at play this year. More so than any Democrat since Jimmy Carter, Obama talks regularly about his Christian faith, reflecting both his own mid-20s conversion, which has played a key role in the portrait of himself he’s drawn in his two books and on the campaign trail, and his need to battle a mostly beneath-the-radar rumor campaign falsely claiming he is a...