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Iraq War Weakens Bond Between Bush, Evangelicals
...But Kerry's disinclination to speak in public about his religious beliefs is not sitting well with some evangelicals.

"In distancing himself from the Catholic church he distances himself from religion and that doesn't resonate well with evangelical Christians," said Corwin Smidt, executive director of the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Smidt noted that evangelicals would be influenced by several issues including the war in Iraq, gay marriage and the economy but their "comfort level" with candidates would also be very important.

"They (evangelicals) don't just vote on the issues but for candidates they feel comfortable with," Smidt said, noting currently such considerations favored Bush.

"There is a religious quality to American public life and really distinguishes it from public life in other western democracies," he added.

Davis said many evangelical Christians were concerned that the nation was in a "moral vacuum" and wanted to "renew the Christian roots of our nationhood." "Many Christians feel we are in trouble morally and if we don't do something radical our Christian heritage is going to be lost to the secularist, the atheist, etc. etc.," he said.

"The solution to most evangelical Christians is a Republican vote," Davis added.