Will conservative evangelicals switch to Obama?

In 2004, Michael Hancock a 45-year-old technician voted for George Bush. Hancock, an Evangelical Republican, felt his conservative views on marriage and abortion fit best with Bush's. He believed that supporting Bush would fulfill his obligations to vote for a candidate who would keep the country in faithful progression amidst a war."At the time, the administration provided valid arguments to why the nation should pursue that particular course of action," Hancock said. "Some of my congregation members were surprised at my decision as well. like I said, at the time I felt I had to have faith that God was doing His work."

Four years later, Hancock feels the GOP has lost its way and will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama in November.

"He is a man of faith and direction and it shows very clearly in the character we see in the headlines and on television, even in light of those rumors of him being Muslim," Hancock told The District Chronicles.

Hanckock is the type of Christian Evangelical voter Sen. Obama is courting. They are formidable voting block and both Obama and Sen. John McCain are aggressively seeking them. A 2004 survey of religion and politics estimated their numbers as 26.3 percent of the U.S population, making them a potent political block. In the 2004 presidential election, they voted for President Bush by a ratio of four to one.

But now, Brian McLaren, a former Evangelical pastor and informal adviser to Obama, believes the Evangelical bloc is cracking up, with as many as between a third and half taking a new leap of faith to Obama.

"John McCain is trying very hard to maintain his party's views continuing this war in Iraq and tries to flaunt his foreign policy experience but he's playing a risky game with lives, which in a way could equate with Sen. Obama's views on abortion," said Latique Simmons, a member of the Rankin Memorial Chapel at Howard University.

As Christians, the decision between the candidates may be a tough one because of their differing personalities, opposing views on abortion rights, foreign policy and the economy. Simmons, a 23-year-old marketing account manager, believes that her Christian views are represented better by Sen. Obama's campaign, despite his stance on abortion. She, too, will be voting for Obama in November.

Rev. Diane Dixon-Proctor, pastor of John Wesley United Methodist Church in Glen Burnie, Maryland, has agreed that for Christians this year's elections will be pivotal, with both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama courting the evangelical vote and taking tough stances on controversial issues as the war, abortion rights and gay marriage.

"McCain is business as usual," Pastor Dixon-Proctor said. "We know the troops aren't going to leave Iraq immediately as someone gets into office because that would be irresponsible. But I am more confident in the plan that Sen. Obama has and we can look forward to that plan going into action."

Mike Langerak, meanwhile, remains unimpressed. "Obama has got a good line. He presents himself well. But his walk does not follow his talk," said Langerak, a 50-year-old roofing contractor from suburban Hudsonville who also attends a Christian Reformed church.

Langerak is most troubled by Obama's support of abortion rights, yet he doesn't exactly sing the praises of Sen. John McCain, who has struggled to woo evangelical voters that flocked to Bush in 2004.

But Langerak is pragmatic when it comes to the Nov. 4 election. He wonders about other Christian voters who look askance at McCain's conservative credentials. "Some people said they would sit it out ... But if you do not vote for McCain, then you are, in effect, putting Obama in," Langerak said.

Doug Koopman, a political science professor at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said that if Obama can cut McCain's margin among evangelical voters from 78 percent to 68 percent, the election may be his, according to Religion News Service. And Obama is working hard at that. He visited Ohio on July 1 to tout expanded funding for social service programs run by religious groups.

He also has circulated a pamphlet that is striking for its stark religious appeal. Beneath a photo of Obama at a pulpit with a large cross in the background, it reads: "My faith teaches me that I can sit in church and pray all I want, but I won't be fulfilling God's will unless I go out and do the Lord's work.