Newswise — Not since 1960 has a candidate's religion been as significant a campaign issue as in the 2008 race. John Kennedy said "I do not speak for my church on public matters; and the church does not speak for me." How will history judge Mitt Romney's remarks on his church and its impact on his holding of public office? Jan Shipps, Ph.D., professor emeritus of history and religious studies, School of Liberal Arts, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, is an internationally respected expert on Mormonism.
As the GOP tries to find its nominee, religion isn't playing itself out in its usual fashion because several of the GOP candidates don't conform to the religious philosophy that has dominated the party for the last quarter century according to Philip Goff, Ph.D., director, Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture and professor of religious studies and American studies at the School of Liberal Arts, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Mayor Rudy Guliani is on his third marriage following a messy, very public divorce, and the mayor's views on abortion and gay rights do not sit well with many religious conservatives. Governor Mitt Romney's Mormon values are in some ways similar to values of the religious right but Mormonism differs in fundamental ways from evangelical Christianity. And Senator John McCain, although reaching out to the right, alarms religious conservatives with past criticism of this wing of the Republican party.
Unless political candidates come up with big bucks, they cannot be successful and that's why William A. Blomquist, Ph.D., professor of political science at the School of Liberal Arts, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis says the crowded political field will be thinning out very quickly.
Can Hillary Clinton count on African-American voters? Senator Clinton clearly hopes that she can. What's already clear is that Senator Barack Obama can't afford to position himself as the African-American candidate according to Kristina Horn Sheeler, Ph.D., assistant professor of communication studies, School of Liberal Arts, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
Although some people treat them as crystal balls, political polls, no matter how well designed, cannot predict the future.
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