What Democrats Talk about When They Talk about God

David Weiss is assistant professor at Montana State University, Billings.

The contributors to this book provide an important corrective to the view that only the GOP does "God talk." The collection is full of interesting accounts of candidates and officeholder religious rhetoric. Recommended.

• 1 Introduction: What Do Democrats Talk about When They Talk about God?Part 2 I: Historical and Philosophical PerspectivesChapter 3 1: The Religious Explorations of Thomas Jefferson and his Public and Private Expressions of FaithChapter 4 2: Deities, Divisions, and Democrats: The "Political Left" and ReligionPart 5 II: Past Presidents and Presidential HopefulsChapter 6 3: The Three Faces of John: Mutable Religious Personae in the 2004 Presidential RaceChapter 7 4: Bill Clinton's Looking Glass: A Metaphorical Analogy for the Faith and Values of the Democratic PartyChapter 8 5: The "Voice of God" in Democratic Political Rhetoric: Exploring the Social-Political Gospel of John EdwardsChapter 9 6: Al Gore's Rational Faith and Unreasonable ReligionPart 10 III: The Religious Rhetoric of Barack ObamaChapter 11 7: The Audacity of Faith: An Inclusive Political RhetoricChapter 12 8: Dancing on the Wall: An Analysis of Barack Obama's "Call to Renewal" Keynote AddressChapter 13 9: Change the Context, Build the Coalition: Democrats, Abortion Reduction, and the Politics of ArticulationPart 14 IV: Religion in Gubernatorial and Congressional CampaignsChapter 15 10: Tim Kaine's Catholic Evangelical RhetoricChapter 16 11: Dwelling amongst the Righteous: Keith Ellison-Demagogue or Demon?17 About the Contributors