Obama, Romney Appeal To Religious Voters In Final Days Of ...

As Americans head to the polls Tuesday to pick the next U.S. president, religious voters could have a significant impact. In battleground states such as Ohio, where 26 percent of voters are Catholics, and evangelical-heavy Iowa, the campaigns have continuously targeted the "God" vote.

In the days leading up to the election, both the campaigns of President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney released new videos presenting their candidate as more friendly to religion. In a three-minute video that was uploaded this week to YouTube, the Obama campaign extols the president as someone who is "leading with faith values," with a mix of clips of the president talking about his Christian faith in speeches alongside testimonials from clergy. The video shows a Catholic professor in Washington, D.C., praising Obama as a "man with with deep Christian faith that has a real sense of the common good," and a rabbi in Illinois who says Obamacare's policies regarding insurance coverage of pre-existing conditions stem from a religious sense of equality and care for the community.

In two videos from last week, the Romney campaign presented its nominee as the champion of religious freedom and claimed the Obama administration has waged a war on Catholic institutions.

Obama has been strongly criticized by Catholic bishops for his health care law's requirement that most religious institutions, including hospitals and schools, provide employees with birth control with no co-pay as part of insurance plans. Earlier this year, the Obama administration revised the rules to put the burden of paying for contraception coverage solely on insurance companies, but many Catholic institutions have protested because they are self-insured.

More broadly, Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan rallied conservative supporters on a conference call this week in part by saying that Obama's vision for the U.S. would "compromises those values -- those Judeo-Christian, Western civilization values that made us a great and exceptional nation in the first place."

Several polls in the last week have shown that voters in several battleground states are nearly evenly divided between the candidates.

Polls have also consistently shown Romney with a significant lead among white evangelicals, but among Catholics, predictions have been mixed. A Gallup poll released Monday showed Romney leading Obama overall by one point (49 percent to 48 percent), but showed Obama with a significant lead among Catholic voters (52 percent to 45 percent). Yet a Pew Forum poll that was released over the weekend showed Obama winning the general electorate (50 percent to 47 percent) but had Romney leading among Catholics (49 percent to 47 percent) and especially among white Catholics (55 percent to 41 percent).

Campaigns have also courted Jewish voters, as HuffPost's Andrea Stone reported Monday:

Ohio, where Jews make up 1.3 percent of the population, and Florida, which has about 640,000 Jews, are the two battleground states where a few Jewish votes could swing the electoral results. Virginia, also in play, has more Jewish voters than Ohio and could also prove pivotal to the results. Other states with larger Jewish populations such as New York, New Jersey and California are solidly blue and out of contention for Republicans.

The campaigns, as part of their outreach, have also received endorsements from major pastors and religious figures, as shown in the slideshows below. (Not every person listed below has officially endorsed a candidate, but each has indicated his or her support for Obama or Romney in some way.)

• Rev. Otis Moss III

  Rev. Otis Moss III, pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, endorsed Obama, who was formerly a member of the church when it was led by the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright. "We are writing to offer our strong and enthusiastic endorsement of President Barack Obama... We must reelect this President," he <a href="http://elev8.com/606240/rev-otis-moss-ii-rev-charles-jenkins-standing-up-for-obama/">wrote</a> in a recent public appeal.

• Rabbi Samuel Gordon

  Rabbi Samuel Gordon of Congregation Sukkat Shalom, Wilmette, Il., endorsed Obama in a recent <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6msJWsmvTo">video</a> the president's campaign released.

• Rev. Derrick Harkins

  The Rev. Derrick Harkins is the senior pastor of Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and the Director of Faith Outreach for the Democratic National Convention. After Democrats were accused of being anti-religion because they initially did not include the word "God" in their party platform, Harkins lashed back at the accusation. "How dare anybody say we don't have faith as a central component of who we are as a party," he <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/dnc-platform-god_n_1858891.html">told</a> HuffPost. (The word "God" was later reinserted into the platform).

• Stephen Schneck

  Stephen Schneck, a professor at the Catholic University of America, is the co-chair of Catholics for Obama and one of the president's most vocal Catholic supporters.

