Heres a transcript of an event sponsored by the Pew Forum, in which John Podesta, who runs the Center for American Progress, discussed his ideas for mobilizing the religious Left. His issues: health insurance, third-world debt relief, and the living wage. Only when he was pressed did he--an observant Catholic--discuss abortion, and then only in terms of which HRC could approve.
This is perhaps the most revealing passage in the whole long transcript:
On the candidate side, I think if youre authentic [in your religious expression] and its part of who you are and you express your conviction in those terms, then I think that the secular wing of the Democratic Party is unlikely to have a problem with you expressing a moral vision of the country that at least in policy terms they generally agree with.
In other words, progressive Democrats will welcome religious voices so long as the religious voices tell them what they want to hear. But dont think of offering a position regarding abortion that strays far from the "safe, legal, and rare" evasion. And be very, very careful what you say about the "coarsening" of our culture.
Im not convinced that Podesta can offer the Democrats the "salvation" they need, nor that progressive religionists can provide the same sort of additional support for Democrats that religious conservatives provide to Republicans. (Arent their numbers dwindling, and arent they already voting?)
Coarsening of culture:
Like Laura Bush maybe?