Bitter Schism Dominates Faith Forum

Secular politics won the day at last night's "Compassion Forum" in Pennsylvania, the LA Times reports, despite the Democratic contenders' resolve to present a united front on faith. Hillary Clinton used her pulpit at Messiah College to sermonize against her rival's comments on "bitter" religious voters, again calling the line "elitist, out of touch, and, frankly, patronizing."

Clinton drew subtle parallels between Obama and former White House hopefuls like John Kerry, furthering her theme that the effete don't have a prayer in the general election. Obama called his remarks "clumsy," but protested his strong Christian faith and maintained that he was referring to something in his own life: "religion as a bulwark, a foundation, when other things aren't going well." The hopefuls did touch on abortion, the environment, and poverty. (More Barack Obama stories.)