] To become a majority party, Democrats have to build
] stronger ties of support among poor white Protestants in
] the South and border states, urban Catholics in the
] Midwestern ones, and Hispanic immigrants in the West.
] Messages perceived as hostile to religion are not going
] to reach any of those groups.
]
] In politics demography tends to drive ideas. For this
] reason alone, the turn toward religion that can be seen
] in the speeches by Kerry and Obama are more than just a
] tactical response to the Bush administration's open
] embrace of conservative religious voters. Although
] neither Kerry or Obama are from the South, they are in
] line with the direction established for the party by
] Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, politicians who had an
] instinctive feel for both faith and liberal political
] positions.
]
] The United States, for better or worse, remains a
] religious country. No party can be a majority party
] unless it acknowledges that fact.