{"id":595,"date":"2008-05-08T09:57:46","date_gmt":"2008-05-08T09:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/godometer\/2008\/05\/kirbyjon-caldwell-and-obamas-f.html"},"modified":"2008-05-08T09:57:46","modified_gmt":"2008-05-08T09:57:46","slug":"kirbyjon-caldwell-and-obamas-f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godometer\/2008\/05\/kirbyjon-caldwell-and-obamas-f.html","title":{"rendered":"Kirbyjon Caldwell And Obama’s Faith Outreach"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"caldwell.jpg\"Beliefnet has posted God-o-Meter’s interview this week with Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell<\/a>, spiritual advisor to George W. Bush–Caldwell delivered the benediction at both his inaugurals and introduced him at the 2000 Republican National Convention–and endorser of Barack Obama.
\nWhat stood out to God-o-Meter, besides Caldwell’s defense of Rev. Wright and the list of similarities he’s noticed between Bush and Obama, is how plugged in Caldwell has been to the Obama campaign for a year now, a testament the scope and depth of Obama’s religious outreach effort. Here’s one of GOM’s exchanges with Caldwell (some of which was edited out of the posted version for space):<\/p>\n

How do you know about Obama\u2019s family life?<\/strong>
\nFor the last 12 months, I\u2019ve been talking to people who are part of the campaign very, very regularly. And I listen very intently to what they say. And the few times I have been around the Senator, I\u2019ve noticed very carefully what he does\u2026
\nLet me give you a little tidbit. When he was in Houston, we had a history-making number of folks show up here for the rally\u2026 As he was leaving the event I said, “Is there anything we can pray for for you?” And he said, “Pray for my wife and my children\u2026.” You know, he doesn\u2019t ask for–he doesn\u2019t ask that you pray for his strength or pray for his stamina so he can endure these 16-hour days. He\u2019s not focused on himself. He says, “Pray for my wife and my children.”
\nWhen you say you\u2019ve been in regular contact with the Obama campaign over these last 12 months, can you be more specific?<\/strong>
\nWell, we have prayer calls on a regular basis. There\u2019s another African American Leaders Council that I\u2019m on. I participate in that periodically. And I\u2019m also in pretty current, constant conversation and dialogue with his religious affairs group.
\nYou mean Joshua DuBois, Obama’s religious outreach director?<\/strong>
\nExactly, exactly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Obama campaign’s been reaching out to Caldwell for over a year? Given that he’s a FOB (friend of Bush) and belongs to Hillary Clinton’s denomination (he leads the nation’s largest Methodist denomination), one could easily see Caldwell being a lower priority target for the Obama team. The fact he doesn’t suggests the kind of long term, comprehensive religious outreach campaign that used to win elections for Republicans.
\nOne of the keys to such an operation is those prayer calls Caldwell mentioned. They make religious leaders like Caldwell feel a lot more invested in the campaign than if they’d just been courted on a political level.<\/p>\n


\n8<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beliefnet has posted God-o-Meter’s interview this week with Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, spiritual advisor to George W. Bush–Caldwell delivered the benediction at both his inaugurals and introduced him at the 2000 Republican National Convention–and endorser of Barack Obama. What stood out to God-o-Meter, besides Caldwell’s defense of Rev. Wright and the list of similarities he’s noticed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-barack-obama"],"yoast_head":"\nKirbyjon Caldwell And Obama's Faith Outreach - God-O-Meter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godometer\/2008\/05\/kirbyjon-caldwell-and-obamas-f.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kirbyjon Caldwell And Obama's Faith Outreach - God-O-Meter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Beliefnet has posted God-o-Meter’s interview this week with Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, spiritual advisor to George W. Bush–Caldwell delivered the benediction at both his inaugurals and introduced him at the 2000 Republican National Convention–and endorser of Barack Obama. What stood out to God-o-Meter, besides Caldwell’s defense of Rev. 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