A new Christian political action committee backing Democrat Barack Obama in the presidential race is escalating its efforts to elect the Illinois senator with the help of Christian voters this November.
The Matthew 25 Network, named after the Bible verse (“I tell you the truth, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me”) is a consortium of Christian faith leaders and activists working to elect more Democrats to office who share the same “biblical and gospel values,” said Mara Vanderslice, the head of the PAC.
The group’s advertising efforts debuted prior to the Indiana Democratic primary in early May. Vanderslice said the group intends to spend at least $500,000 in advertising between now and Nov. 4, and the group will focus mainly on Christian radio and Christian publications, such as the National Catholic Reporter and Relevant Magazine.
A new one-minute radio ad will be airing on Christian radio in Ohio, Michigan, and Colorado in the short-term. Vanderslice said they plan to expand the buy to other swing states, including Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri, and North Carolina.
Skepticism about Obama’s Christian faith has been well documented this election cycle, and multiple polls have shown that many Americans still believe him to be a Muslim. The ad underscores Obama’s Christianity.
“You know it’s an election year when certain people start grabbing headlines by attacking the faith of presidential candidates, with all these stones being cast at Barack Obama it can be hard to know what to believe,” the http://youtube.com/user/Matthew25Network ad states. It features a clip of an Obama speech where he says, “I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the role of faith in people’s lives.”
Bart Campolo, an urban minister and founder of Mission Year who works out of Cincinnati, Ohio, told reporters today that he has long been “uncomfortable” with evangelicals marching in “lock-step” with the Republican Party in recent decades largely over the wedge issues of abortion and gay marriage. He said the Matthew 25 Network is working to expand the dialogue about Christians and public service.
Indeed, there aren’t many Democratic operations active in the Christian community—a factor congressional Democrats have tried to change in recent years. Democratic Reps. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina are also affiliated with this effort.
“What I’m excited about at this stage of the game, it seems like the evangelical community is waking up to the deeper and broader approach to the teachings of Jesus for the poor, the depressed, and the marginalized,” Campolo said.
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