• Bishop Charles H. Ellis III

  Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, the leader of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World denomination, said recently that he does not support Obama's stance on same-sex marriage, but still believes it is acceptable for Christians who disagree with the president on gay rights-related issues to support him. "I am diametrically opposed to his stance, but at the end of the day I kind of understand where he's coming from, because he is what I am not," Ellis<a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/paw-bishop-supports-obama-opposes-same-sex-marriage-79751/#tLyG50Ug777tro0E.99"> said i</a>n August. "He is the president of the United States. I am the pastor of a church, and the leader of a religious organization. He put his hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the constitution of the United States, and I am thankful that."

• Bishop Vashti McKenzie

  Bishop Vashti McKenzie, the leader of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, has been a strong supporter of Obama. She appeared at a AME conference with First Lady Michelle Obama, spoke at the Democratic National Convention and most recently <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6msJWsmvTo">appeared</a> in a Obama's "leading with faith values" video.

• Sr. Simone Campbell

  Sr. Simone Campbell, left, is the director of Network, a nuns organization. The group organized the "Nuns on the Bus" tour, which campaigned against Rep. Paul Ryan's controversial budget plan. At the Democratic National Convention, Campbell <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/06/sister-simone-campell-dnc2012_n_1861854.html">spoke</a> and said the following: "We agree with our bishops, and that's why we went on the road: to stand with struggling families and to lift up our Catholic sisters who serve them. Their work to alleviate suffering would be seriously harmed by the Romney-Ryan budget."

• Mormons for Obama

  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose Salt Lake Temple is shown above, does not endorse political candidates, though polls most of its members tend to be Republicans. Romney, of course, is also a Mormon. But a small group of Mormon Democrats, with the support of people such as Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada (a Mormon), have formed a group called <a href="http://mormonsforobama.org/">Mormons for Obama</a>.

• Rev. Billy Graham

  In mid-October, Romney met with Graham and his son, Franklin, who leads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The elder Graham stopped short of an endorsement, but told Romney that he would do "all I can to help you." Later, the BGEA released a series of newspaper ads that many people have interpreted as <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/18/billy-graham-ads-mitt-romney_n_1983113.html">indirect endorsements</a> of Romney.

• Rev. Robert Jeffress

  Rev. Robert Jeffress, a Dallas-based pastor, came out against Romney can called his Mormon faith a "cult" during the Republican primaries. Now, he <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/17/robert-jeffress-mitt-romney-endorsement_n_1433215.html">supports</a> Romney.

• Bishop Harry Jackson

  In late October, Bishop Harry Jackson Jr. of Hope Christian Church of Beltsville, Md., who is famous for his nationwide fight against same-sex marriage, <a href="http://www.charismanews.com/us/34410-jackson-vote-for-mitt-romney-as-statement-of-mlks-dream">endorsed </a>Romney. "Number one, God can use anyone he chooses. When God uses his enemies to spank His people, it?s discipline," he said. "I believe that God is going to use Mitt Romney as a good influence because of his character.?

• Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Il.

  Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Il. sent a letter out to his priests <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/01/daniel-jenky-illinois-catholic-bishop-anti-obama-letter_n_2059117.html">ordering</a> them to read an anti-Obama letter to their parishioners the Sunday before elections.

• Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg, Rabbis for Romney

  Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg of Congregation Beth-El in Edison, N.J. is the founder of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/rabbis-for-romney_n_1987278.html">Rabbis for Romney.</a>

• Rev. Pat Robertson

  Evangelist Pat Robertson, center, attends a rally with Romney at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Va. no Sept. 8, 2012.

• Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr.

  Romney and Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr., the chancellor of Liberty University, recite the pledge of alliance at the Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. on May 12, 2012.

• Rev. Jim Garlow

  Rev. Jim Garlow, the pastor of Skyline Church in La Mesa, Calif., a megachurch, semi-endorsed Romney recently. In early October, he told his congregation that his "endorsement will be Jesus. I?ll tell you whom I?m going to vote for, but I don?t think that makes it an endorsement. I?m going to vote for Mitt Romney, but I?m not telling you to."

What was your polling place like this year? The Huffington Post is eager to hear your experiences and see your photos. Email us at openreporting@huffingtonpost.com.

Earlier on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/obama-romney-religious-voters-evangelicals-catholics_n_2080791.html

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