Obama's Faith Initiative

CNN.com reports that the Obama campaign is organizing in
South Carolina "voter outreach through existing church Bible study programs" in an effort called "40 Days of Faith and Family" (40 days and 40 nights of rain, get it?). Although billed as "an opportunity for people of faith to come together across racial and denominational lines..." this article emphasizes the unavoidable, understandable racial (not racist) nature of Obama's bid in South Carolina. Note the phrases: "hoping to increase the candidate's profile among African-Americans;" "the candidate also has run radio ads here targeted at African-American voters;" "running neck and neck among black voters;" "two biographical entries that the campaign hopes will help the Senator appeal to black voters;" "a dead heat among African-Americans."

Response in the netroots to news of this faith-based effort seems primarily to fall along two lines: good that Democrats finally are recognizing the role of faith in the lives of American voters, or bad that Democrats are mimicking the Repub Party in dangerously entangling religion and politics. But here is the bottom line: roughly half of Democratic primary voters in South Carolina are black, which obviously presents Obama with a great opportunity. However, he is running against the spouse of "the first black President," as Toni Morrison famously described WTC. Even in the South, the role of religion generally plays a larger role among blacks than among whites. If Senator Obama truly is targeting both white and black voters (which I doubt) with the "40 Days of Faith and Family," he is making wasting valuable resources. If instead this is an effort to target black voters, which is highly likely, it is an intriguing, and probably worthwhile, approach.