Free Republic

<p>RICHMOND, Va. — John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran and Democratic presidential front-runner, questioned Sunday whether President Bush had fulfilled his Vietnam-era commitment to the National Guard.</p> <p>"Just because you get an honorable discharge does not in fact answer that question," the Massachusetts senator said.</p>

<p>In an attempt to compete with President Bush's unabashed discussion of religion while in office, Democratic presidential candidates are making similar stabs at God-talk.</p> <p>So far, there's little debate as to who is winning on the faith front. While Mr. Bush discusses his faith this morning at the National Prayer Breakfast, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is still recovering from his Jan. 2 misidentification of Job as a book in the New Testament.</p>

Welcome to Campaign 2004, where the candidates' personal piety has become almost as important as their policy proposals. Is this a good thing? http://www.jewishworldreview.com | (KRT) President Bush spoke of the capture of Saddam Hussein in distinctly religious terms. "Justice was being delivered to a man who defied that gift (of freedom) from the Almighty to the people of Iraq," he said. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., gave a speech in which he thanked the Divine for the Hebrew prophet Amos and Jesus of Nazareth. Not to be outreligioned, Howard Dean told audiences in Iowa that he prays every day and...

<p>WASHINGTON - Up against one of America's most publicly pious presidents, the Democrats who hope to replace him have taken to reminding voters that they believe in God, too.</p> <p>From the Rev. Al Sharpton, an ordained Pentecostal minister at age 9, to Howard Dean, lampooned for switching Protestant denominations because of a feud over a bike path, the presidential candidates are battling the perception that Democrats aren't at home with issues of faith.</p>

<p>January 19, 2004 -- PLAINS, Ga. - Howard Dean raced back to Iowa yesterday afternoon after spending the morning in a Georgia church with Jimmy Carter - a detour the former Vermont governor hopes will give his campaign a shot in the arm. Carter praised Dean, who almost never mentions religion, as a "fellow Christian," and offered strong backing for his anti-war stance.</p>

Even though he hosted Dem hopeful Howard Dean in Plains, Georgia on Sunday, former President Jimmy Carter annoyed Dean's senior advisers when he claimed that Dean was not invited! "He called me on the phone and said he'd like to worship with me," Carter explained. "I did not invite him, but I'm glad he came." Carter said he has also visited with retired Gen. Wesley Clark, and hopes he will again. The embarrassing Dean moment came after Dean was pressed in recent interviews on why he would leave Iowa at a crunch time. Dean said he could not turn down...

>Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean says he's going to talk about his religious faith. But what's that got to do with what kind of president he'd be? Granted, George W. Bush is the most overtly observant Christian to hold the presidency in at least a quarter century. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark says he plans on making faith central to his campaign. The Democratic primaries also have drawn as candidates an Orthodox Jew and an ordained (Pentecostal) minister. There's obvious benefit in having someone who's serious about living a moral life as president. But a few throwaway lines during a campaign...

washingtonpost.com Dean's Faith-Based Folly By Colbert I. King Saturday, January 10, 2004; Page A19 Howard Dean took a pass on yesterday's Democratic presidential candidates debate, hosted by WTOP radio and George Washington University. Too bad. He missed a chance to show Democrats in the nation's capital that he cared enough to come to their first-in-the-nation presidential primary. Most of all, though, Dean lost out on a chance to be publicly declared the victor in a contest that he won even before the first Democratic votes are cast Tuesday in the District or later in the month in Iowa and New...

When they were fund-raising, the Democratic candidates for president all claimed to be Jewish. Now that they are headed for Super Tuesday down South, they've become Jesus freaks. Listening to Democrats talk about Jesus is a little like listening to them on national security: They don't seem terribly comfortable with either subject. To ease Democrats into the Jesus thing, the Democratic Leadership Council is holding briefings for Democratic candidates teaching them how to talk about religion. The participants were warned that millions of Americans worship a supreme being whose name is not Bill Clinton. As has been widely reported, the...

She's a reader in the church. Cussin' is verboten in her office, and if that "certain" word slips out, she delivers an icy stare and the question, "Was that the (blank) word I just heard?" If need be, she is not bashful about displaying her beliefs in public. During one of the Democratic primary debates in 2002, she and fellow candidate David Bonior traded Bible verses with one another. Now, in the wake of a tumultuous budget battle, there is yet another manifestation of her beliefs. She is for the first time questioning the religious convictions of some conservative Republicans...