WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., says presidential candidates should share with voters how their personal faith shapes their public policies – but they need to do it sooner rather than later in the race.
“The time to do it is not the heat of the last three months of a presidential campaign, the time to do it is now,” the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee said Thursday at a forum on religion and public life.
Kerry warned that waiting until the frantic final weeks or months of the campaign, could “suddenly make it seem like you’re trying to pander and reach too far” to win votes.
The personal faith of candidates has already been front and center in the 2008 presidential campaign. Leading candidates from both parties are discussing their religious beliefs and values.
Republicans in past campaigns won strong support from the conservative religous vote. But Democrats are making strong pitches for support from voters for whom religious issues are a priority, even evangelicals. Some have given speeches about religion and politics touching on their personal beliefs.
Kerry said it was important for candidates to explain their personal beliefs in the context of their overall character.
“The presidency is largely about character,” Kerry said. “Your character has to be informed by your value system and your beliefs.”
Candidates, however, need to draw a clear line between their own religious beliefs and the agenda of a particular faith, he said.
“If you’re framing what you believe in the context of your gut – who you are, what you believe, what motivates you, what you fight for, what are the principles that guide you – I think it’s fair to go out and say, ‘Here’s how my religion informed my life,”‘ Kerry said.
But doing that is very different from “carrying the agenda of your particular religion” into Congress, Kerry added, citing the separation of church created by the Founding Fathers.
Kerry, who is a Roman Catholic, said he regrets not talking more about his faith during his own failed White House bid.
He lost the Catholic vote 47 percent to 52 percent to President Bush in 2004.
Bush scored heavily with white evangelicals 78 percent to 21 percent.
“I could have done a better job of doing that and I should have,” Kerry said.
Conservative Catholics criticized Kerry during his 2004 campaign for supporting abortion rights. A few Catholic bishops said they would deny him Holy Communion because his views were contrary to church teachings.
Kerry said his campaign challenge on religion was a far cry from questions the late John Kennedy faced about his Catholicism and the presidency during his campaign more than four decades ago.
“President Kennedy’s challenge was to prove that he was not so Catholic that he could be president,” Kerry said. “My challenge was to prove that I was Catholic enough to be president. Believe me, we were well aware of the distinction.”
Kerry declined to offer any advice to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has faced questions about his Mormon faith in seeking the GOP presidential nomination. Kerry said he was reluctant to dispense such advice, particularly to a Republican.
AP-ES-11-01-07 1818EDT
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