Who's playing the "god" card?

We will, from time to time, quote "religious" comments found in the statements and speeches of our three major presidential candidates. We are interested in knowing which of them panders the most to the religious sensibilities of the hoi poloi, remembering all the while that there is no religious test to hold a political office in this country.

Here are some excerpts from speeches given over the past few days by Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama.

John McCain. In his Memorial Day speech, he made the following references to God: "...I have one responsibility that outweighs all the others and that is to use whatever talents I possess, and every resource God has granted me to protect the security of this great and good nation..."

In his conclusion, McCain praised our troops (playing the "hero" card): "I have had the good fortune to know personally a great many brave and selfless patriots who sacrificed and shed blood to defend America. But I have known none braver or better than those who do so today. They are our inspiration ... And I pray to a loving God that He bless and protect them."

Actually, it is the duty of the president as commander-in-chief to "bless and protect" the troops, not the duty of a god.


Hillary Clinton. In reviewing Senator Clinton's Memorial Day statement, which was quite good, containing a very apt quote by Archibald McLeish, I could find no place where she referenced religion or a deity.

That was not true, however, when she campaigned in Puerto Rico. She spoke, in fact, at a church - the Pabellon de la Victoria evangelical church. She got right down to it mentioning the importance of faith in helping her deal with adversity. Then she said, "There isn't anything we cannot do together if we seek God's blessing and if we stay committed and are not deterred by the setbacks that often fall in every life."

She's pandering here. There was no need for her to mention seeking God's blessing. The sentence stands just fine without that comment.

But she really blew it later, turning a political speech into a mini-sermon. After lots of singing and dancing backed by an eight-piece band and a 16-person chorus, Clinton said, "I believe in all my heart that what is happening in this church today is part of God's purpose and part of the community of believers that can in ways large and small transform lives."

For the life of me I can't find much difference between a statement like that and the one made by our cowBOY prezident that God guides him in making presidential decisions.

More pandering. Or not. If she really believes that, fine, but keep it private. To speak of a God who has a "purpose" that can "in ways large and small transform lives" in a political campaign in a country that consists of a large number of people who don't believe in that kind of god or even in a god at all is simply not appropriate.


Barack Obama: Obama gave a speech to the Wesleyan University Class of 2008 in Middletown, Connecticut. He was filling in for the ailing Senator Edward Kennedy. Obama spoke of how college graduates can help "'make us believe again' by dedicating themselves to public service."

He spoke of the many good things Ted Kennedy has done for this nation. And he closed his speech this way: "At a time of war, we need you to work for peace. At a time of inequality, we need you to work for opportunity. At a time of so much cynicism and so much doubt, we need you to make us believe again. That's your task, Class of 2008."

No talk of a god there.

In his Memorial Day statement, Obama paid tribute to "the generations of patriots who were willing to give their lives to defend this country."

He also noted that Memorial Day was "a reminder of our obligation as Americans to serve our fallen heroes as well as they served us ... That means giving the same priority to building a 21st century VA as to building a 21st century military. It means having zero tolerance for veterans sleeping on our streets. It means bringing home our POWs and MIAs."

He did not, you will note, cry for continued war in Iraq, as did McCain, or whine that we must "win" the war in Iraq, as did McCain.

Nor did he make any reference to the resources God gave him, as did McCain. And he didn't pander to the Religious Right by claiming to pray to a loving god that he protect and bless our troops, as did McCain.


So, the score on Day 1 of Avoiding Religious Fluff in Speeches by Presidential Candidates is:

McCain - 0
Clinton - 0
Obama - 1