Washington: The 2016 Republican hopefuls are offering new insight into how faith would guide their decisions in the White House.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush calls his Catholic faith "an organizing part of my architecture." Ohio Gov. John Kasich says religion gives him more empathy toward the poor. And Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas cites his Christian values in lashing out at the Supreme Court.
Such are the views of the Republican presidential hopefuls in Washington this week for one of the nation's premier gatherings of Christian activists. The Republican Party's evangelical wing wields great influence in the selection of the party's presidential nominee, particularly in Iowa and many of the southern states scheduled to host primary contests early in the voting calendar South Carolina prominent among them. While this week's conference drew almost the entire Republican presidential field, some contenders will do better with Christian conservatives than others.
The Faith and Freedom Coalition's annual conference began the day after nine people were shot to death inside a black South Carolina church, offering a grim backdrop to the three-day meeting designed to give religious activists a closer look at the large class of Republican candidates and other leaders considering presidential bids.
"That depraved individual didn't just take the lives of black Americans. He gunned down nine children of God," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said today.
Beyond the horrors in South Carolina, presidential prospects offered religious conservatives an intimate look at the role of faith in their public lives.
Bush noted that he converted to Catholicism after marrying his Mexican-born wife. The religion, he said, has been "an organizing part of my architecture, if you will, as a person and certainly as an elected official."
Both Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Perry have hosted daylong prayer events in their states. Cruz, whose father is an evangelical pastor, had a strong religious upbringing. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is a devoted social conservative. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is also a Baptist minister.
