Democrats find religion on campaign trail
GOP seems to be avoiding talk of faith
By Mike Dorning
Washington Bureau
Published May 6, 2007

WASHINGTON -- This time it may be the Democrats who are getting religion.

Former Sen. John Edwards invoked "My Lord" in the first Democratic presidential debate when asked about moral influences on his life. At a campaign event on the day of the Virginia Tech massacre, he offered a prayer and—in a pointed break from Democratic candidates' usual wariness of offending religious minorities—closed with the words "in Christ's name."

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) comfortably works in references to his faith at public appearances. Even before his presidential candidacy, he gave a well-received speech arguing for a greater role for religion in politics and cultivated relationships with influential church leaders, including mega-church pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) included a paragraph about faith in the official biography on her campaign Web site. And in her Senate re-election campaign last year, she drew notice in the New York press for wearing a cross at some public events. the rest