Obama Draws Big Crowds, Makes New Web Site

Obama is regularly pulling in four and five figure sized crowds. Here he is in New Hampshire.

Obama is onto something else that other Democrats aren't matching: a new faith-based section of his web site. If you've been following this blog, you know that I regularly look at the Republican candidate's websites, and even they don't have anything like this. John Edwards and Hillary Clinton are going to have similar websites but call them "moral leadership."Of course, that isn't going to resonate nearly as well as the word "faith" will with the pious. I'm deeply torn by this: on the one hand, I see this as both a great political move and an important counterbalance to the religious right's dominance of faith. On the other hand, when I read the testimonial section of this new website and notice that (of course) there aren't any athiests or agnostics, I realize that Obama has left out a good 10-15% of America, including me. The difference is, of course, that the faithless aren't organized. They have no political power.

While I am saddened by the fact that I'm never going to see eye to eye with Obama on an issue like this, I understand why he's doing it and would probably make the same decision if I was a person of faith. Politics is about comprimise. There are a lot of decent people who are religious, and if this is what it takes to encourage them to take a second look at the Democratic party, it's probably worth it.