Religion looms large in election
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WATERLOO, Iowa  - With less than two weeks until Iowa kicks off the presidential nomination battles, several contenders took their campaigns to church on Sunday and a leading Republican tried to allay concerns about his health.
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BAGHDAD -- Catapulted by heavy turnout among Iraq's long-oppressed Shi'ite Muslim majority, an alliance of Shi'ite religious parties won nearly half the vote in the national elections and will probably capture a narrow majority of seats in the new parliament, according to a nationwide tally released yesterday.
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For months, Republican presidential candidates such as Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and John McCain have courted evangelical Christians, meeting with religious leaders throughout the Midwest and the South.
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Faith, family and freedom were catchwords Friday, as Republican 2008 presidential hopefuls appealed to Ã¢ÂÂvalues votersÃ¢ÂÂ at a convention in Washington, D.C. The event Ã¢ÂÂ organized by the Family Research Council, an organization of religious conservative activists Ã¢ÂÂ will continue into Saturday and conclude with a straw poll of attendees that is being watched as an indicator of voting sentiment among the conservative evangelical constituency.
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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Sunday he does not think voters have a litmus test on religion, whether evangelical Christianity or his childhood years in a largely Muslim country.
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Headed into the 2008 election season, Christian conservatives are weary. Their movement has lost iconic leaders and the Republican presidential field is uninspiring. But they may have found hope in a trailer on the campus of Bell Shoals Baptist Church.
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The battle for the Catholic vote in the key swing state of Pennsylvania is more intense this presidential election than in any other race in recent memory, Catholic residents say.
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The war in Iraq; jobs and the economy; terrorism. For voters nationwide, those issues seem sure to determine the outcome on Election Day. But in several critical swing states, the conservative push to amend state constitutions and ban gay marriage is giving delegates and party officials a way to lure a group of voters &#151; especially traditional churchgoers &#151; who could tip these states to President Bush.
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Bloomberg - Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The early Republican presidential race is a tale of voters' divisions over religion, with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee riding support from evangelical Christians to a dominant Iowa lead, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney well ahead in more secular New Hampshire.
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Democrat Bob Casey highlights his religious work while Republican Sen. Rick Santorum seeks out evangelical Christians, a reflection of the fierce fight for voters of faith.
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After baring their souls in a live television confessional, top Democratic White House hopefuls have put Republicans on notice that religious voters are up for grabs.
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DOVER, New Hampshire  - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain brought his pitch to a New Hampshire church basement on Saturday, but religion was hardly on his agenda.
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Tired of being seen by religious voters as too secular or even hostile toward religion, the Democrat party and its presidential candidates have launched an all-out effort to win their votes.
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John Edwards says voters should know that religion is important to him and to presidential candidate John Kerry but the issue shouldn't be used to divide people in the election.
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White evangelical Christians may hold the key to the 2008 White House race as Democratic contenders openly tout their faith, while the Republican front-runner is on bad terms with his party's religious pillar.
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Turkeyâs election is being cast as a battle between Islamists and secularists. But the real struggle is not over whether the country should be more religious but over whether it should be more European--and more free.
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Los Angeles Times - BROOKFIELD, Wis. &#8212; With their ardent, Bible-based opposition to abortion and gay marriage, evangelical Christians are a key target of the massive Republican get-out-the-vote drive heading into next week's election. Party leaders consider conservative Christians to be as near a lock for President Bush as any group can be.